THREE-WAY LEARNING DISCUSSIONS 

This Term, we would like to invite parents/carers and students to our Learning Discussions on Friday, 4 July. This is the final day of Term Two for staff and is a Pupil Free day. Your child's Semester Report will have been delivered to you on Monday, 30 June. Appointment times ARE OPEN via COMPASS CONFERENCES for you to arrange a time BETWEEN 8:00am-3:00pm for Years 1-6 and 9:00am-3:00pm for Kindergarten. Each slot is 10 minutes in length. If the opportunity to meet in person is difficult, we are also offering phone appointments for the day. Please select which option you would prefer when making your booking.

RECONCILIATION WEEK PERFORMANCE

Did you know that the voice of Maynard on Bluey was performed by none other than Sean Choolburra—the very same Sean who visited our school during Reconciliation week?

Sean was a captivating performer who both engaged and educated our students through traditional dance, storytelling, and a fascinating display of cultural artefacts. His high-energy presentation, rich with humour and warmth, brought Aboriginal culture to life in a way that was meaningful and memorable.

All of our students were fully immersed in the performance and walked away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal traditions.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Last week, our Classroom Support Assistants (CSAs) participated in a valuable professional learning day facilitated by Catholic Education – Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn staff. The training, held at St Joseph's Goulburn, brought together support staff from several Catholic Schools across the region.

It was a fantastic opportunity for our dedicated CSAs to enhance their skills and deepen their understanding of how best to support teachers and students in the classroom. Content delivered included information on: Catalyst and our System Bold Goals , Science of Learning, Science of Reading, Cognitive Load Theory and using High Impact Teaching Practices for Effective Intervention.

 We take this opportunity to thank our CSAs for their continued commitment to making a positive impact in our learning environment.

WELL DONE

Congratulations to our St Mary's runners who competed at the MacKillop Cross Country Championships at Sydney Equestrian Centre yesterday.

The personal bests and results are a testament to their skill and dedication to Cross Country running. Each race had approximately 60 runners.

Results include

Imogen - 22nd

Elizabeth - 30th

Cooper -26th

Elaine -36th

Macie-Lee -41st

Bridie - 43rd

Thank you to their families for the support and encouragement that allows these students to participate at this level.

CAN YOU HELP OUR LATEST PROJECT?

St Mary's school community are keen to revamp our school playground equipment. We have registered with RETURN and EARN and have been given the green tick!! Every little bit helps, and we will be doing our best to get a start on some funds to help.

RETURN AND EARN APP

You can select to donate your 10c refund to any charity, school, sports club or local community group featured on the app from any machines in NSW.

Simply:

1. Open your Return and Earn app AND search for your favourite charity under the “CHARITIES” menu
2. Press on its tile, scroll down and select ‘Set as payout’
3. Scan your app at your local Return and Earn machine or automated depot (using Tag and Drop)
4. Return your containers and press “TRANSFER” on the machine screen or follow the steps on the Tag and Drop screen at an automated depot.

100% of the refund will be donated to the donation partner that you selected to receive your payout.

Download the app

RETURN AND EARN MACHINES

You can support our major donation partner by donating directly on the screens of your machines. Simply:

1. Return your drink containers
2. Press “DONATE” on the touchscreen to our major charity partner
3. Press “CONFIRM” to validate your donation. 100% of your refund will be donated to charity.

Find your nearest machine

KINDER WOOD RAFFLE

Sold tickets and money are to be returned by TOMORROW, June 13, please.

As we head towards the end of Term 2, please ensure your outstanding school fee balance is paid as soon as possible.

Head Office sent reminder fee statements last week, and Belinda will be making contact with others.

Setting up a regular payment plan can help with the payment of school fees. If you would like more information on amounts, frequency, etc, please do not hesitate to contact Belinda.

Support Our School Community – Family Business Directory

We are proud of the vibrant and diverse community at our School, and we know that many of our families run incredible businesses. To celebrate and support each other, we are creating a Family Business Directory — a dedicated space on our School’s website where our families can discover, connect with, and support local businesses run by fellow School families.

Whether your business is big or small, online or brick-and-mortar, we’d love to showcase it!

If you would like your business to be included in the directory, please complete the form below with your business details. The directory will be made available on our website for easy browsing and searching by our School community.

> Family Business Directory information form

Thank you for helping us strengthen our School community and support each other’s ventures!

SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

Session three commenced this week for students who are celebrating the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Our candidates will attend the First Holy Communion Retreat at St Joseph’s Primary School on Thursday, 19^th June. Please check your email for details regarding this event.

Please keep our candidates in your prayers and thoughts.

CLASS MASSES

Tomorrow, Year 1 and Year 2 will be hosting mass at 9:30am. We hope to see many of our families join us.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL CRAZY SOCK DAY  

Our SRC ran a very popular and successful Crazy Sock Day last Friday. Students came dressed in their best ‘crazy sock’ interpretation to raise money for our St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal.

Our school community raised $160, which is a great start to our fundraising campaign. Well done St Mary’s students and staff!

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

A focus for staff and students this term has been on further embedding the prayer form of Christian Meditation into our classrooms. At St Mary’s, classes engage in this prayer form at least three times a week with emphasis on SILENCE, STILLNESS AND SIMPLICITY.

DDA

Disability Discrimination Act

Some of you would be familiar with the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992. As a result of this Act, the Disability Standards for Education were provided in 2005, as a framework to ensure students with a disability are able to ACCESS and PARTICIPATE in education on the same basis as everyone else.

Sometimes the disability is a diagnosed disability, sometimes it is an imputed disability. Students, who struggle with one or more areas of learning, may have an imputed disability. More simply defined a learning difficulty in reading, spelling or maths. This does not mean they always have this difficulty; it may simply take them longer to learn to read.

ADJUSTMENTS

Teachers are continually making adjustments to their learning programs to ensure students can ALL access the curriculum. An adjustment for one child often benefits many children. An adjustment might include repeating instructions, giving ‘wait’ time before an answer is expected, using visuals, cue cards, voice activated soft-ware,  modifying a task, reducing the task,  extending the time to complete a task, allowing breaks from the classroom. There are many other adjustments teachers make every day to ensure the differentiation of learning best supports ALL students.

https://resource.dse.theeducationinstitute.edu.au/sites/default/files/dse_plus_guidance_notes.pdf

I would like to acknowledge the work of Glenn Gerreyn the founder of the above institute. 

http://thehopefullinstitute.com/?utm_source=Primary+Schools+Sydney&utm_campaign=4942b1aee7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2_13_2018_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8d7b2422b0-4942b1aee7-230971881    

5 tips for Positive Parenting!

Identify your child’s strengths and work on fostering and developing them.

Applaud the process, not just the trophy!

Be present in the moment with your children, actively listening and communicating with them.

Share with your children the times you have failed. Allow children to learn strategies to be resilient.

It is okay not be perfect. It is okay not to win. Teach them to be gracious in defeat.

Home should be a happy place. You want your children to feel safe and loved. Tell them you love them. Tell them you are proud of them and tell them why.

SUPPORTING CHILDREN TO DO THEIR HOMEWORK:

1. Make it clear that it is their homework, not yours!

Help your children to understand it is their homework and their responsibility to complete it. Guide them and help them and eventually they will do it themselves. It does not have to be perfect! It is their work!

2. Don’t force them to do their homework!

Don’t make it a power struggle. Nurture your relationship, it is much more important.

3. Discuss expectations and consequences with them!

Have a calm discussion with your child at the beginning of every term. This will help give them a sense of ownership. Set the time when homework will usually happen and where. Decide together which privileges will be off-limits until homework is done. Decide on the consequences together if the homework is not done.

4. Don’t micromanage them!

It is possible for your child to do their homework on their own. As you support them in the early years, this help should become less and less. Some children are very independent and don’t need your help. They can just do it. Praise them for doing it on their own. Others need your support, but it doesn’t need to be perfect!

5. Create a distraction-free area for homework and studying!

Setting aside an area for study will help with focus. Make it an area where there is no TV or digital device distraction.

6. Acknowledge their good behaviour!

Be observant and find opportunities to praise your children for their efforts. Eg. “That’s great that you focused on your work for 20 minutes.”

7. Do your homework at the same time as them!

While your children are doing their homework, read, pay your bills, do an online study course so they see the importance of completing homework.

Homework is important, but there are other things that are even more important: Responsibility, persistence, commitment, curiosity, a love for learning. Homework is just one tool to reach these higher goals.

https://www.daniel-wong.com/2015/03/16/homework-without-nagging/

School Cup - Netball

When: Tuesday, 24^th June

Where: Carr Confoy Oval, Goulburn (private travel)

Time: 9:00am for a 9:30 start, concludes at 2:30pm.

Students who expressed their interest via the google form would have now been added to the Compass event. As well as attendance on Compass, students are required to register through the Play HQ app. The links and an information sheet on how to register can be found in the resources section of the Compass event or below. The link is unique to the team, so please ensure you click on the right one prior to registering your child/ren.

- Year 3/4 GREEN (social) https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/register/33e9dc-60c54ccb
- Year 5/6 GOLD (competitive) https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/register/33e9dc-18f8ed42

We will need a coach and umpire per team. Please let me know if you can assist with this.

Please reach out to Mrs Annie Cummins if you have any questions.

Rugby Union Trials:

Congratulations to Bodi, Harry F and Rory, who were successful in gaining selection in the Canberra/Goulburn Rugby Union team, who will travel to Forbes on the 29^th and 30^th June. They will play for a spot in the MacKillop team. We can’t wait to hear how you go!

MacKillop Touch Football Trials:

Good Luck to Jacob and Tommy, who will compete as part of the Canberra/Goulburn Touch Football team in Wagga Wagga on the 13^th June. We can’t wait to hear how you go!

Upcoming trials:

• NSWCPS (MacKillop) Golf - nominations close 15th August

Where can I find trial dates?

The Canberra Goulburn Sports webpage has the full calendar for Primary, Secondary and SSA events. https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/calendar

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Kind Regards,

Annie Cummins & James Edwards

School Sports Coordinators

For our upcoming Art Days, we’re excited to explore the incredible work of the famous sculptor Michelangelo!

To help our students experience the art of sculpture hands-on, we kindly ask parents to send in a cake of soap with their child. The soap will be used for a fun and creative carving activity inspired by Michelangelo’s masterpieces.

Thank you for supporting this artistic adventure—we can’t wait to see what our young sculptors create!

Weeks 7 Awards 

Awards will be presented at the assembly on Friday 13th at 9.05am.

K - Arthur Moorby, Ali Waldron, Hudson Sims

1 - Isaac Skinner, Arlo Allport

2 - Easton Gay, Chelsea Moorby, Lyla Storrier

3 - Sasha Wicks, Adrian Pickett, Pepper Reeves, Ivy Hewitt, Hadley Reynolds

4 - Oscar Allport, Lizzie Walsh 

5 - Willow Hewitt, Max Strode, Victor Hall

6 - Jacob Hogan, Anna Munro 

Japanese - Year 6

Uniform - Harry Reid, Quade Haynes, Lizzie Walsh & Mia Croker

Email: Crookwell@cg.org.au

Website: http://cg.org.au/crookwell/Home.aspx 

Phone: 0403 631 797