Newsletter Wk 9

Dear Parents and Carers

We have been blessed over the weekend with wonderful heavy rain. Looking out over the rolling green hills of Milton it is difficult to comprehend the stress that our farmers and growers are experiencing due to the ongoing drought. We are so fortunate to take for granted the availability of water for drinking, washing and for gardens and plants. Please join me in keeping in our prayers the many families who continue to battle the new dry reality in many parts of Australia and in countries where clean water is a privilege that cannot be taken for granted. We really are so fortunate to live in a place of such abundance. A big congratulations to Liam in Year 6 who travelled to Nowra to become an Australian Citizen with his family last week. What a lucky country we are to officially welcome your lovely family.

This week we have much to celebrate at St Mary’s, on Saturday many of our Year One students travelled to Nowra to perform in the ‘Stars of the Eisteddfod Concert ‘. It was very exciting to be backstage waiting to face the enormous crowd and to be part of the excitement of dressing rooms and many posters of stars that had performed there in the past. Though small in number the crowd were wooed by our rendition of ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’. At the end of the performance our St Mary’s team was called back onto the stage to be presented with the City of Shoalhaven Eisteddfod Schools’ Encouragement Award. This is a great honour for our school as there are many schools that attend the Eisteddfod from many areas, accompanying this award was $1000 donated by Mr Doug Aldred, a volunteer of long standing on the Eisteddfod Committee. We thank Mr Doug Aldred for his generosity and commitment to such a community project.

The award citation acknowledged ‘the disciplined and well presented students who always bring an eagerness and excitement to their involvement in such a large performing arts festival.’

It is this sense of joy and adventure that is inherent in our St Mary’s students, bringing joy to our school community. An enormous thank you to our students for their dedication, energy and love for creative arts, to our parents for supporting us and to our staff who tirelessly make an effort to enrich the learning experiences of our students.

We were fortunate last week to be involved with the local StoryFest Festival, visiting Milton Public School to see the Harry Potter Show and to see Leigh Hobbs author / illustrator present to students. We were also very fortunate to have Leigh Hobbs present a drawing workshop for some of our students. Leigh’s main message was, that we are all unique and even though we can be given the same instructions our artworks can and should look very, very different.

Tonight we are hosting the inaugural Fathering Project  ‘Planes and Pizza Night’ at St Mary’s, supported by the Milton/Ulladulla Apex Club we are so pleased to welcome families from Milton and Ulladulla Public Schools to our school hall. All fathers/ uncles / mothers and father figures are welcome to come and join the fun, there has been a great response from our St Mary’s community and we are looking forward to a fun night.

This Friday, Semester One Students Reports will become available through the Compass portal. When you read your child’s report, place close attention to the marks given to each child for their application or effort to their learning. Share the aspects to celebrate in the report and discuss with your child their personal goals for next semester. Parent/teacher Interviews will be held next week and can be booked through the Compass portal now, please take the time to meet face to face with your child’s teacher, and show your child that their education is very important to you.

I look forward to seeing you around our school this week or maybe tonight at our community celebration.

Yours in partnership

Laurinda Nelson

Principal