Dear Parents and Carers, 

Happy Easter to our families, I hope everyone enjoyed this special time together. Easter is a season of hope and love in our world, this was evident in the Holy Week Liturgy held last Thursday. So many lessons for us in these stories, the apostles were terrified after they had abandoned Jesus during his time of suffering but they dusted themselves off and regrouped as a strong community after Jesus’ death. They were united, heart and soul, they shared everything they had ensuring that everyone had what they needed. They committed themselves to sharing the story of Jesus’ message, and that is where our faith story as we know it begins. 

As a Catholic school, it is always beautiful to see the prayerful reverence of our students during these significant liturgies. Many students walked in the footsteps of Jesus on Friday, sharing in our Parish community ‘Stations of the Cross’, I thank the many families and staff members who attended to show their support of our wider Parish community. 

Thank you to parents who have completed the ‘Tell them from me’ surveys, these surveys provide an opportunity to provide feedback to our school community. This information informs our Cyclic Inquiry which will be held in Term 2, our community voice is crucial in this process so please take the time to complete the survey, it is anonymous. Please help out if you can. 

Tell Them From Me Survey

Next week we will be rescheduling our Cross Country to Wednesday, and praying for kinder weather for the event. During the holidays, we will be taking part in the annual ANZAC March in Milton, the march will gather at 10:15 and will commence at 10:30 am. We ask that our students wear their full summer uniform including black shoes. Traditionally, St Mary’s is always well represented and we would love to continue this tradition in 2024, parents are welcome to march with the school, and we hope you can join us. 

Next week is the last week of a wonderful first term, we will have a Pupil Free day next Friday, when staff will be working towards our Cyclic Inquiry processes. I hope everyone enjoys a little downtime with family and friends over the holidays. 

We hope to see you around the school next week.

Yours in partnership
Laurinda Nelson 

St John's 2025 Enrolment Applications CLOSE next MONDAY 8 APRIL.

Applications generally exceed positions available, please be sure to get your applications in, as it is much more difficult to secure a place with a late application.

Please follow the below link to ensure your application is received by the due date.
https://enrol.sjedow.catholic.edu.au/enrolment-form/start

A reminder to please return your Project Compassion boxes to classrooms. These donations are urgently needed by the Catholic Organisation, Caritas, as it continues to support underprivileged people around the world.

On Monday 25 March Year 1 and Year 2 went on a walking excursion through Milton. We looked at the evidence of the past and had a shared picnic at Mick Ryan Park with grandparents and parents. Afterwards we played some olden day style games like Cat and Mouse, Mother May We, Red Light/Green Light and an Egg and Spoon race. We walked back to school and played marbles, skipping and hopscotch to finish our day. 

During Week 8, four St Mary’s students joined 120 Catholic primary school children at St Paul's Catholic Primary School in Albion Park, as part of the Wollongong Environment Network (WEN) program. The event involved a keynote address by Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia and aims to educate students about environmental stewardship and empower them to lead local action in their schools - and to learn how to work on their "own little bit of the puzzle" to help the environment.

Imogen, Audrey, Mila and Louis were commissioned as our school Eco Ambassadors.

It will be exciting to see how these eco champions will lead, support, and inspire eco-initiatives at St Mary’s, raising awareness of how we all can make a difference and show care for our common home.

One of our new books Keepers of the Lost Cities has been reviewed by Lexi L (Year 6). KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES by Shannon Messenger   A page turner that can’t be ignored. Keeper of the Lost Cities is a fantasy adventure book that takes place in the blind spots of our world; Atlantis, the Sahara desert and many other places. These places are called the Lost Cities.  I enjoyed this marvellous story created by Shannon Messeng- er. I enjoy it so much! Sophie is heart-breakingly taken away from her family, unwillingly, and is to be raised by the Elves in the lost cities, as she is one too. Destined for a life of adventure, mystery, crime, awkwardness and betrayal, Sophie Foster begins her new and unpredictable life, as a manifesting elf.  I also loved how the black swan, a secret organisation, stored forbidden knowledge in Sophie’s head without her knowledge… By Lexi L

And Delphi S (Year 6) has reviewed Then. Then Author : Morris Gleitzman It’s 1942. After Felix and Zelda narrowly escape a nazi train, they’re on the run desperately trying to survive; wishing for a better life for themselves and the other Jews. Then, is a heart aching story, though most of  the characters are fictional, a lot of the scenes in this book have unfortunately most likely been experienced by many in this time period. I’d highly recommend Then for anyone interested in learning more about one of the most important times in history. This book will leave you in tears. I would rate this book 4.5 out of 5. By Delphi S

Did you know?

Students can visit the library to browse and borrow on Tuesdays and Thursdays with their class as well as at lunchtime. You are welcome to visit the library after school with your child on a Thursday. I will stay back until 3.45pm.

Mrs Lisa Collins
Library Teacher

Stage Two have been cooking fried rice and baking fresh hot cross buns in the kitchen this week.

Annual Consent Requirements

We have recently sent out information via Compass regarding 2024 consent requirements for the following:

1. Consent for the use of Student Image and/or Work 

2. Acceptable Use of Technology 

These annual requirements and are now available online via Compass Insights.

This consent is mandatory to enable your child to use technology within our school and have their photograph and/or work published.

We thank those families who have already completed this requirement.