Dear Parents and Carers

As a Catholic School, we celebrate the feast of the Assumption.This special holy day was officially celebrated yesterday, as we all attended mass. Mary our Mother is our school patron and a strong and courageous woman of her time. The Assumption celebrates the holiness of Mary who is believed to have been ‘assumed’ into Heaven on her death to be reunited with her beloved son, Jesus. These aspects of our Catholic tradition are precious to our faith story. We are so fortunate to be able celebrate mass together as a school community. 

Next week is Book Week which will be celebrated in schools and libraries all over the country. This year’s theme is; ‘Reading is Magic', I can’t agree more. There is something very special about stepping into the world of a book. Reading a book to a child lets them know that they hold a special place in your life and in a busy world, that they have your absolute, undivided attention. Reading a bedtime story to a child is the most precious time of the day, and the time that your child can share their worries and dreams. The greatest gift you can give to your children is your time, the greatest investment is to spend that time reading with them. We thank Mrs Collins for the organisation of a great week of events. Thanks also to Harbour Bookshop and Arcadia Cinema for donating our Book Week prizes, and to the Beasley family for ensuring that our library has the all Book Week finalists. 

Preparations are well underway for our production, SuperStan which will be performed in Week 10, the Opening night will be on Tuesday 24th September and a matinee on Wednesday 25th September celebrating Grandparents Day. Please make sure that Granparents are ready to come and enjoy the day with us at St Mary’s. 

Finally congratulations to our Diocesan Athletics team for their fantastic performance on Tuesday, we had many of our athletes representing the school at the whole Diocese event. 

Have a lovely weekend, and I hope to see you at school next week.  

Yours in partnership

Laurinda Nelson

A big congratulations to two of our students who have been Baptised into the Catholic faith in our Parish in past weeks.

Oscar O and Stevie-Mae D together with their families celebrated this momentous occasion.

Yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, with Mass at our beautiful Church. The assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven has long been held as an important Catholic belief. The dogma teaches that Mary, who was without sin, was taken, body and soul, into the glory of heaven. Mary's faith enabled her to recognise the work of God in her people's history and in her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work through her so that salvation might come to all. Mary is a model and symbol of the Church. May we be like Mary, open and cooperative in God's plan of salvation.

Year 1 has been learning about the Bible! We know the Bible is sacred which means special and it has two parts: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament has stories about people who listened to God and the New Testament has stories about Jesus or stories Jesus told. 

We went to the church and learned about where the Bible is read from at Mass. We stood at the AMBO and read prayers we wrote about our families and our environment.

With our Father's Day Assembly approaching (Friday 30 August), to help celebrate all the fathers, grandads, uncles, and other helping hands in the lives of our children, we request 1-2 photos per family of your child/children and the important person in their life.

Please email to info@sosmdow.catholic.edu.au

Hospitalisation

If your child attends or is admitted to hospital for a health (including mental health) reason it is the parent/carer’s responsibility to ensure that necessary information on the care of your child is relayed to the school. Health Services are unable to contact the school upon discharge for a variety of reasons including confidentiality. Please see the attached information on the importance of sharing this information with us.

On Tuesday 13 August we took a team of students to represent St Mary’s at the South Coast Athletics Carnival. The students showed determination, resilience and hard work just like the Australian Olympians in Paris earlier this month. They competed fairly and proudly and supported each other in every single event. Children and parents were cheering from the stands, beside the track and at the finish line. We also had some exceptional results. St Mary’ came third overall among the small schools and 6 children will go on to compete in the whole Diocesan Competition next Tuesday 20 August.

Congratulations to: 

• the Junior Girls Relay team (Adele, Goldie, Lily and Isla) on coming 2nd (by 30/100 seconds!)
• Adele B for coming 3rd in Junior Discus, 2nd in Junior High Jump and 2nd in Junior 100m!!
• Torin D for coming 4th in U11s 800m and 2nd in U11s High Jump
• Evie P for coming 3rd in the 11s High Jump