St Mary's Newsletter

Term 4 - Week 2 (18th October, 2024)

Dear St Mary's School Community,

Focus Value: Respect

We value others, their property, the environment and ourselves.

Thank you

It was mentioned last week, but I wanted to reiterate our incredible thanks to all those parent volunteers that put their hand up to umpire/raise money/be a member of a committee/help supervise on excursions and all the other activities where we have extra help. As teachers, it makes our jobs easier and your children LOVE having you share their educational journey. Thank you once again!

CoRE Challenge

The Year Fives are off to the College next week to participate in the CoRE challenge where they get to exercise the problem-solving parts of their brain, as they join together in groups and create solutions to a number of problems in a competitive environment. We wish them the best.

 

Family Friday

Today we held our last Family Friday event for the year and it proved as successful as ever. It was great to see so many parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles enjoying spending time with the children in their classrooms.  It's always great to see those competitive spirits coming out during the card games and who the true puzzle masters are!

Grandparents Day

Next Friday we invite all Grandparents to St Mary’s to spend time with their grandchildren. We will celebrate the amazing skills, love and guidance they bring to all families (and schools!) in a Liturgy and morning tea at 9am.  Grandparents are also welcome to join their grandchildren in their classrooms from 8.30am. Please, if you haven’t already, invite your Grandparents to join us.

CSAC/P&F

Talking of volunteering parents! Our wonderful SAC parents met last Monday evening. The CSAC meet once a term and provide an important service in helping guide the Principal and ensure the smooth running of the school. We have some members who are retiring at the end of this year. We have sent out information today, asking for volunteers to replace these retiring members who have been incredibly gracious in donating their time over several years. If this is something you’d be keen to be involved in, please consider joining this important group. Our hard-working P&F committee are also meeting Monday the 28th of October, all are welcome to attend and be involved in the fantastic work this group does on a yearly basis.

 

P&F Update

Chickenpox

Please note, we have a suspected case of chickenpox in our school community. Please read the factsheet below from the Department of Health for all the information  you need to know and for any signs and symptoms you should look out for. If you suspect you child/ren may have chickenpox please seek medical attention and notify the school as soon as possible. 
Download

St Mary's School - "New Family of the Week"

Another welcome member to the Year Three/Four class this year has been Toryn Hotene. Toryn and his family joined the St Mary's community back in April, shortly after which he had to take a break in Perth while he anxiously awaited the arrival of his baby brother.  Everything went smoothly and they were all back in Merredin and settling in well. For a few weeks there we thought the poor little bubba might never get a name lol, but his delighted parents eventually settled on Leroy and we have all enjoyed watching him grow over the year. 

We asked Toryn what his favourite thing has been since moving to Merredin and he said "I really like the teachers and the people are really nice too!" Well we can't argue with that can we?! 

What’s the best musical birthday present?

Broken drums, you can't beat em.

God Bless

Mr Hamersley


Class News

Kindy

We are off to a flying start in Kindy this term!  We came back from holidays to find our garden continuing to bloom thanks to Mrs Kermode for watering it while we were away.  The children have been busily weeding and snacking on the delicious snow peas growing over our arch. 

 

Following our ocean theme last term, we have started exploring and discussing pollution in the sea.  The children arrived at Kindy today to find our ocean small world set up was full of rubbish and the water was black from a potential oil dump.  The sea animals were tangled in rubber bands, plastic bags and string.  The children collaborated to rescue the sea animals and clean up our ocean.  

 

We are still having a wonderful time exploring potion play with our new mud kitchen.  There is no shortage of excitement when they see the vinegar react with the bicarbonate soda, making real magic! 

 

We are also very busy practising our dance moves for the Christmas Concert.  The children have thoroughly enjoyed busting out their own dance moves and being part of the choregraphing process. 

 

Other News & Important Dates

Viterra & St Mary’s Primary School Merredin P&F

Viterra and the St. Mary’s Primary School Merredin P & F have agreed to a sponsorship program for the coming season and into the future. The Viterra Sponsorship Program commenced in 2010 as a way of helping WA grain growing communities. Since its inception, Viterra has donated over $1 million to WA grain growing sporting clubs & community groups. Viterra is very proud of what the program has achieved over this period. We are very pleased to be able to contribute to WA grain growing communities that support us, knowing that our sponsorship goes some way towards the viability of rural WA clubs and their communities – it also gives growers a sense that they too have assisted with their club’s finances. We appreciate any support you can offer Viterra by spreading the word amongst your members and the community.

Here is how it works:

Viterra will donate $0.20 per tonne to the St Mary’s Primary School Merredin P & F for every tonne of grain delivered against contracts sold to Viterra.

At the time of contracting, the grower or their consultant MUST identify that they wish the contract to be a part of the sponsorship agreement with the St Mary’s Primary School Merredin P & F. Every 12 months we will forward your club the funds accumulated against the contracts covered by the agreement.

For contract pricing of any grain, or if you wish to subscribe to the Viterra ‘sms’ or ‘email’ pricing service, contact Rob Haddrill, Tim Giumelli or Matt Stenhouse in the Viterra WA office.

1300 453 626

Rob Haddrill 0407 191 633

Tim Giumelli 0427 017 047

Matt Stenhouse 0419 040 786

Containers for Change

St Mary's School is part of the "Containers for Change" program. Please see the poster below for all the details. If you require a green bag to collect your cans, these are available from Mrs Riethmuller at the school.

Community Notices

Enrol in VacSwim

VacSwim enrolments are now open for our Country early start and January programs. This years program are FREE, so it's a great time to enrol your children!! Please click on the link below to enrol:

Enrol in VacSwim - Department of Education

2024 ADHD WA Conference -Saturday October 19 2024

The 2024 ADHD WA Conference being held in just over a month at Optus Stadium on Saturday October 19 2024. It is available to all parents/carers who may be interested. 

Shane Langsford will be chairing the Parent/Carer Stream, which includes presentations on “ADHD + Parent and School Partnership” (presented by Ms Chantelle Chapman; Senior School Psychologist) and “ADHD + Anxiety in Children” (presented by Associate Professor Emma Sciberras Deakin University VIC and practising Clinical Psychologist). Both presentations will be informative and practical with implementable suggestions and strategies.

We are expecting 400+ in-person attendees and there is also an Online Registration option enabling registrants to log in and watch the whole day live (Adult and Parent/Carer Streams only).

CPD Certificates will be provided to all in-person and online attendees.

Please see the attached PDF for the full day’s program. To register please go to here:

https://www.adhdwa.org/services/2024-conference

 

 

WAAPA Summer School 2025

Start your new year with an exciting experience at WAAPA. Come along this January for a fun-packed program where you'll meet new people, sharpen your skills, and get plenty of performance opportunities. WAAPA’s Summer School offers a wide variety of performing arts courses tailored for secondary school students. Whether you're going into Year 7 or Year 12, there's something for every aspiring artist—classes in Acting for Stage, Dance, Acting for Camera, Jazz Music, and Music Theatre. Our expert instructors welcome students of all skill levels and experiences. For more details on the courses available, visit Summer School 2025 or reach out to Gabrielle Metcalf at explore.waapa@ecu.edu.au or call 9370 6775.

Shire of Merredin Australia Day Nominations

The Shire of Merredin Australia day nominations are now open.

The awards seek to recognise outstanding individuals and organisations that have made significant contributions to their local communities during the past year, or those who have given exceptional service over a sustained period. These contributions can take many forms, including but not limited to education, health, fundraising, voluntary services, business, employment, sport, arts, environment, social inclusion, or any other area that contributes to the betterment of the community.

There are four award categories: 1. Community Citizen of the Year (for individuals over 16 years) 2. Young Community Citizen of the Year (for individuals aged 16-30 years) 3. Senior Community Citizen of the Year (for individuals aged 65 years or over) 4. Active Citizenship Award (for community groups or events).

We strongly encourage individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds to consider submitting a nomination.

 

St Mary's Parish Merredin- Mass Times

Merredin: Saturday 6.30pm & Sunday 10.30am

Kellerberrin: Sunday 8.00am

St Mary's P&F Uniform Shop

Open Wednesday 8.30am-9.10am

Online Orders: www.quickcliq.com.au