St Mary's Newsletter

We accept apologies and give others the opportunity to do the right thing and to have another chance.

There is a lovely distinction in this gospel passage between disciples and apostles. Jesus calls his twelve disciples, commissions them and sends them out to continue his work. From then on, they are referred to as ‘apostles’. Disciples are followers, but apostles have been sent out. In our own lives we are called to accept the challenge of being apostles, not disciples. For we are not just followers, we have been sent out by Jesus to continue his work. To be a disciple is just the first step. Disciples follow a path; apostles take the initiative and forge their own path.

Today, the Year One/Two class hosted our Feast of the Sacred Heart Mass. Thank you to Mrs Grant, Mrs Gearing and Mrs Maiolo and the Year One/Two class for presenting a beautiful Mass. Thank you to Father Andrew and to the parents who attended. The devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Catholic devotions. We take Jesus Christ's physical heart as the representation of His divine love for humanity.

The Year Sixes engaged in a Confirmation Retreat today following Mass. They explored many themes around the importance of this sacrament and engaged in a variety of activities to express their understandings. Thank you to Mrs McDonald, Mrs Riethmuller and Mrs O’Malley for their tireless efforts in making this a memorable and special time in our students’ lives.

Students from Year Six will have their Confirmation this Sunday the 18th of  June at 10.30am in St Mary’s Parish and we invite and welcome all families to the Mass. Please keep the following students in your thoughts and prayers as they prepare for this momentous occasion:

Chloe Bartlett

Korben Cooper

Maya Dean

Jack Kermode

Angelica Kraske-Beck

Mitchell O’Neill

It is with great sadness that we must farewell Mrs Silver slightly earlier than expected. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jess for her commitment to St Mary’s for over 3 years and look forward to hearing about this new stage in her life. We hope to see you and baby Silver around the school grounds when you are ready. Mrs Herbert will be replacing Mrs Silver until the end of term.

Our Kindy and Pre-primary children travelled around Merredin finding out all the different things that our community does. Thank you to the management and staff at the Police and Fire Departments, Subway, Australia Post, Merre Local and Wild Poppy Café for being so accommodating and providing our students with an excellent learning experience. Below are some photo's of the Kindy's enjoying their day out. Please check out the "Class News: Pre-Primaries", further down in the Newsletter, for all the photo's of the Pre-primaries. 

Ms Rylee Della Bosca has been with us for the last eight weeks completing her long term practicum and we would like to thank her for the works she has done while she has been with us. The Pre-primary students will miss her. We look forward to welcoming Rylee to our staff next term. 

The 2023 Winter Carnival for Year 3-6 is this coming Friday 23 June at Merredin College! We are still seeking volunteers to assist in scoring, umpiring and coaching. Please contact Mrs Crees via email at Kate.Crees@cewa.edu.au if you are available. Go St Mary’s! 

Our next P&F Meeting will be held on Monday, 19 June at 7.30pm in the school library. All are invited and welcome to attend.

Children’s Liturgy will be held on Sunday, 25 June at 10.30am Mass. All children and families are invited and welcome.

This is an important part of giving our students, parents and teachers a voice in improving the way we operate at St Mary’s School. We cannot stress the value of taking time out of your day to provide us with feedback in building a better school community, now and in years to come. All the information you need to complete the questionaire is in Audiri (Skoolbag).

As well as being powerful learning tools, iPads and devices are often used by students in their own time at home for entertainment. If you allow your child to put their own apps on to a device, please ensure the apps are age appropriate and that you are fully aware of the privacy settings and whether the app allows them to communicate with others. Many online games and apps contain content and material that is not suitable for students and desensitizes their feelings of empathy, concern and care. Social media platforms are often misused and can be avenues for students to use inappropriate language or to ostracize each other. Students should consider that if they wouldn’t write something on a class noticeboard it is not suitable for a group chat or message. With holidays soon approaching, please ensure that children have a balanced use of technology and that they are participating in non-digital activities to promote their health and wellbeing. Please talk to your children about balanced use of IT and ensuring that it is used at appropriate times. Research what a digital footprint is and discuss this with your child. There is no substitute for open communication and supervision when assisting your child to use technology responsibly.

God Bless and have a lovely weekend with your families,

Mr Andy DiCarlantonio

Principal

This term the Pre-Primary children have been learning about jobs in the community. We took a trip into Merredin town to see some of the different jobs that we could do when we grow up. We visited Subway, the police station, the fire station, the post office, Merre Local and Wild Poppy café. We got to use the fire hose, put on the police vest, post some letters, and taste some granola. We enjoyed some fruit and a Subway cookie for morning tea and a lunch order from Wild Poppy for lunch. Thank you to all the local businesses and services for the time and energy they put into their presentations to the children. We had a great day learning about our community helpers.

Semester One reports will be accessed electronically via SEQTA Engage. If you have not provided the school with a current email address, please advise the front office as soon as possible. 

All families will receive an email which will contain a link to set up your account. You will be required to select a username and password which will allow you entry into SEQTA Engage.

If you still have access to SEQTA Engage from 2022, you do not need to create a new account – please just check you can login and reset the password if required.

On the left-hand side bar, there is a tab labelled ‘Reports.’ This is the area in which you will be able to access your child/children’s Semester One Reports on Thursday the 29th of June.

Please set up your account as soon as possible, as the link in the email is only active for one week. Please email zoe.omalley@cewa.edu.au if you are having any trouble accessing SEQTA Engage or if you have not received an email.

The St Mary's P & F are once again holding a Picture Plate fundraiser!

Order forms / Plate templates have been distributed to class room teachers this week so please make sure you check your children's School bags! If you require another picture plate template for a sibling these can be obtained from the School office.  All of the information is on the flyer below and this is also OPEN to non St Mary's families! So please spread the word to your family, friends, next door neighbor etc..... the more we sell the more we raise for the P & F to be used for our children! An example of the Picture plate is in the St Mary's office for you to view if you have never seen this before. Thank you for your support. 

Need some hair accessories for school or your local sporting team? Our St Mary's School P&F earns commission on every item sold. Get your orders in by Sunday 18th June and choose free delivery to St Mary's School Merredin and they will be here in time for the term 3 sports carnivals. You don't need to attend St Mary's to purchase so share it with your friends and sporting clubs! Ponytails & Fairytales also sell more than just hair accessories- check out their full online shop for all their products!

Merredin: Saturday 6.30pm & Sunday 10.30am

Kellerberrin: Sunday 8.00am

Open Wednesday 8.30am-9.10am

Online Orders: www.quickcliq.com.au