St Mary's Newsletter

We play fairly for the enjoyment of all and encourage each other to do our best

We have  a large number of items in our lost property box at the moment. If you believe that any of the following items may be yours please come and retrieve them from the box in the Disabled Toilet. 

Knit Jumpers - 1 size 10, 4 size 8.

Rain Jackets - 1 size 6 & 1 size 8.

Sports Jackets - 1 size 4, 1 size 6, 2 size 10, 1 size 12.

1 Hat.

The following items pictured below...

A big thank you to the following Dad’s for helping Mrs Crees and marking the oval for todays Carnival.

Shaun Crees

Brad O’Meagher

Luke Wahlsten

Dan Alberti

Brendan Crees

Jeremy Dean

Thank you once again to Mrs Crees on the incredible job she does organising our Carnivals AND our amazing band of parent helpers. We couldn’t complete such a successful carnival without our volunteers. From our judges to our sausage sizzle cooks and all those who helped in-between: thank you!

Our amazing PAF performers are now taking their dancing skills on the road! They head to various spots around Merredin in the coming weeks to share their talents. Yesterday we headed to the Senior Centre to entertain our lovely seniors, who were delighted by the children's performance. 

Congratulations to our Dance groups on the following comments from the judges:

PAF comment from the judges:

Dear Principal & Coordinator On behalf of the Performing Arts Festival Committee, please extend congratulations to the recipient(s) listed below on achieving the following Award(s). Inscribed Awards will be forwarded to schools on conclusion of the Festival.

P1 - DANCE (PRIMARY)

MERIT Award St Mary’s Merredin Junior Dance Group St Mary’s Merredin Senior Dance Group

On Monday our Year Four students attended a First Holy Communion retreat to help prepare Kai and Mac for their First Holy Communion next Sunday. The students completed some activities and shared a special lunch together. We wish our two Holy Communion candidates, Mac and Kai, all the best for next Sunday and we recognise the work of Miss Della Bosca in preparing them over the past term. Don’t forget all are welcome to attend Mass on the 15th of  September.

Don’t forget our Learning Journey next Tuesday the 10th of September for the Pre-Primary to Year Six students. Classrooms will open at 3.20pm and close at 5.30pm. Come and see the amazing activities and work your children have been engaged in over the past Semester under the guidance of their hard-working teachers.

The table below gives an indication of how your children have fared in their recent NAPLAN tests in comparison to all other CEWA schools across the state. A reminder that NAPLAN results are to be viewed as one test completed on one day during the testing period. They are only one indication of how students perform. The students at St Mary's are tested regularly using a wide range of test formats. You are encouraged to contact your child's teacher to keep abreast of these results throughout the year.

A man went to the beekeeper to get 12 bees. He counted the bees and found he had 13.

He said to the Beekeeper, ‘You gave me one extra’.

‘That’s a freebie’, the Keeper said.

(This weeks' "Mum" joke comes from Miss Della Bosca)

God Bless.

Mr H.

Pre-Primary

This term the children have had a go at some Drama and have been miming different animals.

We read the book ‘Carnival of the animals” and through movement matched the music and instruments to the animal’s characteristics. The Pre primary class have continued to learn about the elements of music like pitch (high and low) and tempo (fast and slow).

Year One and Two

Last term, Year 1 and 2 studied the Music of the visiting Music Viva performance group called Music in my suitcase. They learnt their songs, the actions and even tried singing them in different languages. The Year 1 and 2 favourite songs were the candle song and the Billy Goat song.

This term’s focus has been Drama skills and has looked at the fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk”. We used the story line to create scenes and practice our characterisation. The class has also been looking at Music in different cultures and been moving and singing to songs from different times and places.

Year Three and Four

Last term, Year 3 and 4 studied the Music of our visiting Music Viva performance group called Music in my suitcase. They learnt their songs, actions and even had a go at learning them in different languages. In term 3 the class have been focusing on Drama. They have been playing Drama games to build on improvisation skills and using facial expression and movement to show a character. Fairy tales such as Snow White and Jack and the Beanstalk have been the stimuli to inspire scenes and build characterisations skills.

Year Four, Five and Six

Last term the 4,5 and 6 classes studied the Music of visiting Music Viva performance group called Music in my suitcase. They learnt their songs, actions and created their own dances and lyrics to their Music.

The Year 4 and 5 class have focused on the fairy tale Snow White and have done some excellent performances using the story as their stimuli. Currently, the class are rehearsing a script for a whole class performance of Snow White.

The 5 and 6 class have been learning foundation Drama skills and have been delving into creating tableaux, where they investigate the thoughts and motivations behind characters.

Musica Viva came for a visit in June, this year we had Music in my Suitcase presented by a trio band called Mara.

Music In my suitcase is a show that brings music, songs, instruments and culture from around the world, such as Turkey, Wales and France. The children thoroughly enjoyed singing and moving along to their songs and some even joined in with dances they had created during the term.

The weather gods were kind today with some beautiful weather compared to yesterday and it made for a lovely day for this years carnival. Mackillop made the most of the sunshine and brought their best legs to their marching efforts taking out the marching shield for 2024!! 

But they were no match for the mighty Salvatorians who finished on top for the day taking out the overall shield with 991 points,  St Josephs came in in second place with 849 points and Mackillop in third place with 832 points. 

All our students demonstrated a fantastic display of sportsmanship and made us all proud of our little Saints!! Thank you to all our wonderful helpers, without you days like today would not be possible!!! Congratulations to all the place getters! Individual results and photos will be published in next week's Bulletin. 

Below is all of the information you need regarding the Colour Run for 2024. Your child/ren were given this information on Monday the 5th of August with an attached brochure, make sure you check their school bags!!

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.

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.

Merredin: Saturday 6.30pm & Sunday 10.30am

Kellerberrin: Sunday 8.00am

Open Wednesday 8.30am-9.10am

Online Orders: www.quickcliq.com.au