St Mary's Catholic School Wellington eNewsletter

Our Vision

St Mary's Catholic School is a Christ centred, inclusive community where individuals are supported to learn at high levels and to grow spiritually, socially and physically.

"We have gifts that differ, according to the grace given to each of us." (Romans 12:6)

Principal's Message

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will have life even if they die.”
John 11:12

Welcome back for the beginning of Term 2.

During the break many St Mary’s students represented St Mary’s at the Wellington ANZAC parade and service. Congratulations to all students and staff for honouring those who have served for our country, some of whom have paid the ultimate price.

Last week our Year 5-10 students had the opportunity to participate in either on-country or off-country experiences, providing an opportunity for us to learn about the history and culture of Wiradjuri and Awabakal peoples. Students are commended on their participation and engagement during the 3 days. Thanks to Jo Hodges and Danielle Sears for your planning and inspiration that made everything possible.

Next week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week at St Mary’s. Shaping future leaders through Faith, Service and Excellence is the focus this year for our Catholic Schools. Please support national Walk Safely to School day on Friday, by walking your children all or part of the way to school. Then join us in the quadrangle for a light breakfast followed by a visit to your child’s classroom.

Please pray for Pope Leo XIV who was elected overnight as our new Pope, that he will guide the Catholic church with his wisdom, knowledge and faith.

Wishing all of our Mother’s and mother figures a blessed Mother’s day this weekend.

Kind regards,
Mrs Leanne Clarke
Principal

Diary and Important Dates

Monday 19 May - Pupil Free Day / Staff Development Day

Week 3

Monday 12 May
Catholic Schools Week | 8.50am K-6 Assembly in Quad | Year 5 Visit Maranatha House

Tuesday 13 May
Year 4 Parent/Teacher Conferences | Shrek Rehearsals 3.30pm | Parent Cultural Advisory Group 5.00pm

Wednesday 14 May
Hear Our Hearts Bus Visit

Thursday 15 May
Regional Touch Tamworth | Bunning Garden Workshop

Friday 16 May
Primary DIO Rugby Trials | Walk Safely to Schools & Open Classrooms | Primary Dio Rugby Trials

Week 4

Monday 19 May
Pupil Free Day Staff Development Day

Tuesday 20 May
Vaccination Catch Up Years 7 & 10

Wednesday 21 May
P & F Meeting 5.30pm | National Simultaneous Storytime

Thursday 22 May

Friday 23 May
Our Lady Help of Christians Mass K-6 | Newsletter

Religious Education News

Sacramental Calendar

The Sacraments are important rituals in our Catholic faith through which we experience God’s love. Our sacramental year groups are Years 2, 3 and 5. Students older than these year groups may be involved with a sacrament if requested. This week's newsletter includes a Sacramental Calendar. Please check the dates for the sacraments involving your child. The calendar will also be shared through Compass.

Sacrament of First Holy Communion

For students in Year 3 or higher, the Sacrament of First Holy Communion will be available this term. The school will support Fr Carl in preparing the students for the sacrament. For those families wishing to enrol a child into the Sacrament of First Holy Communion, there is an enrolment Mass and information session tomorrow Saturday 10 May, at St Patrick’s Church.

The Mass will begin at 5:00pm, and the information session will follow the Mass. Those seeking the sacrament for their children must attend this enrolment. Please note that children seeking the Sacrament of First Holy Communion must be baptised and have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Sacrament of First Holy Communion will be on Saturday, 21 June at the 5:00 pm Mass.

Vale Pope Francis

Since our last newsletter at the end of Term 1 we have sadly lost our Pope, Pope Francis. It has been a true blessing to have had Francis as our Shepherd for the past 12 years. He had a profound effect on the Catholic Church. His humility, simplicity, wisdom and the way he led and challenged are a true reflection of the life of Jesus. He chose service, not comfort; sacrifice, not privilege; compassion, not complacency. Yesterday, 133 cardinals went into ‘lockdown’ in the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City, to discuss, pray and vote on the next pope. They call this lockdown the Conclave. They will not emerge until the new Pope is elected. The Conclave that started in 1268 lasted for 2 years, 10 months!. It took 24 hours to elect Pope Francis. We pray for the 133 cardinals that their discernment is guided by God and they reveal another true leader for our Catholic faith.

Mother’s Day Mass

Wishing all our mums and mother figures a wonderful Mother’s Day this Sunday. Please join our school community at the Parish Mass this Saturday night to celebrate Mother’s Day. Our Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 classes will lead this celebration. We would love you to be there at the 5:00 pm Mass.

Mr Christopher Stevens
Leader of Ministry and Mission

St Patrick's Parish Sacramental Calendar 2025

National Reconciliation Week Mass Invite

School Information

School Uniform

From the beginning of next week (Week 3) the transition period between summer and winter uniform will end. All Kindergarten to Year 10 students are asked to wear their full winter uniform from this point on, including the correct maroon school jumper.

If your child is waiting on a uniform item and is unable to wear the correct full uniform on a given day, please send a note to their classroom or Pastoral Care teacher.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Thank you to parents and carers who were able to attend our Term 2 Parent/Teacher Conferences this week. If you were unable to attend and would like to meet with your child’s teacher(s), please contact the office to organise an appointment.

Year 4 conferences with Ms Aleksandrovics will be held this coming Tuesday 13 May. All Year 4 conference bookings can be made through the Compass app.

Mr Allan Jones
Assistant Principal

School Wide Positive Behaviour for Learning SPB4L

SPB4L Focus- Respect Other Learners

A new SPB4L focus will be launched next week across all K-10 classes. St Mary’s staff will be promoting the ‘Respect Other Learners’ focus, which will provide students with simple strategies on maintaining positive learning environments and encourage them to be confident and to try their best.

A reminder that the Cub Credit shop is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during lunchtime. New prizes are added each term which can be purchased with the Cub Credits earned for excellent efforts in learning and behaviour in Year 3 to 6 classrooms.

Mr Allan Jones
Assistant Principal

Learning Matters

K-2

“Mothers hold their children's hands for a while but their hearts forever.’

K-2 embarked on a new and exciting adventure with our theme of ‘Once upon a time’. Students will dive into the world of fairy tales and nursery rhymes, adding of course some exciting twists to these traditional stories.

Thank you to all parents/carers who were able to attend parent/teacher interviews this week. If you were unable to attend and would like to catch up with your child’s teacher please contact the office to make an appointment.

Happy Mother’s Day to our wonderful mums, nans, aunties and other special women in our lives. May you enjoy your special day with your families.

Ms Kellie Rich
K-2 Leader of Learning

Year 3-6

St. George Dragon's Visit

Last week students in Kindergarten to Year 4 attended a visit from members of the St. George Rugby League organisation. Students learnt some valuable information about resilience and practiced strategies to use when they are feeling frustrated. Students had their chance at asking a few questions of the players and staff who attended. It was a fantastic experience for the students, especially our young Dragon’s fans!

Mr John Nugent
3-6 Leaders of Learning

Year 7-10

Last week 7-10 students experienced our on & off country excursions. I was privileged to take students away to Yula-Punaal and we had the most amazing experience. Aunty Tammy, Aunty Louise, Aunty Kathryn and Uncle Victor made us all feel welcome, shared their stories and culture with us. We learnt how to look after the country and how it will give back to us. Some of our favourite activities were making lemon myrtle tea bags and biscuits, clay sculpture, weaving, making a gunyah (getting leeches), traditional dance, rope making and lots of yarning. I could go on all day, check out the photos and stories later in this newsletter.

It was excellent to see so many parents and carers at our parent/teacher interview this week. If you were not able to attend and wish to discuss your child's progress throughout Term 1 please make an appointment with teachers through the school office..

The majority of subjects will have a formal examination in the hall during week 7 this term. Students can start making study cards, completing quizzes and re-writing key notes in preparation for these Assessment tasks. How can you help your child? Have they got a dedicated study space that's free from distractions plus access to coloured pens/paper/cardboard.

Mrs Tammy Nugent
7-10 Leader of Learning

Sport News

CCC Touch Football

Well done to our 3 girls who competed at the NSW CCC Touch Trials on the Central Coast last week. Brydie Chandler, Annabel Roberts and Sophie Wykes played for the Bathurst Diocese and all teams made the finals which was a great result.

Primary Cross Country

Well done to all students who participated in the Diocesan Cross Country in Coolah and thank you to Mr Jones for attending this event and to our parents for supporting the students. Congratulations to Sophie Finn who has progressed to the Polding Cross Country in Sydney.

Regional Touch Football

Good luck to our 7-8 girls Touch Football Team who will be traveling to Tamworth next week for the regional carnival. The girls have been training hard and are ready to compete.

Primary Diocesan Rugby Union Trials

Good luck to Jackson Angell, Will Carney, Flynn Feringa, Jasper Telfer and Geordie Mason who will be representing us next week at the Bathurst Diocesan Rugby Union Trials.

Mr Alistaire Thompson
Sport Coordinator

MFPS Parents Newsletter

Catholic Schools Week May 12 -16

St Mary’s is celebrating Catholic Schools Week next week.

We will start early with Mother’s Day Mass on Saturday 10 May 5pm at St Patrick’s.

During the week some student activities across the school will include a Maranatha visit, Year 10 Unearthing Science experiences, a visit from the Hear our Heart bus, Bunnings Garden workshop and participation in Walk Safely to School day and open classrooms on Friday morning.

St Mary’s families are invited to walk your child safely to school on Friday morning, join us for a light breakfast in the quadrangle and between 8.50 and 9.20 to walk through your children’s classrooms. Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday.

Changes to St Mary’s School Drop Off and Pick Up

In the mornings and afternoons access to the school can be through either Percy Street, Warne Street or the Gisborne Street gates.

These gates are opened at 8.20am each morning for student access and reopened at 3.10pm at the end of the school day. Students being collected from the new Warne Street entrance will now be walked to the gate by a K-2 staff member at 3.10. Parents are asked to wait outside the gate to collect their child.

The Warne Street and Gisborne Street gates will be closed at 3.20pm and after this time, school access will be available only through the main Percy St entrance until 4.30pm.

If you are unavoidably late for the collection of your child/children, they will be sent to the front office at 3.20pm for pick up.

Annual School Improvement Surveys

CEDB Annual School Improvement surveys were distributed to St Mary’s families on Thursday 8 May via email. Please take the time to complete this survey as it provides valuable feedback to support our school moving forward.

Library News

Term 2 favourite book sharing kicked off in the library this week. Thank you to those students who shared their favourite books.

So much fun has been had sharing our favourite books in library and also with our buddies. Thank you to everyone who brought in books to share. Having time to share books is such a wonderful way to encourage book talks amongst students. It was great to see some students really thinking about a book their buddy might also enjoy reading.

Preparations are underway and great excitement is building for National Simultaneous Storytime, which will be held in just under two weeks time on Wednesday, May 21. Students have been busy creating cat artworks to enter into this year's St Mary's NSS Art Competition. Everyone is encouraged to enter an artwork from school and one from home. There are some purr-fect prizes up for grabs!

National Simultaneous Storytime Art Competition

Renaissance Reading

Congratulations to Rupert Comiskey, Maeve Donovan, Jack O'Leary, Henry Donovan, Caylee Johnston, Jim Nugent, Lochlan Salmon, Geordie Mason, Annabel Roberts, Sophie Finn, Liya Justin, Genevieve Power, Henry Wright and Frederick Redfern on being our top Renaissance Readers for Term 1!

Yesterday, these amazing readers were treated to a special lunch in the library. On the menu were hot dogs with all the trimmings and ice cream spiders-Yum! Year 4 and 1/2C students also received their own casual clothes day and ice block treat for being our Golden Book Trophy winners for Term 1. I hope all reward recipients enjoyed their special awards and a reminder that our Term 2 Renaissance Reading competition has already begun, so get busy reading!!

Book Club Issue 3 should have been sent home with students earlier this week, if you missed out please ask class teachers for a copy. Scholastic brochures can also be viewed online. The School gains free resources from any purchases made from Book Club by families. You are under no obligation to buy, although if you would like to place an order you can either register online or send your order into the school office. Details to order online are on the back page of the catalogue. If you are having any difficulties with orders, please contact the school. Issue 3 orders are due next Tuesday, May 13.

Mrs Hayley Jones
Librarian

Scholastic Book Club Promo

Maranatha House Visit

On Monday 5th May Year 6 visited Maranatha and still keeping up the excitement of craft activities we made paper flowers with the elderly to celebrate Mother's Day. We used 7 paper cup cake holders per flower and as you can see from the photos it was an activity that everybody could easily do. With the cup cake holders mix of colours we put together special combinations of the favourite colours of each elderly person. It was a delightful and very busy afternoon and you would be extra proud of the class as they worked together to collect all the leftover sections for reuse! Well done year 6.

Louise Hennessy
Community Wellbeing Program Manager

On Wednesday 30th April we set off on a cultural experience from Wiradjuri country, across Wonnarua country, down to Awabakal country on the boundary of Darkinjung Country to visit Yula Punaal at Mandalong.

Students were Welcomed by Aunty Tammy & Uncle Victor Wright, Aunty Kathryn Freeman, Aunty Louise Campbell.

Students were immersed in culture from the time they stepped off the bus with a water blessing and smoking ceremony. Bush tucker surrounded us. Aunty Tammy took us on a bush tucker walk, teaching the plants, their traditional names and uses. Students also harvested plants for weaving, Lemon Myrtle for making tea, Johnny cakes and Short bread for afternoon tea. The girls weaved out in the Punaal (Sun) then later Women's Business with Iesha Wright while the Boys were happy making the short bread with Aunty Tammy then later met up with Ramsey Freeman for Men’s business.

Aunty Kathryn cooked and spoiled us with native bush flavours of bush tomato and native oregano Chicken curry, Bush mint chocolate brownies, Johnny cakes with wattleseed cream and finger lime jam.

The last night we participated in a “Washing of the feet” ceremony. Aunty Tammy had combined a Catholic tradition incorporated with Aboriginal spirituality values. Our students engaged respectfully through the whole camp, the traditional knowledge and Yarns shared with our students and staff will begin the Songline of the journey St Mary’s Wellington made Off Country, visiting Awabakal country. A Massive Thank you to the students who volunteered to be a part of this Deadly Cultural opportunity and to Yula Punaal for donating some bush tucker plants for us to begin our own Bush Tucker Garden at our school.

Ms Jo Hodges
AEO