Dear Parents and Carers,

This last week of term has been a real highlight for us all at St Mary’s. After a very long and busy 9 weeks of school, we have had some very special occasions in recent days. The K-2 Eggstravaganza and yesterday’s Sunflower Day brought out the very best in our students and have made us exceptionally proud to be their teachers.

Sunflowers for Ukraine 
I told the students this morning that in my time here as Principal, I haven't seen them be as perfect as they were during the Sunflowers for Ukraine liturgy in the hall. Despite the rain outside, the students’ behaviour was exemplary and their reverence and respect for the importance of the occasion was impressive. A very special thank you to Mrs Afflick, Year 5 and Year 1 for their efforts with the prayer service and to our wonderful Year 6 students and their families for bringing in so many cakes to sell. The face painting was also a big success. All money raised today will go directly to the CARITAS Ukraine appeal.

K-2 Eggstravaganza
What a big day we had! Our amazing Kinder to Year 2 teachers planned a fun day of Egg based activities for all students at St Mary’s and their families to enjoy. It was lovely to see so many young children with us in the morning session. Thank you to those parents who were able to find the time to be here and support us during the day. I imagine everyone, especially the staff, slept well that night!

Pupil Free Day
Tuesday April 26 is a Pupil Free day to enable the staff to travel to Canberra for Professional Learning. Together with staff from other schools, our teachers will be learning more about Catholic Education’s CATALYST program and High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP).

Term 2 Dates
Please keep an eye on our COMPASS Parent calendar for important Term 2 dates. All students return to school on Wednesday April 27. Week 2 is NSW Catholic Schools Week which is always a very busy and exciting one for us. During that week we will be having an Open Morning and School Tours, Kindergarten Teddy Bears Picnic, Year 6 Leadership Day, Totally Terrific Thursday (to make special gifts for mums) and finally our Mothers’ Day Breakfast and liturgy on Friday May 6. 

School Photos 
Our School Photo Day will be held earlier this year on Wednesday April 27, to capture students in their summer school uniforms. Please remember to send your children in their full summer school uniform on their first day back. Siblings photo forms have also been sent home for those parents wishing to order them. If you haven't already, please send back the forms back on the day.

Special School Assembly -  2021 Awards
On Monday May 16, we will be hosting a Special Whole School Assembly at 12:45 pm in the  Performing Arts Centre (PAC). We are finally able to gather together as a community and announce our Class Award recipients from last year. Normally we host an Awards Ceremony at the end of the school year but unfortunately COVID got in the way in 2021.

Please join us if you can to share in this special occasion. Parents are welcome to stay on and have another family picnic on the front lawns. Hopefully the wet weather will have passed by then because it's very soggy out there at present!

Community Council
On Friday, students will be coming home with raffle tickets for our School Community Council Mothers’ Day Raffle. Last year's fundraising went towards the school swimming program, significantly reducing costs to our families. Please support the Community Council by selling tickets to family and friends over the break. More raffle books are available from the front office if needed. 

Palm Sunday and Holy Week
In Religious Education lessons during Lent, the students have been learning about the significance of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. To support the learning that is happening in school, we encourage families to take their children to at least one of the Holy Week services at the Church. Thank you to those children who have volunteered to be involved in celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass.

And finally, thank you for an incredible first term of 2022. It has flown by so quickly and I am sure the staff and your children will need a decent rest. Wishing you a blessed and Happy Easter and please stay safe.

God’s blessings on you and your families.