2023 Term 2 Week 8
Dear Parents and Carers,
Today the Clarence Valley Conservatorium (CVCON) presented an amazing showcase of its music program. If you are interested in your child accessing CVCON lessons at school or need any further information, please refer to the Compass News Feed Announcement.
Congratulations to the students who participated in the Grafton Eisteddfod. We are very proud of the hard work you put into learning your routines and the courage you displayed on the day. A huge thank you to the time and effort that the teacher put into leading these groups. Well done everyone!
Infants Verse Speaking - 2nd place
Infants Choir - Highly Commended
Senior Verse Speaking - 2nd place
Senior Choir - Highly Commended
Dance Group - Highly Commended
The Semester 1 reports will be available later this month. Student reports are distributed to parents via Compass, if you need any assistance logging in or downloading the app, please contact the office for assistance.
Our annual Footy and Fairies day is this coming Wednesday! Wear your favorite footy team colours or fairy costume and order some great food from the canteen via the Flexischools app. Thank you to the P and F for organising the fairy bread and pies! This is a wellbeing day and we will not be collecting donations on the day.
Our school as part of the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Limited (DLCSL), like all child-safe organisations, is implementing the Child Safe Standards. As a part of this work, we share our Child Safeguarding Commitment Statement which reinforces our dedication to the safety and wellbeing of all children.
Please take the time to read the commitment statement and if you have any questions please discuss with the school leadership team. We will continue to engage with you on this important matter.
The UNE Discovery Voyager team will visit our school on Wednesday 28 June. The students will have the opportunity to participate in two 45 minute interactive sessions. The team aims to inspire students, draw on their natural curiosity and existing knowledge of the world they live in, and cultivate confidence and can-do attitude through hands-on and play based activities. The activities align with and extend outcomes and content from the NSW Science and Technology Syllabus as well as other STEAM related content including the fields of ecology, paleontology, geology and a museum escape room. The cost per student is $5, please ensure you have paid and given consent for your child to attend prior to the date. You can find this information under ‘Events’ on Compass.
We ask that you keep our students making their Confirmation in your prayers as they continue their learning in preparation for their special day. Bishop Gregory will visit Grafton and confirm the students on Friday 23 June. All members of our school community are welcome to attend this special sacrament.
A key aspect of the mission goal in our School's Annual Improvement Plan is for staff and students to develop a deeper connection to St Mary's Primary's historical context. As part of this, our school will engage in the performance, 'Catherine McAuley's Mercy', hosted by the Starrs Productions team, to further develop their understanding of the life of Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. This performance will be presented in two sessions on Tuesday 20 June 2023. A Compass Event has been created for children to register and pay for the event, the cost of which has been subsidised by the school.
Mrs Tanya Stackman will be leaving St Mary’s at the end of the term. Tanya has been a valued member of our team in particular with her dedication to Kindergarten and the Mini Mary’s transition to school program. While the staff and students will miss Tanya and her contributions to our school, we are excited for her and congratulate Tanya on her new role.
Mrs Maartje Jansen will be leaving at the end of Week 5 in Term 3 as she prepares to welcome her second child. Maartje has been working in Year 2 this year on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays. We wish Maartje and Corey well for the arrival of their new baby, we know that Pippa will make a great big sister.
We are in the process of recruiting these teaching positions and will inform the community as soon as they have been finalised.
Warm regards from the Executive Team
Jacki, Matt and Jas
Please note the following pupil free days:
Friday 30 June - Term 2 Week 10
Monday 17 July - Term 3 Week 1
Friday 22 September - Term 3 Week 10
Monday 9 October - Term 4 Week 1
Friday 3 November - Term 4 Week 4
The final day of the 2023 school year for students is:
Friday 15 December - Term 4 Week 10
St Mary’s Primary 2023 Important Dates
(subject to change please check our website for calendar updates)
Term 2
Wednesday 21 June - Footy and Fairies Dress up day + party pies and fairy bread at canteen
Friday 23 June - Sacrament of Confirmation for Year 3 with Bishop Greg
Wednesday 28 June - UNE Discovery Team
Thursday 29 June - Zone Athletics Carnival for selected students
Friday 30 June - Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day
Term 3
Monday 17 July - Staff PL Day - Pupil Free Day
Thursday 20 July - PJ Day + Milo day
Friday 4 August - Writer’s Festival with pizza lunch
Tuesday 15 August - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Liturgy
Friday 25 August - Book Week Dress up day and Parade - 9am start
Friday 1 September - Father’s Day breakfast and liturgy
Monday 4 September - Stage 3 Camp to Lake Ainsworth TBC
Friday 8 September - St Mary’s Feast Day celebrations and open classrooms
Thursday 14 September - R U OK? Day - yellow dress up day
Friday 22 September - Staff PL day - Pupil Free Day
Term 4
Monday 9 October - Staff PL day - Pupil Free Day
Friday 13 October - Socktober
Tuesday 17 October - P and F Disco 5.30 start
Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 October - CSO Band - Wildfire visit
Friday 27 October - World Teacher’s Day in Australia
Friday 27 October - Day for Daniel - Red dress up day
Thursday 2 November - Jacaranda Thursday - school closed
Friday 3 November - Staff PL day - Pupil Free Day
Friday 10 November - Remembrance day liturgy 10.35am start
Tuesday 21 November - Year 5 Leadership speeches
Thursday 7 December - End of Year Mass and Awards ceremony
Friday 8 December - Stage party and colour run; class rewards day; and Christmas Shirt day.
Wednesday 13 December - Year 6 Grad dinner
Thursday 14 December - Year 6 fun day
Friday 15 December - Year 6 farewell assembly and last day of the year for students.
Attendance
Recently the School Attendance Procedure was updated across the Diocese and we wanted to share a couple of points with you, some you will know and some will be new.
- If your child is arriving to the school after 8:45am please sign them in at the office.
- Please use Compass to record full day absentees. Partial absences are recorded by staff when students are signed in and out of the office.
- Students who leave a school event early will have a partial absence recorded.
- A medical certificate or other documentation may be requested where frequent absences due to illness occur.
- Generally, extended leave (greater than 10 days) during the school term would not be approved. These absences are recorded on the roll as unjustified and a completed Form 01 Extended Leave Notification Travel/Other Greater than 10 Days is required.
- In exceptional circumstances parents may complete an Form 02 Approved Extended Leave Application - Travel/Other Greater than 10 Days for consideration by the Principal, explaining why an absence for extended leave is in the best educational interest of the student. The Principal may decline or accept this application.
Child Safe Standards
Our school as part of the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Limited (DLCSL), like all child-safe organisations, is implementing the Child Safe Standards. As a part of this work, we share our Child Safeguarding Commitment Statement which reinforces our dedication to the safety and wellbeing of all children.
Please take the time to read the commitment statement and if you have any questions please discuss with the school leadership team. We will continue to engage with you on this important matter.
St Mary's Primary School P&F
The P&F are an important group within our school. We understand that it is not always possible to attend the meetings due to time restraints of family and work. We value everyone's thoughts and ideas, and therefore invite parents to use the link below to share agenda items with us.
Please check the school calendar for the date of the next meeting.
Emergency Management Planning
eSafety Advice for Parents - thinkUKnow
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) are urging families to be proactive this school year and update the privacy settings on children’s devices to help prevent predators from contacting them online.
The AFP-led ThinkUKnow program – Australia’s first and only nationally delivered, law enforcement-led online safety program – has produced guides for parents and carers.
- Gaming devices and what you need to know
- Parent and carer social media starter kit
For more information, visit this website.
Parent Guide to DIBELS Assessment (Primary)
School Fees
Healthy Lunch Box Ideas
Road Safety
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Kiss and Drop Zone in Turf Street
Just a reminder that the Kiss and Drop Zone is currently signed as a one minute parking zone. This means that you cannot park your car in the kiss and drop zone for an extended period. The students arrive at Kiss and Drop at 3pm and are supervised in this zone until 3.20pm. Please consider arriving closer to 3pm for collection.
The Kiss and Drop is designed for you to stay in your car while your child enters the car. If your child cannot open the car door and secure their own seatbelt, you need to park your car in the designated parking areas and walk to the gate to collect your child. The Kiss and Drop Zone does not function effectively and becomes congested if there are any hold ups or delays.
The school does not request the presence of the Grafton Police to manage traffic at the front of the school. However, there is a regular police presence on Turf Street monitoring the safety of the school zone. Please ensure that you adhere to all traffic signs in the area to avoid fines.
Please check out our school Safe Travel webpage that details all the processes for travel to and from school.
Parking in Hoof Street
There are a small number of parking spaces near the Sunrise Shop (corner of Hoof and Turf Streets) for use by their customers. To assist this small business we suggest parking away from the corner.
Child Protection
St Mary's Primary School is committed to ensuring we provide a safe environment for students. We are required to meet the statutory obligations of the legislation relating to child protection and the policies and guidelines set out by the Catholic Schools Office. The Child Protection Policy can be found on the webpage.
Working With Children Check (WWCC)
At St Mary's we are committed to creating and supporting a culture of safety for children and ensuring that children are protected. All employees and volunteers are required to have a current WWCC.
NB - The vast majority of volunteers in schools are parents of a child attending the school at which they are volunteering (eg reading groups, fetes, camps, excursions and canteen) and therefore do not require a WWCC. Exceptions to this are
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volunteers interacting one-on-one with a child not their own,
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working with children who have a disability,
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offering mentoring services,
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when the volunteer is not a parent or close relative.
Anti-bullying and Wellbeing
Bullying is a serious offence and is not acceptable in our school. All alleged violations and every act of bullying will be duly investigated, and parents/carers informed.
The anti-bullying policy can be found on the school's webpage.
