Newsletter - 19th February 2025

Acknowledgement of Country

We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wadawurrung people.  It is a privilege to be standing on Wadawurrung country.  

We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.  We acknowledge the contributions of Indigenous Peoples from the past, present and future who contribute to this country in which we live.  

May Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians continue to work together to educate, unite and live in peace on this land we call home, Australia.

Upcoming Events

21st February:  Swim & Gym lessons commence

24th February:  Little Feet Big Footprint Session for Year 6 students

28th February:  Swim & Gym lessons

5th March:  Ash Wednesday Mass at St Brigid's Ballan

7th March:  Swim & Gym Lessons

8th March:  International Women's Day

10th March:  Labour Day Public Holiday

11th March:  School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development

12th - 24th March:  NAPLAN testing

14th March:  Swim & Gym Lessons

21st March:  Last Swim & Gym Lessons

25th March:  Celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, 5:30pm-6:30pm

4th April:  End of Term 1

Prayer

Messages from the Principal

It was lovely to see so many families come together last Wednesday at Kirks Reservoir to join in Mass to celebrate the beginning of the school year.  

A huge thank you to Sue for her work in organising the Mass and preparing the students and, of course, to Fr Matt for celebrating with us by showcasing his culinary skills at the pizza oven! His delicious homemade pizzas were a hit.  It was truly a night to remember and a wonderful way for everyone to kick off the school year together!

SACRAMENTS

This year our students will be preparing for their sacraments along with students from St Patrick’s Gordon and St Brigid’s Ballan.  Preparation has now commenced with the Parent Information Session held last night at St Brigid’s Ballan for Reconciliation.  If you have any questions regarding the sacraments for your child, please contact Sue Prendergast.

PARENT MEETINGS

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for those of you who have  attended recent school meetings. Your participation and engagement are invaluable to our school community. By taking the time out of your busy schedules to come in and meet with us, you've demonstrated your commitment to your child's education. These meetings allow us to foster a stronger partnership between home and school, which ultimately benefits our students. Thank you again for your continued support and involvement. It truly makes a difference!

FUNDRAISER BBQ AT THE SUNFLOWER FARM

The BBQ fundraiser at the Dunnstown Sunflower Farm on Saturday, 22nd February, has now been cancelled.

Many thanks to those of you who indicated you could help out on the BBQ or donate items towards the event.  We very much appreciate your offer and we will be in touch when future events arise.

SWIM AND GYM

Our Swim and Gym classes at the Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre commences this Friday, 21st February and run for 5 weeks.  Here is the schedule for Swim and Gym:

  11.10am                        Depart School 

  11.45am-12.30pm   Swimming Lesson 

  12.30pm-1:00pm    Get changed and eat lunch  

  1:00pm-2:00pm      Gym Lesson 

  2.30pm                         Return to school 

We will be leaving school at 11.10am and returning at 2.30pm.   Students will swim for the first 45 minutes, get changed back into their sports uniform, have a lunch break and then head into the gym for 60 minutes. 

Some notes about this:

• Students can wear their bathers under their sports uniform 
• Students need to bring a bag with a towel, undies/jocks and thongs, crocs or something similar ($2 shopping bags are ideal)
• Students may bring goggles if they wish
• Students will take their hat, lunch and water bottle with them.
• If you are planning to pick your child/children up from the Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre, please let your child’s teacher know.

PLAYGROUP

St Mary’s Playgroup recommenced last Tuesday, 11th February.  Playgroup runs every Tuesday of the school term between 9am and 11am.   Thanks to Melinda for organising this, it is always wonderful to see the smiles of the children and their parents. Please spread the word if you know someone who might be interested.

LITTLE FEET, BIG FOOTPRINTS - LFBF

Once again, our Year 6 students will be participating in “Little Feet, Big Footprints” this year. Next Monday, 24th February, Abbey, Emilia, Leah and Leo will join other Year 6 children from St. Brigid’s Ballan, St. Michael’s Daylesford, St. Patrick’s Gordon and St. Augustine’s Creswick, to participate in a ‘getting to know each other’ day. We will meet at Major League to play a number of sports and have lunch together. 

The purpose of this initiative is to give our young people the opportunity to:

•   grow deeper in self-awareness
•   expand their social and learning networks
•   grow in their leadership capacity
•   effect change in their immediate and broader communities

This initiative will continue to evolve throughout the year with regular opportunities for the students to engage with each other.  We see tremendous benefit and opportunity in this initiative for all of our Year 6 students, and look forward to them growing their self awareness, networks, and leadership capacity.

PUNCTUALITY

A huge thank you to everyone at home who is working hard to have their child/children at school on time.  Being at school, unpacked and ready to learn at 8.50am makes such a difference to the start of the school day for your child. Well done and let’s continue to keep this happening!

PRINCIPAL MEETING IN HORSHAM

This Thursday 20th and Friday 21st, I will be in Horsham at a Principals' Meeting with all primary principals from the Diocese.  Jenny will be in charge in my absence. 

God bless,

Clare

News from the Banksia Room

Adelaide:  On Wednesday at five o’clock the whole school went to mass at Kirk’s Reservoir with our families. Father Matt said mass under the shade of the trees. My favourite part was seeing my friends and being outside.  

Ellie:  The Banksia Room has been learning about the growth mindset. Having a growth mindset means you don't give up. You don’t say " I can't do it".  Instead you say "I can't do it … yet".

Pat:  This year we are doing STEAM with Jenny. 

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths.  This term we are focusing on Science and will become enthusiastic scientists.  This week we have started learning about solids, liquids and gases that are all types of matter. We can’t wait to do some fun experiments!

We created beautiful pictures with our buddies to go with the adapted Laudato Si letter from Pope Francis. The letter is called Fratelli Tutti which is Italian for ‘all brothers and all sisters’.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I have written you a letter because you are my friend.   Lately I feel like our world can be a bit sad.  I can see people not sharing and not including everyone.  I can see some people being mean to other people.

I can also see people wasting water and putting their rubbish into the Earth. 

Some people have lost their jobs and so they don’t have any money.  What about our older people?  Who is looking after them?  I can see that sometimes no one even visits them or calls them on the phone. 

Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan?  I want you to be like the Samaritan and not ignore others when they need your help.   God made you just so beautifully so that you can help people who need your help.  I wonder how your friendships are going?  I wonder if you are letting other people play with you?  I wonder if you are including other people, even people you may not be friends with yet.  Make sure you forgive people if they hurt your feelings because you want to be a peacemaker.

What about following the rules? Do you follow the rules? How can you help other people if you think they have forgotten the rules?

I know that you are an amazing person who God wants to bring happiness and joy to the world and I know you can do it!  Make sure you ask someone for help when you need it because we are all here to help each other - We are one family!  Let your little light shine!

Love from Pope Francis

Gumnut Room News

In the last newsletter, you learnt about the Banksia flower and how our students and school are like Banksia. However, we have discovered that the students at our school are like gumnuts too.

Students at St Mary’s can be like little gumnuts themselves—small but full of potential, ready to grow and flourish!  Here’s how they are like gumnuts:

🌱 Growing & Developing – Just like gumnuts eventually sprout into tall eucalyptus trees, students in the Gumnut Room are on a journey of growth, learning new skills, and gaining knowledge every day.

🍃 Unique & Special – No two gumnuts are exactly alike, just as every student has their own strengths, talents, and personality.

🌞 Nurtured by Their Environment – Gumnuts need sunshine, rain, and care to grow—just like students thrive in a supportive, encouraging and safe learning space.

🌿 Part of a Bigger Community – Gumnuts belong to a tree, just as students are part of their classroom, school, and wider community, all supporting each other.

Beginning of the Year Mass by Genevieve

Last Wednesday we had Mass at Kirks. It was a sunny and hot afternoon.  My job was to hold the posters that told everyone what part of the Mass was happening. I liked that we had the Mass outdoors.

I was a little sad when Fr Matt told us all that he was moving.  We will miss him when he goes.  

After Mass we celebrated together with pizzas made by Fr Matt in the pizza oven.  The pizzas were yummy! Thank you, Fr Matt. 

The Gumnut room have been working hard, continuing to learn about phonics. The long vowel sound ‘a’ made by the spelling choice ay and ai.  The spelling rule is that if the long vowel "a" sound is not at the end of a word you use ai, if it is at the end you use ay.  See the pictures - snail and spray.

Birthday Celebrations

It's been a busy start to the year and this includes birthday celebrations for some of our students:

Happy belated birthday to William who celebrated his birthday on 8th January and turned 10.  We hope you had a great day!

Skyler celebrated her birthday on 8th February, turning 7.  Congratulations Skyler, we're sure you celebrated in style!

Last weekend, on the 16th February, Abbey celebrated her 11th birthday.  Happy birthday Abbey, we hope you enjoyed your special day.

Sacramental Program

Structured Literacy and Latrobe University Study

You may have heard in the media over the past few months about the changes being undertaken by schools in the teaching of literacy.  We are fortunate enough to already be well on the way to implementing these new approaches including the explicit teaching of phonics. Attached to today’s newsletter is a letter outlining a study being undertaken by DOBCEL and Latrobe University researching the effectiveness of this new approach, through the collection of student data. 

Please read the attached letter for further information regarding the collection of student data and the option to opt-out.

Further information on Structured Literacy may be found on the link below.

Moorabool Health & Wellbeing Plan Survey

Moorabool Shire Council are currently consulting with community and community groups to inform the development of our next Health and Wellbeing Plan 2025-2029.

We would like to hear from a broad representation of people from across our Shire.

The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete and aims to capture responses on a range of health and wellbeing issues, as well as any ideas that individuals may have to improve the health and wellbeing of their communities.

In addition to the survey, quick answer postcards are available at each Council office and at our Libraries.  For further information please use the link below.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Wellbeing Barometer - 2025

The Wellbeing Barometer survey is an invaluable tool for schools, providing critical insights into the mental health and wellbeing of young people. This annual survey identifies areas of concern, highlights resilience and adaptability in students, and emphasises the importance of preventative strategies to promote positive outcomes.

Participation in this survey is strongly encouraged, as it offers a comprehensive view of students' experiences, challenges, and achievements. By capturing a detailed understanding of young people's experiences, the survey supports a tailored approach to enhancing their mental, emotional, and social wellbeing. It helps to identify strengths and areas for improvement, as well as pinpoint opportunities for early intervention.

The survey is part of an ongoing longitudinal study, and we encourage you to take a few moments to complete the survey for each of your children. Responses remain anonymous and should be based on your observations over the last 12 months. By working together, we can reduce the long-term impact of mental illness and make a meaningful difference to the lives of our young people for a brighter future.

Here is the link to your Special Report:

Inform & Empower

Futsal