Celebrating Reconciliation Week with Aboriginal-themed Literature Activities!

This week our school has been abuzz with activities centred around our Aboriginal community's rich culture and heritage.

Reconciliation Week, which takes place annually from May 27th to June 3rd, is a time for us to come together and celebrate the importance of building respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider Australian community. This year, our school decided to embrace the spirit of Reconciliation Week by organising a series of Aboriginal-themed literature activities, providing students with a wonderful opportunity to learn, engage, and appreciate the stories and wisdom of the oldest living culture on Earth. 

The activities aimed to immerse our students in Aboriginal culture and foster a deeper understanding of the contributions and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. By engaging with Aboriginal-themed literature, our students gained a deeper appreciation for the diversity of Australian culture and the importance of reconciliation.

We work to remember reconciliation is not limited to a single week—it is an ongoing process of learning, respecting, and building relationships. Let us carry the spirit of Reconciliation Week in our hearts as we celebrate and embrace the diversity that makes our school and community so vibrant.

We Need Your Input! Help Us Improve Communication

At St Mary's, we believe that strong communication between school and home is crucial for the success of our students. We want to ensure that you stay well-informed about the exciting events, important announcements, and educational initiatives taking place at our school. To achieve this, we need your valuable input!

As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance communication, we are conducting a brief survey to gather your preferences regarding the best platform for us to share school news and updates. We understand that everyone has unique preferences and lifestyles, so we want to ensure that our communication methods cater to your needs.

The survey will focus on three primary communication channels: the school newsletter, Compass messages, and social media. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete the survey and provide us with your feedback. Your responses will be crucial in shaping our communication strategy moving forward.

To access the survey, please click the following link: https://smpscrookwell.schoolzineplus.com/survey/30 

The survey will remain open until 15 June, so please submit your response before then.

2023 CECG Faith in Learning Staff Excellence Awards

Recognising exceptional contributions to the mission of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn

Nominations are now open for the 2023 CECG Faith in Learning Staff Excellence Awards.

You are invited to nominate a person or team working or volunteering at St Mary's Primary School and making an exceptional contribution to our school.

This is an online nomination process. Nominators will be asked to provide examples of how the nominee or nominees’ efforts would be objectively judged as exceptional beyond that expected of their role.

Award Categories

• Archbishop’s Award
• Director’s Award
• Teaching and Learning Awards
• Leadership Awards - Emerging Leader, School Leader
• School Education Support Award
• Parent, Carer and Volunteer Award
• Mission Award 

For more information about these categories or to nominate a staff member, parent, carer or volunteer, please visit https://cg.catholic.edu.au/2023-cecg-faith-in-learning-staff-excellence-awards/

Nominations close at 5pm on Friday 21 July, 2023.

Compass app and browser

Attendance

A kind reminder to please let the school know of any absences as soon as possible. This allows us to ensure our records are current and to plan for the day accordingly.

Adding an attendance note via Compass is straightforward, either on the app or the web browser. 

To access the shortcut on the app, look at the bottom of the page and select the blue circle with the plus in the middle. **Please note- ignore the word "close" under this symbol. It does not close the app**.  We hope to have this rectified in the coming weeks.

If you want to look at your child's attendance via the app, please select "More" at the bottom, then "Open in Browser". This will take you to the browser view (the same one you would see if using Compass on your computer). Select "Profile", which will take you to your child's profile dashboard. From there, you can select "Attendance", which will take you to the summary page. Any squares in red are days when your child has an unexplained absence. You can add a note by going to the "Notes" tab and selecting "Add Attendance Note".

Reports, Compass and absences

At the end of this term, your child's Semester 1 reports will be available on Compass. Your child's attendance record will be noted on these reports based on the information in Compass. Please check your child's profile to ensure the attendance information is current.

Events

All events and excursions information will now be on Compass, and any payment required will be made via Compass Pay. This will allow for consent and payment to be made in one transaction. If, for some reason, the consent will not go through, please go back through and ensure all required questions or information is filled out.

Payments

School fee payments are recommended via BPAY, as the school is charged a fee when using Compass Pay. However, Compass Pay is still a legitimate way to pay your school fees if needed. 

Compass Pay will be used for all school excursions and sporting events.

You can find the "Payments Centre" on the main dashboard of your browser or the app.

Latest News

All communication will be posted here—for example, sporting events, surveys, upcoming events, meetings, fundraising, etc. You can view old listings by selecting "Notifications" at the bottom of the app page.

You will also find the link to the "Changes to Travel Arrangements" form.