Book Week

Our Teacher/Librarian, Mrs Hewitt, has organised and coordinated another successful Book Week for St Mary's. The Scholastic Book Fair was very well supported by families and students purchasing books to feed their reading appetites. Every class had webinars with authors and illustrators to attend every day as well as a daily quiz based on lots of books and characters they know.

On Wednesday we focused on the Australian Mem Fox classic, "POSSUM MAGIC". Every class read the book and completed activities based on the story. Year Six added to the day by hosting an Afternoon Tea with snacks found in the book. We had Lamingtons from Hobart, Anzac Biscuits from Adelaide, Pavlova in Perth, Vegemite sandwiches from North Australia and Chocolate Crackles from Crookwell !!

As part of Book Week, we had Mrs Barbara Doyle attend our Assembly on Wednesday. Mrs Doyle is a member of the Crookwell Evening VIEW club and she presented a prize and book voucher to Year Three student, Henry Butler for being a 'switched-on reader'. This award is part of the 'Learning for Life' program. Henry was chosen by staff as he has shown that he is a 'switched-on reader' who has made commendable and considerable progress in his reading this year.

CONGRATULATIONS HENRY !!

Northern Region Public Speaking Competition

Congratulations to our NR representatives. They have been chosen to represent us at the Northern Region Competition tomorrow, Friday 23 August.

Year 3 - JACK STRODE & BRIDIE McCORMACK - If Kids Ruled the World - 2 mins

Year 4 - HARRY FROST & JOE McCORMACK - Australian Stories- 2 mins

Year 5 - GRACE McCORMACK & RUBY PAPPALARDO - Learning from the Past - 3 mins

Year 6 - WILLIAM WALDRON & CHARLOTTE CROSBIE - Our Voices- 3 mins

The day begins with a morning tea hosted by the P&F at 9:30am with speeches beginning at 10:00am. Speakers are required to be present in their Winter uniform and may then change into Sport if they wish.

We wish them all the best of luck and are very proud of their efforts and success.

Picker Baby News

We offer our heartfelt Congratulations to Mrs Picker on the arrival of her beautiful baby boy. Ashlee, Ben, Claire and Issy welcomed Jack Jacob Picker on 10 August. We are eagerly awaiting a visit and a cuddle!!

Lunchtime Clubs

This Term we have begun with a new Lunchtime Club roster. We are blessed with a combination of willing Staff and Year 6 leaders who are generously giving their time to coordinate and run these special interest clubs for our students.

On offer is Cooking Club, Crochet Club, Origami Club, Indigenous Art Club, Board games/Chess Club and Sport Club.

George the Farmer

During the winter holidays Year One student, Camac Wilson and his family entered a competition to win a complete set of "George the Farmer " books.  They won and have generously donated the set to St Mary's for our students to enjoy. 

Thank you Wilson family !!!

RDA - Mounted Games

NSWPSSA Boys Netball Report 

Last week I went to Penrith Regional Netball Centre to play for the Western Plains Boys Netball Team. We all played very well and we got 2 wins,1 against North Coast and the other against Southern Inland. There were really tall and fit people there. Our hardest game was against Mid North Coast. After all the games they announced "possible" and "probables" which 2 players from our team made it to, Billie and Beau. Unfortunately, they both didn’t make the NSW team. There were 12 boys that got selected. I scored around 15 as a GS. We had an Aussie Kelpies player who was our manager from Hornsby and our coach was from Dubbo. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience over there and will definitely trial again next year. Harley Year 5

Tell Them From Me

The 'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey is based on a comprehensive questionnaire covering several aspects of parents' perceptions of their children's experiences at home and school. It is based primarily on Joyce Epstein's framework for fostering positive school and community relations. Successful schools foster greater communication with parents, encourage parental involvement in their child's
schoolwork, and enlist parents to volunteer at the school and participate in school governance. The survey also provides feedback to schools about how parents feel the school supports learning and positive behaviour and promotes a safe and inclusive environment.

The survey includes seven separate measures, scored on a ten-point scale. A score of 0 indicates strong disagreement; 10 indicates strong agreement; 5 is a neutral position (neither agree nor disagree).

The data gathered from this survey helps us form our Annual Improvement and Strategic Plans. Of course, we welcome a conversation at any point in time about concerns so that we can address these immediately. 

The data is also provided to the Catholic Education Office, and we would love them to hear about the wonderful things happening at St Mary's. Hence, we encourage all parents and carers to participate. The more responses we receive, the more accurate our data is.

The survey closes tomorrow, 23 August.

Important dates to note:

Fri 23 Aug - Northern Region Public Speaking

Fri 23 Aug - CWA Projects due

Tues 26 Aug - CECG Athletics at the AIS

Wed 28 Aug - Stage Two Canberra Excursion

Fri 6 Sep - St Mary's Feast Day

Wed 11 Sep - Whole school visit to GPAC for ARC experience

Fri 13 Sep - Yrs 3-6 at CHS Careers Day Expo

Fri 27 Sep - Kinder/Year One Showcase assembly

The School Explorers  - School Readiness Program

Is your little one starting school in 2025? Help them embark on an exciting educational adventure with "The School Explorers". Our next session will be with Kindergarten on Friday, 30th August.

All preschool-aged children are invited to attend regardless of school choice. Come along to all or as many sessions as suits you. Parents are welcome to stay for the session, leave your child in our capable hands, or a combination of both.

To register or for more information, don't hesitate to get in touch with Belinda on 48321 592. We can't wait to welcome your child to St Mary's!