Principal Talk with Mrs Lowe
Term 3 Key Dates
| August/Sept | School Explorers Program - Postponed 7/8, 14/8, 21/8, other dates to be confirmed |
| Monday 10 August |
School Counsellor visit. Contact the Office for bookings |
| Wednesday 12 August |
School Public Speaking Competition Years 3-6 - Live streamed for spectators on Zoom 2248 321 592 from 12.10pm |
| Friday 21 August |
Jump Rope for Heart - Live streamed for spectators on Zoom 2248 321 592 |
| Monday 24 August |
School Counsellor visit, contact the Office for bookings |
| Wednesday 27 August | Northern Region Public Speaking Competition Years 3-6 - Live streamed for spectators |
| Monday 7 September |
School Counsellor visit, contact the Office for bookings |
| Tuesday 8 September |
St Mary's Feast Day |
| Wednesday 9 September |
Cricket NSW Gala Day Years 3-6 (TBC) |
| Friday 25 September |
Showcase of Learning 12.30pm (TBC) |
| End of term |
NSW Schools COVID Updates
St Mary’s Primary School and Catholic Education continue to take advice from health authorities in relation to COVID-19. The Catholic Education Office has a team that is actively monitoring the COVID-19 situation as it develops, paying particular attention to local hotspots and organising support for schools where required. St Mary’s Primary School is practising all safe hygiene practices in line with government advice. We understand that the situation is fairly fluid, and we will communicate directly with you should there be any important changes in relation to our school operations in the coming weeks. We remind all families:
- If your child is unwell, they should not attend school.
- Please ensure that anyone who presents with COVID-19 symptoms in your family is tested.
- Parents should avoid routinely entering the school where possible but can attend scheduled school events and meetings with teachers where required (physical distancing and hygiene measures still apply).
Should you have any questions in relation to our school and COVID-19, please feel free to contact our office.
Fee Relief
Currently, the Catholic Education Office is offering fee remissions to each parent/carer who is responsible for payment of school fees, if they have suffered a reduction in their primary source of income due to one of the below criteria as a result of COVID-19:
- Redundancy
- Stand down
- Reduction in hours
- Business owners - closure
- Business owners - reduced turnover
- Loss of income - carers duty
- Loss of income - infection/quarantine
- Other reasons not listed above
This information is obtained from the COVID-19 Fee Assistance Request Form, please refer to Attachment A. Please make an appointment to see me if you require more information about this.
CWA Grants
At the end of the year, the Southern Tablelands Group of the Country Women's Association (CWA) of NSW will award 15 Education Grants to children who will enter secondary school in 2021. Each Branch within the Group will award on grant of $250.
Our Branch includes our school, Crookwell Public School and Laggan Public School.
All of our Year 6 students are eligible to apply. The closing date for applications is 30 September 2020. Application forms can be collected from the school office and need to be submitted with a Principal reference.
School Public Speaking Competition
Our Public Speaking Competition will occur for primary classes on Wednesday 12 August with a twist this year. We will be holding a virtual version to accommodate current COVID restrictions, so it will be streamed live through Zoom.
To watch the speeches go to https://zoom.us/, click on 'Join a Meeting' and type in the Meeting ID 2248 321 592. The video conference will start at 12.10pm with Year 6 speeches, followed by Year 5, Year 4 and then Year 3.
Each class will have approximately five students present to Years 2 - 6 and the staff in the Old Hall.
From our School Public Speaking Competition, two students from each year level will be selected to compete virtually at the Northern Region Competition on Thursday 27 August. Following that, the Archdiocesan Public Speaking Finals, hosted by St Patrick’s Parish School Cooma, will be held on Thursday 22 October 2020.
The Northern Region Public Speaking Competition will have this same format so live streaming our school contest will also give us a chance to practise the digital format and iron out any issues that may arise.
The aim of this competition remains the same; to help students speak more effectively, have better communication and gain more confidence in speaking in front of others.
Speeches will be judged on the following criteria:
- Delivery
- Suitability and Audience Interest
- Content and Creativity
- Organisation
- Timing
Timing for speeches:
- Stage 2 - 2 minutes; with a warning bell at 1 minute and 30 seconds and at 2 minutes
- Stage 3 - 3 minutes; with a warning bell at 2 minutes and 30 seconds and at 3 minutes
Topics are as follows:
- Year 3 Belonging in school
- Year 4 Kid power!
- Year 5 Words can hurt
- Year 6 Many voices, one land
Students will be working on their speeches in class and may be asked to refine and practise these for homework.
Update of personal details
Please let the Office know if you have changed your contact or address details to ensure we have the correct ones on file.
This also applies for medical or action plans.
CECG Review into Student Counselling and Wellbeing Services
In 2019, Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) engaged Integroe Partners to conduct an independent review into student counselling and wellbeing services in CECG schools. As part of this review, Integroe Partners conducted online surveys of parents, Principals, students and school staff.
They also conducted individual interviews and face to face consultation forums with parents, Principals, teachers and CECG staff. Integroe Partners also conducted face to face and online consultations with CECG’s primary provider of student counselling services, CatholicCare.
CECG would like to thank all those who participated in the review, especially those who travelled to Canberra for the face to face meetings as well as those who participated in the online surveys and forums. The information gained from the review enabled Integroe Partners to deliver an evaluation of existing programs, structures, systems and processes. Integroe Partners identified a diversity of
challenges across the schools in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, requiring a model of counselling and wellbeing service delivery that is flexible and responsive to the student wellbeing priorities of individual schools and their communities. Integroe Partners were also able to propose structures and systems aimed at delivering services to schools that reflect best contemporary practice, optimising resource efficiency into the future.
As part of its initial response to the findings and recommendations of the review, CECG has increased the school counsellor allocation for each of its schools for 2020 and have appointed a full-time Student Counselling and Welfare Manager. The Student Counselling and Welfare Manager will now look to work closely with schools, Principals and CECG staff to respond more fully to the review and to develop appropriate policies, procedures, frameworks and best practice to support high
quality school counselling practice and service delivery in our schools now and in to the future.
Shawn van der Linden,
Student Counselling and Welfare Manager
Website, SZapp and Digital Support
We have updated the website and SZapp to now include a "Parent Page". In this section, you will find the Absence form, Change to Travel Arrangements form, Tuckshop Roster and Helper form and Uniform Order form.
If you require any assistance with using or installing SZapp, please contact Belinda.
