End of Term One

As we end the first term, I want to take a moment to thank each of our staff and students for the hard work you've put in over the past few months. I am so proud of all that we have accomplished together.

To our incredible staff, thank you for your dedication to our students. You have all worked tirelessly to deliver engaging and challenging lessons, and your efforts have not gone unnoticed. You have truly made a positive impact on the lives of our students.

To our amazing students, thank you for your enthusiasm and commitment to learning. You have continued to strive for excellence. Your hard work and positive attitudes are inspiring.

And to our supportive parents, thank you for your partnership and encouragement. Your involvement in your child's education has been invaluable and has contributed to their success.

I would like to wish you all a blessed Easter break. May the joy of Easter fill your hearts with hope and renewed faith. May the blessings of this Holy season bring peace and happiness to our school community. May you find strength and courage to face any challenge that comes your way, and may you always remember the love and sacrifice Jesus made for us. 

Stage 3 Showcase of Learning

Today our Year Five and Six students presented their Showcase of Learning performances.

I would like to thank Year 5, Mrs Skelly and Mr Edwards, for their moving re-enactment of the Holy Week events and Year 6, Mrs Spackman and Mrs McCarthy, for showcasing the amazing talent of our senior students.

Congratulations to all the participants. 

Thank you, Elizabeth!

This week staff gathered to celebrate the remarkable career of Mrs Elizabeth Webber, one of our esteemed colleagues, who is retiring after 18 years of dedicated service to this school. 

Throughout the years, Mrs Webber has been a Classroom Support Assistant, dedicating herself to providing our students with the best possible learning experience. She has tirelessly advocated for our students, always going above and beyond to meet their needs.

As Mrs Webber embarks on a new chapter in her life, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for her outstanding service to St Mary's Primary School. Her presence will be deeply missed, but her legacy will continue to live on in the hearts and minds of those she has touched.

Congratulations, Mrs Webber, on a job well done. We will miss you, but we know that you will always remain a valued member of our school community. Farewell and best wishes for the future!

Carpet New

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the St Mary's Parents and Friends Association for your organisation and funding of the new carpet in our Year 2 classroom. Your support has made it possible to create a comfortable, warm and safe learning environment for our students.

Toys at School

We have recently noticed an increasing number of toys being brought to school. Please be aware that it is school policy that toys brought to school are the child's responsibility. The school does not take any responsibility for lost or broken toys.

We also request that toys that do not fit inside the student's bag not be sent to school. We have found that carting large toys to our play spaces is challenging and slow for the students.

Over the holiday break, we will purchase some large trucks and farm animals and designate an area for farm play. It has been lovely to watch the creativity and industry of some of our students with their imaginative play. 

School Student Broadband Initiative

To boost education opportunities and narrow the digital divide, the Australian Government is working with NBN Co to provide up to 30,000 families with no internet at home free NBN for 12 months. 

Families with school-age children will be nominated by participating schools to be eligible. 

A number of retail service providers have committed to providing free NBN services to families under this initiative: Aussie Broadband, Belong (Telstra), Exetel, Launtel, Lemonade Broadband (Connected Australia), SkyMesh, Superloop and Vodafone (TPG).

The first families will be connected during Term One in 2023. The one-year free service begins from the day the service is activated for each family.

The Government supports NBN Co’s implementation and delivery of this initiative with a $4.5 million grant. This is a targeted affordability initiative while the Government considers longer-term solutions to address digital exclusion and education.

To be eligible:

• A family with a student in their first year of compulsory primary school to year 12 is nominated by a participating organisation.  
• The nominated family has no active NBN service.
• The student can access digital skills training and devices to safely use the internet.

If you would like your family nominated for this service, please get in touch with Sarah Lowe.

For more information, visit https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications-arts/internet/national-broadband-network/school-student-broadband-initiative-ssbi 

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day falls at the end of the holidays on Tuesday, 25 April. We invite all students to participate in the ANZAC Day events.

St Mary's students are invited to march and lay wreaths at this year's Crookwell, Grabben Gullen and Taralga ANZAC Day services.

Students participating in the Crookwell events are asked to assemble for the March in the RSL car park from 10.40am. The March will move down Goulburn Street to the Memorial Park for the ANZAC Day Commemoration Ceremony. Students remain assembled until this Ceremony concludes.

Our students who wish to participate in the Taralga March and Commemorative Service are asked to assemble at the northern end of the main street, near Taralga Public School at 2.30pm. The children will march down the street to the Cenotaph for the Commemorative Service and wreath-laying. After this, our assembled group will disperse before the Memorial Hall program. 

Students are required to come dressed in their full winter uniform.

Seeing many of our students at these special ceremonies would be wonderful.

Aboriginal leader, Noel Pearson, last year described his people as “much unloved.”  In a distressing observation, he stated that although Australians “hold and express strong views on us…few have met us, and a small minority count us as friends.”

At this Easter time, we can see ongoing suffering continues in the everyday lives of our beloved First Australians: the high death rates in custody, imprisonment, the persistence of totally unacceptable socio-economic and health statistics, suicides, scattered opinions regarding a Constitutional “Voice to Parliament”, racist attitudes in sport, and so on.

The Crucified Christ also has an “Aboriginal face”.

Despised and rejected like Jesus, the Good Friday of their suffering continues seemingly unabated. 

With all wounded humanity, but especially our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus and receive redemption in the mercy of God.

Easter gives us hope that the Light has destroyed the darkness of alienation and brought us peace in “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  We WALK TOGETHER, embracing the Resurrected Victory of Jesus.  We carry each other, especially the battlers, closely on our final journey to the fullness of Resurrected glory.

Let us WALK TOGETHER with our First Australians. Practically, this means seeking them out in true friendship in our local communities. Also, trying our best to understand life from their perspective.  Practical help will follow. Over these coming months, a Constitutional “Voice to Parliament” will need ears that truly listen.

Then Australia will truly become the Australia God wants us to be – a Resurrected Missionary People washed clean in “the Blood of the Lamb” that lives forever in Easter hope and joy.

Happy Easter to all, Alleluia!

Archbishop Christopher Prowse

Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn

Apostolic Administrator, Military Ordinariate of Australia

Easter 2023

  

HAPPY EASTER - Thank You, God