Term 2 Week 6

Principal's Message

Dear families and friends,

‘We do whatever it takes to lead the way in Love, Learning, Faith, School Spirit, Sport & Community’

Thank you
It has been a great few weeks, culminating with Beef Week last week. Thank you to all our staff, kids and parents who contributed greatly to our community events of late, ensuring our kids and school have been able to lead the way in Love, Learning, Faith, School Spirit, Sport and Community. This is such a great community and I feel blessed to lead it and have my family part of it.  It is very much appreciated!

It has been great to get back and really stuck into student learning. The kids are working their little backsides off.

School Review
SMP has a School Review on the 6th, 7th and 8th June.  Three external reviewers will spend 3 days at school and look at where we are as a school using the National School Review Tool.  This process will allow us to reflect on where we are at and where we wish to be in 3 years time.  All the feedback recently from parents, staff and students will be extremely important in this school improvement process.  Thank you!  We will keep our community involved and informed.

Child Safeguarding
Our school, as part of the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Limited (DLCSL), like all child-safe organisations, is implementing the Child Safe Standards.  As a part of this work, we share our Child Safeguarding Commitment Statement which reinforces our dedication to the safety and wellbeing of all children.

Take care
John O’Brien

Assistant Principal's News - Mission

Charlie Cox Beef Week Cup Results
A big thank you to our parent volunteer coaches for the Charlie Cox Beef Week Cup for 2023; Haydon Benn, Brett Hardwick, Paul Johnston, Jenny Crompton, Chris Chelman, Renee Rippon, Gemma Henderson, Amber Randall, Melissa Connolly and Justin Zaiko!

We had some fantastic results on the day. Congratulations to Mummulgum Public School for taking out the overall Charlie Cox Beef Week Cup for 2023!

Grand Final Winners:

• Stage 2/3 Girls Soccer (Blue) - coached by Sam Olive
• Stage 2 Girls Netball (Blue) - coached by parent Amber Randall
• Stage 3 Rugby League (Green) - coached by parent Haydon Benn

Grand Final Runners Up:

• Stage 3 Netball (Green) - coached by parent Renee Rippon
• Stage 2 Netball (Red) - coached by Byanca Formaggin
• Stage 2 Boys Soccer (Blue) - coached by parent Justin Zaiko
• Stage 2 Rugby League (Blue) - coached by parent Brett Hardwick

Students voted ‘Player of the Match’ in their Grand Final:

• Jackson Gay (S3 Rugby League)
• Isla Davis (S2/3 Girls Soccer) 
• Skylah Wells (S2 Netball)

Three Sixteen Youth Group
Today is the final Youth Group for Term 2.  Dates for Term 3 will be confirmed. 

Year 1 Church Visit
Year 1 will be holding their own prayer service in the church next Friday 9 June at 10:30am. All parents and family members are welcome to come along. 

Corpus Christi
On Sunday 11 June, the Church celebrates The Feast of Corpus Christi, also known as The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This Feast commemorates the immense gift of the Eucharist in our lives and in the Church.

In Latin, Corpus Christi means Body of Christ.  On Holy Thursday, we remember the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist, the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden, the betrayal of Judas and the beginning of the Passion of Christ. Corpus Christi Sunday allows us to focus solely on celebrating the real presence of Christ – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – in the bread and wine. Our weekend parish masses are held on Saturdays at 5.00pm and Sundays at 8.00am. 

Healthy Harold - Kinder, Years 1, 2 & 3
All students in K-6 will be attending a session in the Life Education van in 2023.  The incursion has been planned to complement the Personal Development and Health aspects of the PDHPE curriculum. Years 4-6 attended the Life Education earlier in the year in February.  The van will be on our school site and the classroom teachers will accompany the students for their visit.

The Healthy Harold Life Education van will be visiting SMP in Week 8 of this term for Kinder, Years 1, 2 & 3.

• 15 June: 2NORTH, 2EAST, 2SOUTH, 2WEST
• 19 June: 3NORTH, 3EAST, 3SOUTH
• 20 June: 1NORTH, 1EAST, 1SOUTH, KNORTH
• 21 June: KEAST, KSOUTH, KWEST

Topics covered will be:
Year 3 - Bcyberwise: how to recognise, react and report unwanted contact, bullying or predatory behaviours, keeping personal information safe online, responsible and respectful behaviour when using communication technology, skills for building positive relationships with friends and exploring the role of bystanders.

Years 1 & 2 - Safety Rules: recognising safe and unsafe environments, how to care for others, behaviours that maintain friendships, places and people who we can go to for help.

Kindergarten - Harold’s Friendship: how to build friendships and care for others, feelings and emotions, safe and unsafe situations and early warning signs, safe places and people who we can go to for help.

The cost of the incursion is $12 per student. The consent form needs to be completed on Compass by no later than Monday 12 June.

Sam Irvine
Assistant Principal - Mission

Assistant Principal's News Teaching & Learning

Reading Homework at SMP
It is an expectation at SMP that ALL students are completing reading homework every night. Reading underpins everything we learn and it is the only evidence-based homework, proven to support children’s growth. 

Our Homework Policy outlines the parents' and students' role in ensuring that Reading homework is taken seriously to best support your child’s learning. 

The Parent’s Role
To provide a space and time where their child can be encouraged and supported in a positive and affirming manner.

To bring to the teacher’s attention any matter which is of concern to them or to their child as soon as possible. 

To listen to their child read, and/or sign the Home Reading log each night. 

To engage their children in discussion about their learning at school. 

The Student’s Role
To be responsible for taking books and the Home Reading Log  home and returning them to school each week. 

To accept responsibility for the completion of homework (reading) to the best of their ability.

To be willing to ask for help from the teacher or family wherever necessary.

To  plan  around  after-school time  in  order  to  set  aside  time  to  complete  homework/study obligations.

The following time allocations are not to be seen as prescriptive or mandatory but as general guidelines. We acknowledge that families are very busy and that students are involved in other activities outside of school.

Kindergarten: up to 10 minutes of reading each night

Year 1 and 2: at least 10 minutes of reading each night

Year 3 and 4: at least 15 minutes of reading each night

Year 5 and 6: at least 20 minutes  of reading each night

ICAS Assessments- Students in Yrs 3-6
The ICAS Assessments are optional assessments that parents can choose for their children (Yrs 3-6) to take part in at SMP.  We are offering ICAS assessments for English, Spelling, Science, Maths and Writing and parents can register their children through the ICAS Parent Portal.

ICAS stands for International Competitions and Assessments for Schools. These assessments are developed by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Global and are designed to measure students' skills and knowledge in various subject areas, including English, Mathematics, Science, Digital Technologies, and Writing.

The ICAS assessments are a series of multiple-choice tests that are designed to measure students' skills and knowledge in various subject areas. 

The assessments are timed and take approximately one hour to complete. The assessments are designed to be challenging, and not all students will complete all questions within the allotted time.

The assessments are administered online, and students will complete the assessments during class time. The assessments are supervised by teachers to ensure that all students have a fair and equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.

To register your child for any of the ICAS assessments please go to: 

https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

and use our school code of EHT312

English, Maths, Spelling and Science cost $19.25 each and the Writing Assessment costs $23.65

The ICAS assessments will be held on:

• Writing- 7 August
• English- 16 August
• Science -21 August
• Spelling- 23 August
• Maths- 29 August

Please do not hesitate to contact me at felicity.wilde@lism.catholic.edu.au  if you have questions.

Optional Parent/Teacher Interviews
We will offer optional Parent/Teacher Interviews to any parents who wish to touch base after they receive their child’s report. These will be held on Monday 19 June from 3:30 pm.  You will be sent a School Interviews login for this closer to the date.

Felicity Wilde
AP Teaching & Learning

Sport News

Diocesan Cross Country

On Tuesday 23rd of May Marcos Barber, Thomas McCormack, Charlie O’Brien, Olive Chelman, Chelsea Rose and Isabel Flynn competed at the Diocesan Cross Country at McAuley Catholic College Grafton. All students had a wonderful day. Well done to all representing St Mary’s, leading the way in sport!

Athletics Carnival Parent Helpers

Our school athletics carnival is on Friday the 16th of June. If you are available to help during the day, please contact me Jack Fiedler (jack.fiedler@lism.catholic.edu.au). 

Jack Fiedler
Sports Co-ordinator

Student of the Month & Learner Achievement Awards ~ 2 June 2023

Birthdays

Happy birthday t0 Ruby Yates Avalon Llewellyn Elodie Llewellyn Ive-Rose Barrett Mollyanna Hogg Hannah Hines Chloe Marshall Parker Fleming Alexa Holdsworth Lexi Vidler Natalie Pratt Patrick Burgess-Connor Charlotte Young Bianca Hodges Thomas McCormack Ada Presbury Kellie Zhou Azzy Williams Archie Ind George Hearn Tahlani Lambeth Natalie Marsden Nicholas Marsden Payton Smith and Henrietta Estreich who have recently celebrated their birthday and to Charlie Somerville and Harper Williams who celebrate their birthday tomorrow.