Week 1 Term 1 2025

Principal's Message

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

Dear families and friends,

Welcome
A big welcome back to all our SMP kids, staff and families for the 2025 school year. I particularly welcome our new Kinders, new students in other grades and our new families. You are all very welcome here and I am looking forward to catching up with you all.  I’m really excited to be in my 11th year as Principal at SMP and am really excited as the initiatives we have put in place are really hitting the mark now,  providing the best holistic education for our kids of Casino.  I’m excited about how we will continue teaching Mathematics and English better. Yet again our focus will be on our Vision of doing whatever it takes to lead the way in Love, Learning, Faith, School Spirit, Sport & Community.  Our big school social event for Term 1 will be our Open & Celebration of Learning Night on Wednesday 2 April.

Some Term 1 Dates (all dates are on our Compass Calendar on the Compass App): 

• Open Night - Wednesday 2 April 5:30pm - 7:00pm
• Student Led Conferences -  Monday 7 & Tuesday 8 April
• Cross Country - Friday 28 February
• Anzac Day March - Friday 25 April (last Friday of the holidays)

Vision Achievement Assembly (replaces Student of the Month)

• Friday  28 February 2:15pm
• Friday  4 April 2:15pm  (Kinder Easter Hat Parade at the Assembly)

Grandparent's Day & Trucker Cap Friday 1 August 
This year we will change it up a little and combine Trucker Cap Friday with Grandparent's Day. This allows grandparents and parents to join in the festivities of this day and also attend the truck show the day after if they have travelled. 

2025 Student Free Days 

• Term 1 - Friday 11 April (last day before holidays)
• Term 2 - Friday 6 June (before Monday Public Holiday King's Birthday)
• Term 3 - Friday 26 September (last Day before holidays)
• Term 4 - Monday 13 October (first Day after  holidays) & Friday 28 November (after Christmas Concert)

Student Free Days have been aligned with the college in 2025, except for Friday 28 November. Our current Year 6 students go to the College for their Orientation that day.

Parent Information Videos & Booklets
Our grade teachers will send a brief video and information booklet home to you via the Compass App in Week 3. This will ensure all families can view this information when suitable for you. You will be able to formally meet in person with your child’s teacher at Open Night and Student-Led Conferences later in the term. If you wish to meet earlier in person, please make an appointment.  

School Gates and Safety
All gates will be locked at 9:05am except for the Centre Street front gate allowing access for parents and visitors to our school. Before the end of the school day, all the gates will be unlocked again at 2:55pm to welcome parents back in.

2025 Staffing 

                                                                                                 Teachers

Leadership & Non-Classroom Teaching Staff 2025

• Leader of Learning - Support:  Paula McIntyre supported by Marianne Bullpitt
• Leader of Learning - Instructional Leaders:  Karen Faber Yr K-2 and Kristie Irvine Yr 3-6
• Leader of Sport:  Cohen Parish
• Leader of Love & Community:  Nicole Hammond
• Leader of Faith:  Karen McDonald
• Specialty Subjects and Coordinator Release:  Michelle Bratti, Laura Lynch, Stacey Forrester, Abby Watson and Sarah Flocchini
• Secretaries:  Fran Gilmour, Louise Gallagher and Bec White
• Counsellors:  Lia Masman and Yasmin Mouftakir
• Family Connect:  Jimmy Farnham-Fry
• Speech Therapy:  Karla Carey
• Wellbeing:  Paddy Wilde
• Groundsman and Cleaner:  Jai White
• Library:  Betty Schuhmacher
• Student Support Educators: Danny Parsons, Gail Burley, Michelle Kent, Bec Transton, Vicki Gardner, Janet O’Brien, Patrice Ramsay, Kristy Smith, Ella Roberts,  Katie Berry, Michelle O’Brien, Samantha Olive, Alex Richards, Sam Coggan, Tara Freeburn, Kasey Cowan, Alysha Burley, Ella Cooke and Helen Sjostedt
• Aboriginal Education Workers:  Sarah Flocchini and Tara Freeburn
• Assistant Principal Mission:  Sam Irvine
• Assistant Principal Teaching and Learning:  Felicity Wilde
• Principal:  John O’Brien
  

Take care
John O'Brien 

Assistant Principal's News - Mission

Parking & Traffic Management
To ensure student safety and smooth traffic flow, please follow these guidelines for parking, drop-off and pick-up:

Centre Street – Preferred Parking & Pick-Up Zone

• Parents are asked to park in Centre Street when driving their child/ren to and from school.  A Traffic Warden is on duty to assist pedestrians.
• Do not double-park in Centre or North Street.
• A drop-off/pick-up zone is available in Centre Street (between the pedestrian crossing and Parish/Staff car park driveway). This is a No Parking Zone from 8:00am-9:30 am and 2:30pm-4:00 pm. You may stop here only for a maximum of 2 minutes while dropping off or picking up.
• Children waiting for pick-up must wait at the Centre Street shelter, where teacher supervision is provided until 3:30 pm.

North Street – Kiss & Drop Zone (Morning Only)

• Morning drop-off only (8:30am-8:50am)
• Staff supervision is provided
• Do not park in residents' driveways or Bus Zones—Bus Zones are enforced from 8:00am-9:30am and 2:30pm-4:00 pm on school days, including pupil-free days. 
• You may stop here only for a maximum of 2 minutes while dropping off or picking up.

Other Parking Info

• There is also limited parking in the Parish Car Park and along North Street.
• Please do not park in the designated Disabled Parking spots unless eligible.

Safety Tips for Drop-Off & Pick-Up

• Use only the designated drop-off/pick-up zones.
• Stay within 3 meters of your vehicle and never leave it unattended.
• Ensure children exit from the Safety Door (rear footpath side).
• Apply the handbrake when stationary and check for buses or other traffic when entering/exiting.

Your co-operation helps keep all students safe.  Thank you!

 Start the School Year Safely: Tips for 2025

As children return to school, it's important to prioritise their safety on the journey to and from school. Take time to discuss these key safety tips with your child:
Getting In and Out of the Car:
○ Always use the door closest to the curb to prevent stepping into traffic.
○ Make sure your child waits until the car has completely stopped before exiting.
Walking Safely:
○ Encourage distraction-free walking by asking your child to remove headphones and put away devices while crossing streets.
○ Teach your child to stay alert  and use designated pedestrian crossings.
Using the Bus Safely:
○ Wait at the bus stop together, standing at least one step back from the edge of the road.
○ Always meet your child at the bus stop on the same side of the road—never call them across from the opposite side.
○ Wait for the bus to leave before crossing the street, ensuring it is safe to cross.
Using Wheeled Transport:
○ Remind your child that helmets are mandatory when riding a bike in public—it’s the law.
○ Encourage helmet use and protective gear for other wheeled activities, such as scooters.

Jubilee Year & Carlo Acutis
In 2025, the Catholic Church will celebrate the Jubilee Year, a sacred time of grace, renewal and pilgrimage under the theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. As a school community, we will mark this special year with many celebrations, liturgies, and events. Our students will also learn about Carlo Acutis, the soon to be first millennial saint, who will be officially canonised by Pope Francis in April.

Upcoming Faith Events & Celebrations

📅 6/2 – Kinder First Day Prayer Service ⏰ 9:00am 📍 Church

📅 21/2 – Opening School Liturgy - Prayer Service ⏰ 2:20pm 📍 Church

📅 4/3 – Shrove Tuesday 📍 School

📅 5/3 – Ash Wednesday ⏰ 9:15am 📍 Church

📅 7/3 – Years 1, 2, 3 & 4 Prayer Service ⏰ 1:00pm 📍 Church

📅 7/3 – 3:16 Youth Group ⏰ 3:10pm - 5:00pm 📍 Relihan Centre

📅 17/3 – St Patrick’s Day Prayer Service (Whole School) ⏰ 9:00am 📍 School

📅 19/3 – Reconciliation Reflection Night (Year 4 Catholics) ⏰ 6:00pm 📍 Church

📅 22/3 – Family Mass - SMP & SMCC ⏰ 6:00pm 📍 Church

📅 26/3 – Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 4 Catholics) 📍 Church

📅 28/3 – Kinder, Years 5 & 6 Prayer Service ⏰ 1:00pm 📍 Church

📅 28/3 – 3:16 Youth Group ⏰ 3:10pm - 5:00pm 📍 Relihan Centre

📅 10/4 – Holy Week Drama Performances: K-2: ⏰ 1:00pm-1:45pm & Y3-6: ⏰ 2:10pm-3:00pm 📍 Church

School Uniform Policy
A reminder that our School Uniform Policy is located on our website. Please see below for a quick overview of acceptable school shoes for both normal and sport days.

Sam Irvine
AP - Mission

Assistant Principal's News Teaching & Learning

Welcome back to another year of learning. We are excited to continue our journey with you and your children this year and look forward to another 12 months of strong growth for all.  We are continuing with our use of Explicit Direct Instruction this year and each Stage will be using evidence-based programs to achieve this.

The programs we will be using this year for English are:

Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 - Initialit
Year 3 and Year 4 - Reading Mastery
Year 5 and Year 6 - OCHRE English units

All classes in the school will use the OCHRE Education Explicit Instruction lessons in Maths.  The students will be given opportunities during each unit to take part in rich problem-solving application tasks that call upon their new skills learned. 

It is important to understand that the classes at SMP are not "streamed".  When arranging classes, we do use academic results as ONE of the pieces of data to decide the best fit for your child, but not this alone. Streaming involves all pupils being divided into different hierarchical classes, which are taught at different levels, according to ability for all subjects.  All classes in each grade (with the exception of an Initalit catch-up session in one Year 3 class) are taught the same levelled content, derived from the NSW Syllabus for that Stage. This means all students are receiving the same excellent first teaching, first time, with the levels of support and extension differentiated across classrooms, based on student needs. These needs differ for each class across English and Maths and are flexible as the year progresses, based on student growth.

Students who require some extra support in English and Maths will be provided with Intervention Programs to support. These will be offered in Reading (Minilit Sage, Macqlit and Catch up Initialit sessions and Maths (Corrective Maths). Students are chosen for these classes based on their most recent assessments and placement tests given at the end of last year.  If your child is being offered some intervention in one of these areas, you will be notified.  If you have any questions about any of this, please do not hesitate to reach out.  

Success Criteria Reports
Our first Success Criteria Report templates will be going live on Compass this Friday. These will outline the Success Criteria your children are working toward this term at SMP and are a great resource to support learning conversations with your children. For those parents wishing to take up their own home learning, these can be used to align what you are working on at home with what the students are working on in class. These will be sent out again in Week 5 to give you an indication of how your child is progressing.

Home Learning
Research has continually proven that homework given to primary school-aged children has no benefit in supporting their learning and can in fact have a detrimental effect on the children's self-esteem and attitude toward school. At SMP we understand how valuable family time is, so with this in mind, combined with what we have learned from the research, we do not set "homework" for our students.

We do know, however, that reading improves student learning, so there is an expectation that the students read at home regularly. It is also important for parents to read to children as often as they can. The students will have a home reading journal in which to log this reading. If you do wish to do home learning with your children, we support this with our Success Criteria reports. These reports allow you to see exactly what your child is working on at school and you can tailor their home learning to match. 

If you have any questions about your child's learning, please contact me at felicity.wilde@lism.catholic.edu.au

Felicity Wilde
AP Teaching & Learning

Sport News

Sport News
Welcome to Sport for 2025!  I hope you all had a lovely break and ready for a great year of sport at SMP!

Zone Swimming Carnival 
On Friday 14 February, 35 students will be representing SMP at the Zone Swimming Carnival in Alstonville. These students had qualified for their events from the school swimming carnival held in Term 4 last year. We would like to congratulate these students and wish them all the best for their events next Friday.

Sport Days
The sports days for each grade level for 2025 are as follows (this is the day your child will wear their sports uniform):

Kindergarten- Wednesday 
Year One- Tuesday
Year Two- Wednesday
Year Three- Tuesday 
Year Four- Thursday 
Year Five- Monday
Year Six- Thursday

Running Club
During Term 1, all students have the opportunity to participate in the school's Running Club, which operates on Tuesday and Thursday mornings starting in Week 3, Tuesday 18 February from 8:30am to 8:50am.  The Running Club welcomes students of all athletic abilities. Students may change into their colored house shirts or running attire at school.

Cohen Parrish
Leader of Sport

Leader of Love and Community

Year 6 Leadership Opportunities for 2025

This term, Year 6 students will have the opportunity to select a Vision Group to represent in 2025. Students can choose to lead in one of the following areas: Love, Learning, Faith, School Spirit, Sport, or Community.

This is a fantastic leadership opportunity that allows students to take an active role in organising and supporting various school events throughout the year. Students will be presented with their Vision Group badges at our first SMP Vision Assembly in 2025.

Additionally, Year 6 students can nominate themselves for the Student Representative Council (SRC). Students from Years 3 to 6, along with staff, will participate in voting to elect our 2025 SRC members—four girls and four boys. It is a great privilege to be elected as part of the SRC, as they play a vital role in listening to the voices of our SMP students and seeking innovative ways to make our school an even better place.

We encourage all students to consider these leadership roles and embrace the opportunity to make a positive impact on our school community!

Nikki Hammond
Leader of Love and Community

Leader of Inclusion

Welcome back everyone to our new school year!

Our teachers, Student Support Educators (SSEs) and Learning Support staff are looking forward to another great year of learning, strong growth and fun.

Term One is a busy time for Inclusion, as teachers & SSEs work closely with students requiring additional support. A thorough handover has already taken place, with last year’s teachers sharing important medical information, adjustments, recommendations and learning focus areas. 

Communication
Parents play an important role in supporting their children within the school setting through regular communication and sharing of information. Please provide the school office with a copy of up-to-date medical plans, diagnosis information and external assessments. It is also advisable to ask your paediatrician and medical professionals to forward all requests for assessments, suggested strategies, medical information, and reports to our school office at casp@lism.catholic.edu.au

NDIS Sessions in School
Many therapists have already contacted our school to organise NDIS therapy sessions for 2025.  Thank you for ensuring therapists have scheduled appointment times between 1.00pm - 3.00pm. This ensures that children are in the classroom for explicit English and Maths lessons.  Please contact me if you would like any information about NDIS Sessions in Schools at paula.mcintyre@lism.catholic.edu.au 

Paula McIntyre
Leader of Inclusion

2-6 Digital Technology Agreements

At St Mary’s Primary School, we prioritise responsible and safe digital citizenship. To foster this, we use a variety of digital technologies to support and enhance engagement and creativity within learning. 

To ensure a shared understanding of our expectations, all students and their parents must sign a Digital Technology Student User Agreement each year. This agreement outlines the expectations for using digital technologies within our school and informs parents how digital technologies are managed and supported within our school and across the Diocese.

Please take the time to read through and sign the attached Digital Technologies User Agreement for 2025 with your child by Friday, 7th March.

Please note: A new form is to be submitted for each child at our school. We ask that you use your child’s name as per Compass - first and last name only. 

To further support this teachers will be exploring each of the dot points over the first term with students in class.  

We appreciate your continued support in guiding your child towards responsible digital citizenship.

The agreement is available here:

https://dlcsl.jotform.com/team/digital-techologies-for-learning/casp-dtsua2025 

Tuition Fees 2025

School fee statements will be issued at the end of this month via your email.  You will be able to set up bill payments via BPay using the Biller Code and Reference Number on the statement.  BPay is our preferred method of payment.

School fees are also available through the Compass App - access 'More' button then 'School Fees' button.

This year School Fees will be billed with the total owing for the year.  When setting up a payment schedule the due date for final payment is the 12 December 2025.

FEE SCHEDULE  2025

Yearly Fees

Plus BUILDING LEVY per family per year

The School Building Levy is $368.00 per year, per family, across the Primary School and the College   

School Uniform

We have school blue polo shirts available at the school office in size 16 and size 18 for $10.00 each.

The shirts were left over from when Lowes took over the uniform supply.

Call in to the school office if you are interested.  Cash only. 

Birthdays

Happy birthday t0 Gracyn Ind Joel Dean Isabelle Rose Saoirse Magee Keira Smith Charlee Gould Marcus Lickiss Isabel Flynn Layla Maroney Thomas Shelton Van Johnston Olive Chelman Sara Cole Tristan Allen-Preece Olivia Rayner Milton Summers Tate Creighton Ellie Churchill Jordan Lickiss Kira Green Mila Roberson Nathaniel Rollon Ryder Birney Aaliyah West Henry Simpson Koa Pilling Chloe King Eyla-May Burnie Frejya Love Oliver Convine Elliot Shirm Paislee Webster Charlotte Cooper Ryder Hammond Sophie Fraser Genevieve Makejev Harrison Gill Ace Barton Bella-Rose Smithson Lilly Shelton Ella Convine Olive Berry Remi Gannon Teddy Walters Charlotte Clark Max Nicholls and Ivy Warne who have celebrated their birthday in January.