St. Mary's Catholic Primary School. Newsletter. 26 February Quality Catholic Education in the heart of Darwin City. Dates to Remember.

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1 St. Mary's Catholic Primary School Quality Catholic Education in the heart of Darwin City Newsletter Dear Families 26 February 2014 Dates to Remember 28 February 5 March 7 March 11 March 14 March 17 March 19 March Prayer Lord May the day go gently. Assembly room 10 and The Chiropractor Place Ash Wednesday Liturgy room 2 Assembly room 3 P&F AGM School Swimming Carnival Feast of St Patrick Feast of St Joseph May the speed of life not overwhelm life's travellers. May anxiety not determine my spirit or my mood. May tasks be done without stress or hurry. May today be a simple, pleasant day; free from complexities or dramas and filled with peace and confidence. For each day, Lord, brings with it the promise of Your support in all that we do. Strong attendance at our Parent Information Nights last Tuesday evening, reflected the wonderful partnership between our families and the school. Many thanks for your commitment and support. Our passion and enthusiasm for education is passed onto children through attendance at these events, dedication to home learning and participation in school activities. In early February St Mary s Outside School Hours Care underwent an Assessment and Ratings visit with Quality Education and Care NT (QECNT). We have received a report from QECNT stating that our centre is meeting all National Quality Standards and in some elements is actually exceeding the standards. This is a fantastic achievement and I would like to acknowledge the hard work, dedication and great leadership of our OSHC Coordinators- Barbara Morgan and Helen McInnes. I would also like to congratulate the entire OSHC staff team including MJ, James, Jackson and Brenda. Well done! Last Thursday our first School Board meeting was held for the year. Items on the agenda included a response to the proposed Lindsay Street development, Outside School Hours Care policies and proposed increases to CoL and OSHC fees in July. St Mary s School Board membership includes our Fr Miguel, staff representative and parents from our school. Their role is to support the Principal and provide advice and input on important issues that may arise. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Andrew Hoffman (parent) for his valued contributions to our School Board in 2013 as our Work Health and Safety Representative. Andrew s support and dedication to St Mary s school community has been greatly appreciated and we wish the family our very best in their move from Darwin. The Board AGM will be held on Thursday 20 th March. Parents are encouraged to meet with me prior to this date if you would like to become involved. In the upcoming weeks there are a number of school events that I encourage you to be involved in: Ash Wednesday Liturgy on Wednesday 5 th March; School swimming carnival for years 3-6 on Thursday the 14 th of March; Family Fun Night - school disco and BBQ on Friday the 21st March; P & F AGM Tuesday 11 th March Assisting in the co-ordinating and selling tickets for the Easter raffle; and Raising funds for Project Compassion. This week St Mary s teachers are working with teachers from St Paul s School to moderate samples of children s writing. This process is happening across all Catholic Primary Schools in Darwin each term to ensure consistent understanding of the Australian curriculum and assessment standards across our schools. It will also provide valuable professional development for teachers with the end result to improve student outcomes. Many thanks to Mrs Paula Tilbrook (parent), for her invaluable assistance with monitoring Lindsay Street traffic in the Kiss and Go zone each day. Paula has volunteered many hours of her time to educating families and members of the public about Kiss and Go in an effort to ensure that our Kiss and Go zone runs smoothly. Many thanks to those families who are not parking in Lindsay Street adjacent to the school during the hours of 3-3:30pm and 8:15-8:45am. This is when the zone becomes a dedicated Kiss and Go area. Amen. Lindsay Street Darwin NT 0800 Ph Fax Website: admin.stmarys@nt.catholic.edu.au

2 Harmony Day is a special event that we celebrate each year in our culturally diverse school. This day helps promote understanding, tolerance and acceptance. St Mary s school will celebrate Harmony Day on Friday 28 th March by participating in a variety of cultural events throughout the day. Our day will begin will with an assembly at 8:40am with some cultural performances from the children and community members. Children will also be participating in some cultural activities throughout the day learning to appreciate the diversity of cultures at St Mary s. Parents from different cultures are encouraged to participate in our Harmony Day activities by sharing something from your culture (food, artefacts, costumes, games etc) with the children and staff. Please Julie in the front office if you can assist. May God Bless you all and keep you safe, Mrs Jacqui Langdon, Principal MJR News: Our MJR Wall of Fame winner this week is Atticus Smith from room 5 for sharing a big smile and high fives and always letting people join in his games. This week MJR house team winners were.. Elky Linnett...she taught me how to play basketball..jazmin Yanni Mostris..he helped me open my recess Vasilios Shaniya Clark-Boon..helping me when I fell.millie Lachlan Butcher.for being a lovely and kind class member in room 6.Miss Letson Ms Seosaimhin McLaughlin APRE To the following students who received awards at assembly on Friday, 21 February 2014 T5: Olympia Samiotis and Ethan Keogan T6: Wondu Norris and Oliver Ledek Over the last few weeks a large amount of underwear has been lent to children..could these please be returned as our supply is very limited at the moment. Thank you 1/2-7: Ryland Howson and Messina Finocchairo 1/2-4: Reigan Cacciotti, Aidan Jackson, Thomas Reardon and Kiara Bartlett 1/2-3: Harry Crompton and Mahlia Burroughs 3/4-1: Mack Jackson and Alice Riccardi 3/4-2: Marcus O Hara and Cosma Bell 5/6-10:Bob Havrla and Eva Pitt 5/6-11:Catherine Tilbrook and Kurt Reddan Kangaroo s AM: Paige Devitt Kangaroo s PM: Vihaan Gadekar

3 Introducing.Helen Bradbury-Smith.Science/Year 3/4 teacher Hi My name is Helen Bradbury-Smith and I have the pleasure of teaching science and also year 3 & 4 (both in room 1 and room 2). I have joined the staff with over 20 years teaching experience, mainly teaching in England. My family relocated to Brisbane, Australia in 2010, where I taught part time allowing me also to enjoy being a Mum, whilst my youngest was not in school. We moved to Darwin last Easter, which led me to taking a teaching post at Stuart Park Primary up until Christmas. I am now very excited to have a new and exciting role teaching here at St Mary s. Since our arrival to the school, myself and my two children Abbie (room 2) and Finlay (room 4), are very pleased to be part of the school community and have been very welcomed by everyone. Finally, please don t tell the other teachers, but I think I have the best job of all here, as I get to teach and know all the children in the school. And Introducing.Kelly Smith.School Counsellor I am very excited to be continuing the school counselling service for I will at St Mary's each Wednesday and spend the rest of the week at St Johns, St Paul s Primary School and Holy Spirit Primary School. I work with all age groups for a variety of reasons related to the child's well being. Some of these may include: separation and divorce, family breakdowns, social skills, assertiveness skills, stress and anxiety, anger/frustration, friendship breakdowns and changes in behaviour. Originally I am from Melbourne and was looking for a new life experience away from studying and further developing all the skills I learned through a bachelor and masters degrees. I am primarily trained in cognitive-behavioural therapy however, use a wide variety of different therapies and techniques that will benefit the student. I look forward to continuing working alongside the St Mary's community of students, teachers and parents who have been very welcoming of me. To access the service, parents can speak to a teacher, Jacqui or myself about their concerns and referral forms are located at the school office. I can be contacted on or leave a message at the school office. Students at our first school Mass for 2014.

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6 Parents are especially invited to assembly on Friday, 28 February as Staff from the Chiropractic Place will be attending assembly to talk to parents and students on carrying back packs correctly, posture, not overloading backpacks best type of back packs etc.