St. Mary's Catholic Primary School Quality Catholic Education in the heart of Darwin City Newsletter 6 August 2014 Dates to Remember 6 August Parent Information Prayer Night 5 pm 8 August Feast of St Mary MacKillop 8.45 am at the hall, room 5 12 August P&F meeting 5.30 pm 15 August Feast of Assumption 18-22 Book Fair and August Science Week 20 August Maths Olympiad 22 August Book Week Parade at Assembly 8.40 am Marlon Williams guest Artist 10-11 am OLSH Sisters visit 2 pm P&F Barn dance May the spirit of Saint Mary MacKillop of the Cross fill us with confidence in God s providence to provide us with all we need to humbly serve others, thereby creating a global community In which God s love is experienced by all. Mother Mary MacKillop, pray for us. Dear Families On Friday morning we celebrate the Feast of St Mary MacKillop with a liturgy in our Mary MacKillop Hall at 8.40am led by Room 5 children. Mary MacKillop founded the congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph and established over 30 schools, in South Australia during her life time. She was very conscious of the plight of the poor and needy and worked with families that lived in isolated areas of Australia, providing education, especially for the children of the poor. Even today, many Australians can say that they have felt the impact of the enormous work started by St Mary of the Cross (MacKillop), having been educated or cared for, by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. She was declared a Saint by Pope Benedict XVI on the 17th October 2010. An invitation is extended to all families to attend our Parent information Night in the Library TONIGHT at 5pm-6pm! This workshop will provide parents with important and practical information about how teachers at St Mary s are working to provide engaging, challenging and contemporary learning experiences for your child. We encourage you to give just one hour of your time to attend this very valuable workshop to develop your understandings of the modern day classroom. Other exciting events at St Mary s this week include a visit from the Parramatta Eels players tomorrow and the Uz mob big Day out event at Jingili Water Gardens this Friday attended by Miss Cindy, Eva Pitt, Jack Woodleigh and indigenous students (Years 4-6) from urban Catholic schools. Uz Mob students will be participating in a variety of cultural activities including didgeridoo making, waterslide, healthy eating, badge making and bark painting. A warm welcome to Jazmyn, Nicholas and their family who have recently joined our school community. Our deepest sympathy and prayers are with the Finnochiaro family who recently lost a close family member. Defence families who have joined St Mary s school and perhaps not notified the front office of their affiliation with Defence, are asked to notify Julie at the front office. An enrolment of more than 25 Defence children means that we are entitled to support and some financial benefits including funding for a Defence Liaison officer. Our current numbers indicate that we are on the verge of meeting the enrolment numbers required. A reminder to families that once your child has received 3 student awards they are eligible for a Principal s Award and a special morning tea with Mrs Langdon. Awards need to be brought to the front office for processing. Lindsay Street Darwin NT 0800 Ph. 89819796 Fax 89815286 Website: www.stmarysnt.catholic.edu.au Email: admin.stmarys@nt.catholic.edu.au
A reminder to all families that our St Mary s School App is FREE to all families and a great way to receive updates and information from the school. The app can be downloaded to smart phones just search St Mary School. If you have any questions or need assistance, please come into the front office. To receive messages sent from the school you need to select allow notifications. Interesting to note that the a study linking poor attendance to lower NAPLAN results has found that missing just one day of school has negative consequences for a student s academic achievement. Furthermore school attendance patterns established as early as year 1 can predict how often a student will show up to class right throughout high school, according to the research. You can read more about this by following the link below: http://www.theage.com.au/national/-zzq00.html I look forward to seeing you at our Information evening tonight. May God bless you and keep you in His care Mrs Jacqui Langdon Principal RE News: FOR YOUR INTEREST AND INFORMATION Mary MacKillop All families are welcome to our St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop liturgy held this Friday at 8.45am. At the Liturgy we will celebrate the feast day of Mary Helen MacKillop also known as St Mary of the Cross. She founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Scared Heart, a congregation of religious sisters that established a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australia, with an emphasis on education for the rural poor. She was canonised on 17 October 2010. She is the only Australian thus far to be recognised by the Catholic Church as a saint. Coming up: On Friday, 8th August we will celebrate the life and contribution St Mary of the Cross Mackillop, our first Australian saint. The transition children from Room 5 will prepare the Liturgy which will be held in the Mary Mackillop Hall at 8.45a.m. On Friday, 15 th August we will celebrate the Feast of Mary the Mother of Jesus Assumption into Heaven after her death. We will celebrate this liturgy with St. John s Catholic College in St. Mary s Star of the Sea Cathedral at 9am. Parents, family members and friends are most welcome to join us for the Mass! Seosaimhin McLaughlin. APRE
Darwin Region Athletics Day Last Thursday saw the might of the St Mary s Athletics team display their skills in the annual Darwin Region Athletics Carnival. In all, 31 students represented the school in a range of track and field events at the Arafura Athletics Stadium. The gruelling 800m endurance event started the day off followed by rotations of field and track events which saw some athletes competing without much of a break. All students who represented St Mary s on the day did the school proud and tried their very best with some students volunteering for events when we were short. A massive thank you to Miss Morgan and the parents who assisted with events throughout the day, your continued help was very much appreciated. Congratulations to the following students: Jacob Reed, Christopher Burroughs, Michael O Toole, Yianni Mostris, Lachlan O Riley, Ryley Craven, Lachlan Free, Jeremy Mhlanga, Rafael Yayakos, Logan Ruskin, Brody Reed, Drossos Klidaras, Andre Riccardi, Mack Jackson, Jack Rieniets, Shanika Sams, Eva Pitt, Elky Linnett, Jazmin Griffiths, Lilyana Sarib, Shaniya Clark-Boon, Shanis Ocampo, Catherine Tilbrook, Mariah Price, Heather Bravo, Abigayle Sekitoga, Charlotte Elocoate, Abbie Bradbury-Smith, Alice Riccardi, Ciaralii Parnell and Amber Moore. Aidan Brigden PE Teacher
To the following students who received awards at assembly on Friday, 1 August 2014. T5: Lucia Venturin, Asha Ruskin and Harrison Berry T6: Narelle Pillay, Sophie Christopherson and George Shoko 1/2-7: Rasika Misra and Maggie Cannon 1/2-4: Thomas Reardon and Tiyana Mutuga 1/2-3: Lilly Downs and Sebastian Cox 3/4-1: Leif Aratema and Jamelia Hollamby 5/6-10: Jillian Wong and Lachlan O Riley 5/6-11: Monei Kraisang and Bronte Zerafa Kangaroos: Pranau Nogy and Grace Harris PE: Room 5 Science: Arabella Free (room 4), Vanessa Stanfield (room 3) and Patrick O Meagher (room 7)
People s Choice Teddy Bears Picnic AO Tennis Blitz Community Tennis Series The Tennis Hot Shots program will feature at this years People s Choice Teddy Bears' Picnic, one of Darwin Festival s favourite big day out for little art lovers. The tennis hot shots program is based on smaller courts and smaller equipment with balls that don t bounce as high perfect for new and smaller players. Tennis Hot Shots will feature: Mini-courts with club coaches to have a hit and learn the basics of tennis. Speed-serve to see how hard you can hit the ball Hit the target Australia Open Trophies (Norman and Daphne) will also be in attendance. Be sure to get your photo taken with these iconic sporting trophies. Sunday, 10 August 2014 from 9 12 noon at George s Green, George Brown Botanical Gardens. Free entry. For further information please contact Tennis NT Erin Bormann phone 8981 5609 or email ebormann@tennis.com.au Charles Darwin University Open Day Sunday, 24 August 2014 from 10 2 pm at the Casuarina Campus. For more information www.cdu.edu.au/openday
Is available for viewing in the front office. If you wish to purchase a copy you can either go on line to www.advancedlife.com.au enter the 9 digit online order code which is 1QTCAX BQ2; browse group photos; select the photo you wish to order; select the view shopping cart trolley and follow the prompts. Cost for online ordering is $14 per photo. Or you can pick up an order envelope from the office and return to the office by Friday, 8 August. Cost of these photos is $18 per photo. Thank you PLEASE SUPPORT THESE BUSINESSES, AS THEY SUPPORT ST MARY S
Tickets available for purchase at the Front Office (PRE-ORDER ONLY) Family (2 adults & 2 children) - $30 Adult - $15 Child (5 15 Years) - $7Concession -$11 Seniors Card - $9 Call: 89 273 411 Friday 15th of August 2014 6:00pm Gates Open, Dinner and Drinks Available 7:00pm Film Screening Holy Spirit School Strele St. entrance only Congratulations to Jessica Johnson (room 1) and family on the recent arrival of a baby girl. School Bank Account Details: Please note that St Mary s Catholic Primary School has now changed to the National Australia Bank. Our details are: Bank: National Australia Bank BSB: 085 933 Account Number: 39 686 0268 Account Name: St Mary s Catholic Primary School To those families with direct payments to the school, please arrange to have your direct payments made to the National Australia Bank. Transition 2015 Does your child turn five by 30 June 2015? If so they are eligible to start Transition in January 2015. Please contact the school office for an enrolment package. Please use only this account as of now. O Loughlin Catholic College: Enrolment packs are available for the school office if your child will be moving onto O Loughlin next year. Please see Julie or Louise