Term 3 Week 1 Newsletter 2025

Important Dates

Character Virtue:  O B E D I E N C E
What it looks like:  Obedience means acting according to certain rules and guidelines.
What it means:  This could mean doing as your parents, teachers, or coaches say with a good attitude.
Why it is important:  Being obedient to God's commandments, trusting that he knows what is best for each of us.

From the Principal

Dear Parents,
Welcome back to all the students and families for the commencement of Term 3.
I hope all of our students and families had an enjoyable holiday. 

School Reports
The Semester 1 report was made available on Compass at the end of last term.  These reports outlined your child’s achievements and efforts during Terms 1 and 2, and there is an opportunity for follow-up interviews. Parent/Teacher interviews are optional at this time of year. They will take place at a convenient time upon request by a parent or teacher. Please contact your child’s class teacher if you wish to arrange an interview time.

House and Line Award Morning Tea
Congratulations to MOORE, who were the House Award point score winner for Term 2. They will be joined at their special morning tea by 1G, who tied as Line Award winners for Term 2.  Well Done!

Grandparents' Day
This Friday is a very special day at St. Mary’s as it is Grandparents' Day.  All Grandparents (and parents) are invited to our school to spend time with their grandchildren and see some of the wonderful things they are doing. 
You are all warmly invited to attend. Students will be allowed to sit with parents and/or grandparents for the Mass at St. Brigid’s. If parents or grandparents are unable to attend, the children will sit with teachers. Grandparents' Day Mass is one of the highlights of the school year, and we encourage everyone to come along.  Before our Mass, the students will be in their classes on the grass outside the church. The students will meet their families back at school for morning tea and open classrooms.
Following the classroom visits, students may go home with their grandparents/parents or stay at school to complete the day.

PROGRAM FOR THE DAY:
Mass - 10.00 am @ St. Brigid’s Church
BYO picnic and open classrooms:  Following Mass at school (tea and coffee provided)

NAPLAN Results
In Term 1, NAPLAN assessments were carried out in Writing (Year 5 online, Year 3 written), Reading and Language Conventions (online), and Numeracy (online). Students from across all schools in Australia in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 participated in the assessments. NAPLAN results will be available early this term. The main purpose of NAPLAN, from our school’s perspective, is to use the results to identify strengths and areas to improve in our teaching programs and to set improvement goals in literacy and numeracy. NAPLAN scores provide an indication of students’ achievements, but they provide only one snapshot of selected aspects of what students know and can do. Our Semester School Reports provide a far more comprehensive and complete picture of your child’s overall ability. If you would like to discuss these results further, please don’t hesitate to contact your class teachers.

Religious Education

Bishop Michael McKenna Visit 
On Tuesday, 29th July, we welcome Bishop Michael to St. Mary's.  Bishop will spend time visiting the classrooms, starting with our Year 6 Confirmation Class of 2025.

Confirmation
Year 6 Confirmation Practice will take place at St. Brigid's Church - Tuesday, 22nd July at 6.15 pm.

2025 First Holy Communion
First Holy Communion registration weekends concluded last weekend. Preparations for the sacrament will commence in Term 3. 
Session 1- Tuesday, 29th July @ 6.15pm, Wednesday, 30th July @ 4.30pm, Sunday 3rd August @ 10am
Session 2- Tuesday, 5th August @ 6.15pm, Wednesday, 5th August @ 4.30pm, Sunday 10th August @ 10am
Session 3- Tuesday, 12th August @ 6.15pm, Wednesday, 13th August @ 4.30pm, Sunday 17th August @ 10am
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Rosie Hosking (Sacramental Coordinator) or myself at;
Rosie- sacraments.dubbo@cdob.org.au
Tim- t.keady@bth.catholic.edu.au

ST. BRIGID'S PARISH - MASS TIMES: 
St Brigid's:  Saturday - 5pm, Sunday - 9am and Sunday - 5pm
St. Laurence's Church:  Sunday - 7.30am

BOOK WEEK

ST. MARY'S BOOK WEEK 2025

We are celebrating this year's Book Week on Monday, 18th August.

The children are to come to school dressed as a character from their favourite book or as something related to this year's theme - Book an Adventure. 
We also ask the children to bring in the book their character is based on, or a favourite book, to show their class as part of the day's activities.

The day will begin with a character parade for the whole school at 9 am.
 
Parents and friends are welcome to attend.

Awards

Attendance

School Fees

Community News

BIRTHDAYS:
Celebrating their birthday this week are:
Nora, Abigail, Arliah, Anna, Abigail, George, Luca, Harvey,
Jack, Evie and Mrs Emma McNamara.
We hope you enjoy your birthday!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * * * *

Canteen

MunchMonitor - We encourage all families to use the MunchMonitor online program for lunch orders. 

We Are Allergy Aware

Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. We want to do our best to keep those at risk, as safe as possible. We have several children at our school who have allergies to peanuts and tree-nuts.
It is important for the safety of these children that we ask that you don't send any nuts or nut products to school.
This includes foods such as peanut butter, Nutella, hazelnut spreads, trail mix or muesli bars/biscuits that contain nuts.

Please help us maintain the health and well-being of all our students by considering this information when packing lunches for your child.

We appreciate your support.

The Clothing Pool