Term 1 Week 9 Newsletter 2025
Important Dates
Mar 31 | PUPIL FREE DAY |
Apr 01 | CASUAL CLOTHES DAY - Easter Raffle donations |
Apr 01 | Paul Kelly Cup - AFL Gala Day (Years 5 & 6) - Dubbo |
Apr 02 | St. Mary's BIG WATER WALK - CASUAL CLOTHES DAY - Gold coin donation |
Apr 02 | Polding Swimming |
Apr 03 | School Photos - Back-Up Day - Full Sports Uniform to be worn |
Apr 04 | Rugby League Gala Day (Years 5 & 6) |
Apr 07 | Night of the Notables (Year 6) - commencing at 6 pm |
Apr 08 | Easter Raffle draw |
Apr 08 | Whole School Assembly (Term 1 Citizenship Awards) - 1.40 pm - School Hall |
Apr 09 | Primary Cross Country |
Apr 09 | Palm Sunday Liturgy - presented by Kindergarten - 2.15 pm |
Apr 10 | Infants Cross Country |
Apr 10 | Holy Thursday Liturgy - presented by Year 6 - 12.30 pm |
Apr 11 | Good Friday Liturgy - presented by Year 3 - TBA |
Apr 11 | Last Day of Term 1 |
Vision Statement:
St. Mary's Primary strives to be a welcoming Christ-centred learning community that promotes a quality holistic
education and trusting relationships in a caring and supportive environment.
Acknowledgment of Country: We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Wiradjuri people, who, long before us, lived, loved, educated and raised their children on this site. We pay our respects to elders past and present, and we recognise the young people who are our future. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in our community. We respect their deep physical and spiritual connections to the country through their stories traditions and living cultures.
Character Virtue: D I L I G E N C E
What it looks like: Diligence is like working hard and putting effort into reaching your goals. It's like planting seeds and taking care of them until they grow.
What it means: Diligence means being persistent and dedicated to what you want to achieve. It's not giving up, even when things get tough.
Why it is important: Diligence leads to success. It helps you learn and improve and it's the key to accomplishing your dreams.
From the Principal

Mr Luke Wilson
Principal
Dear Parents,
Welcome to Week 9.
We had a highly successful Week 8, with our Rugby 7s and Science and Engineering teams winning their respective competitions. Students were also selected to represent the Bathurst Diocese in Rugby League and Netball. Congratulations to all of those students.
This week we have our AFL Gala Day (Years 5/6) on Tuesday, CPS Swimming on Wednesday, and a Rugby League Gala Day (Years 5/6) on Friday.
P&F - Easter Raffle - CASUAL CLOTHES DAY FOR DONATIONS - TOMORROW, 1ST APRIL
The Easter Raffle is conducted each year by our P&F Association as a fundraiser for our school and the announcement of our major winners is always an exciting event. Raffle tickets for our Easter Raffle were sent home to families last week. We rely on donations from our families for our Easter Raffle prizes, and the generosity of our parent community always amazes us.
** More tickets are available from the school office.


Kindergarten Enrolments 2026 -


Science & Engineering
Well done St Mary's.
Champion school at the 2025 Western Plains Science and Engineering Challenge.
We're very proud!

Sport
Polding Swimming - Best of luck to Sophie, Georgie, Emily, Frankie, Diesel, and Matthew who will represent Bathurst Diocese at the Polding Swimming competition to be held in Homebush on Wednesday, 2nd April.
Congratulations on reaching this elite level of competition!

Bathurst Diocesan Winter Sports Trials - Congratulations to the following students, who were selected to represent the Bathurst Diocesan in their sport at the Polding trial later in the year.
Netball: Zara and Maggie
Open Rugby League: Jackson, Thomas, Ollie, Jake, Fletcher and Slater

Cross Country Cross Country Dates -
Primary: Wednesday, 9th April
Infants: Tuesday, 10th April
* Kinder and Year 1 will do their runs with their Years 5 and 6 buddies.
* The 9 year olds and under and 10 year olds will run 2 kilometres.
* The 11 and 12 year olds will run 3 kilometres.
All children will walk the course in the morning and run in age-group races throughout the day.
The first four runners across the line will be selected for the School Cross-Country Team.
ASTHMA REMINDER:
Classes have commenced running practice for our upcoming Cross Country.
For children's safety and as per school policy, we remind parents that asthmatic students must have a labeled puffer and spacer in the school sickbay and their puffer should be accessible at all times.
Religious Education
Gospel Focus: New Life
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
Respond to others with generosity and love.
St. Mary's Big Water Walk - This Wednesday, classes will be participating in our 'Big Water Walk'. This event is to raise awareness about the distances some people may need to walk to access clean and safe drinking water. We ask children to bring in a gold coin donation to be collected in their class to support our Project Compassion fundraising efforts this year.

Meet4Mass - Our Term 1 Meet4Mass has been scheduled for Sunday, 6th April 2025. We would like to invite everyone to come along and celebrate Mass with us on this day.


2025 Sacramental Parent Information Session - These have now taken place for 2025. If you have missed out on registering your child for one of the sacraments you need to contact Rosie Hosking, St. Brigid’s Sacramental Coordinator via email at sacraments.dubbo@cdob.org.au

Holy Week Celebrations - As our Easter celebrations are during the holiday period this year, our school will celebrate Holy Week in the final week of this term, as follows:
* Palm Sunday Liturgy, presented by Kindergarten, at 2.15 pm on Wednesday, 9th April.
* Holy Thursday Liturgy, presented by Year 6, at 12.30 pm on Thursday, 10th April
* Stations of the Cross, presented by Year 3, on Friday, 11th April - time to be advised.
ST. BRIGID'S PARISH DUBBO
HOLY WEEK AND EASTER LITURGIES 2025
Sacrament of Penance
1st Rite of Reconciliation - 7th to 11th April - 1 hour before Mass
2nd Rite of Reconciliation - Wednesday 9th April - 6.00 pm - St. Brigid's
NOTE: The Sacrament of Penance is not celebrated between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday.
Passion Sunday - 13th April
Saturday at 6.00 pm - Vigil Mass at St. Brigid's
Sunday at 7.30 am - Mass at St. Laurence's
Sunday at 9.00 am - Mass at St. Brigid's
Sunday at 6.00 pm - Mass at St. Brigid's
Holy Thursday - 17th April
6.00 pm - Mass of the Lord's Supper followed by Veneration in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Good Friday - 18th April
10.00 am - Public Stations of the Cross - Mugga Hill, Dunedoo Road
* Make a pilgrimage by walking from your home to the Stations at Mugga Hill or join with pilgrims who will leave St. Brigid's car park at 8.30 am.
3.00 pm - Celebration of the Lord's Passion at St. Brigid's
Holy Saturday - 19th April
10.00 am - Morning Prayer of Waiting
7.00 pm - Easter Vigil (PLEASE NOTE TIME)
Easter Sunday - 20th April
7.30 am - Mass at St. Laurence's
9.00 am - Mass at St. Brigid's
6.00 pm - Mass at St. Brigid's
Easter Monday - 21st April
9.00 am - Mass at St. Brigid's
ST. BRIGID'S PARISH - MASS TIMES:
St Brigid's: Saturday - 6pm, Sunday - 9am and Sunday - 6pm
St. Laurence's Church: Sunday - 7.30am
Life Education Van
The Life Education Van offers purpose-built, issue specific and age-appropriate primary school modules designed to engage, inspire and empower students. These modules are delivered face-to-face and cover a range of topics across the areas of physical health, safety, and social and emotional wellbeing. The Life Ed program is designed to be integrated into the primary curriculum and all modules are all aligned to the Australian Curriculum.
Students at St Mary's will be attending the Life Education Van this week from Tuesday, 1st April - Friday, 4th April.
Attendance

Awards
STUDENT OF THE WEEK:
Eknoor - 1B For having a happy and settled approach to learning. |
Chelsea - 1G For sharing her great ideas during class discussions. |
Lachlan - 6G Conducting himself as a polite and approachable member of Year 6. |
HOUSE AWARDS:
Congratulations to the following students for gaining 10 points for
their Sports House for exemplary behaviour:
LA SALLE: | McAULEY: | MOORE: | LENNON: |
Olivia - 1B | Ollie - 1B | Evie - 1G | Charlie - 1B |
Lola - 1B | Harriet - 1B | Lewy - 2G | Maggie - 1B |
Ellie - 1G | Isaac - 3B | Jack - 2G | Nate - 2G |
Rubie - 5B | Taejin - 3B | Thea - 2G | Isabelle - 5B |
Marlee - 5B | Lucas - 3B | Naksh - 5B | Zoe - 5B |
Hunter - 5B | Wyatt - 2G | Zaniah - 5B | Janie - 5G |
Harlie - 5G | Willah - 2G | Harry - 5B | Lacey - 5G |
Avneet - 5G | Maddix - 2G | Evie - 5B | Melody - 5G |
Nasha - 5G | Irish - 2G | Maddison - 5B | |
Peter - 5B | Millie - 5B | ||
Stella - 5G | Isabella - 5G | ||
Solei - 5G | Ollie - 5G |
School Fees
TERM 1 FEES WERE DUE... 14th March 2025. PROMPT PAYMENT PLEASE.
Reminder letters will be sent out this week.
If you wish to commence a new Direct Debit plan or have an existing Direct Debit plan in place that needs adjusting, please let us know via email: k.bywater@bth.catholic.edu.au Thank you.
Term 2 Statement date: 9th May, 2025 and instalment due date 23rd May, 2025
Term 3 Statement date: 1st August, 2025 and instalment due date 15th August, 2025
Community News

BIRTHDAYS:
Celebrating their birthday this week are:
Skylar, Maggie, Charlotte, Oakley, Ned, Caleb, Rio, Michael and Lilliana.
We hope you enjoy your birthday!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Canteen

CANTEEN ROSTER | |
Tuesday, 1st April | Michelle Brown |
Wednesday, 2nd April | Alli Sykes, Amanda Cook and Cara Grey |
Thursday, 3rd April | Tara Taylor and Ash Bower |
Friday, 4th April | Jenna Cooper, Cassie Box and Carly Casey |
Monday, 7th April | Natasha O'Neill |
MunchMonitor - We encourage all families to use the MunchMonitor online program for lunch orders.
School Uniform
THE CLOTHING POOL
Thank you to our parents who have dropped in their secondhand clothes for the Clothing Pool.
We are in urgent need of Sports Shorts and Grey Shorts - Size 4 and Size 6.
If you happen to have these at home and they are no longer in use,
please consider dropping them off at the school office.
Much appreciated.


CCSP Parent Survey
Tell us about your experiences as a Catholic school parent and what you'd like to know more about.
We value every parent's thoughts and opinions!
CSSP would like to know how involved/engaged you feel you are in your child's learning at a NSW/ACT Catholic school, how connected you feel in your child's school, and your thoughts on how schools could enhance family-school partnerships.
This data informs our parent learning program and provides us with valuable information about how our Dioceses and schools are engaging with families.
Thank you so much for taking time out to give us your feedback.
Please click the link to go to the survey: