Dear Parents,

This morning we held our ‘Speak Off’ with St Joseph’s Adelong, which is our public speaking competition. St Mary’s were represented by the following students: Jessica Galvin, Saskia Schwarzrock, Jack Shang, Morgan Hockey, Lacey Hockey, Amara Hockey and Star Maglinte. We are proud of each of them for reaching this level and committing to developing their public speaking skills further. Speaking confidently in public for an extended period of time is a valuable skill. Winners and Runners Up from each year level are:  Year 3, Alice MacDougall & Braxton Bamblett, Year 4, Laura Reynolds & Jack Shang, Year 5, Fred Roche & Morgan Hockey, Year 6, Arthur Roche & Toby Roots. They will now proceed to the next level of competition, the Western Region Public Speaking Competition to be held on line, Friday 16 September. We wish them well.

Tomorrow, we welcome our preschoolers from Batlow Apple Tree. They will spend a little time in the K/1/2 space and then have morning tea and play time on our grounds. Several students have already enrolled at St Mary’s for Kindergarten in 2023. It will be lovely to start building our relationship with them.

I will be attending the National Catholic Education Conference in Melbourne next week, Monday to Wednesday. It is an opportunity that hasn’t been available for the past few years so I am looking forward to seeing presenters and hearing about current research in best practice education. Ms Amy Buckmaster will be in charge in my absence.

And finally, Ms Patricia Marsh leaves us tomorrow after being at St Mary's for 15 years. We bid her a fond farewell as she takes up her role 5 days a week at McAuley.

Have a lovely week everyone.

Jannine

On Sunday, 3 students made their Sacrament of Reconciliation.

It was a lovely celebration and Jessica, Logan and Aiden were very proud of themselves.

Thank you to Father Namora for guiding them so gently through this Sacrament and helping us to know how our actions can be more like Jesus.

All children are looking forward to their next Sacrament - their First Holy Communion next year.

Enjoy your week everyone.

Amy Buckmaster - Religious Education Coordinator