Dear Parents,

A very big welcome back to you all and an extra special welcome to our newest families. It was so lovely to see the students back at school yesterday to start their 2023  journey with us. I hope the holidays were relaxing and filled with loads of fun moments for you all. 

Staff have had professional development days in the lead up to 2023 which included the Catalyst system day in Canberra on Monday. We were privileged to be a small team sharing and learning about effective instruction from highly recognised presenters. We are a small school, but are part of a much bigger team and feel very supported.

I want to share our new vision statement with you all. 

St Marys nurtures, educates and inspires students to learn with confidence and lead with compassion.

This statement sets the course for teaching and learning now and into the future. Staff collaborated over several meetings last year to refine this statement so that we have a vision which is mutually agreed upon. Students and parents contributed through surveys and we appreciated your input.  Thank you

Term 1 Events

• White Cross Dental Wednesday 8 February-Please contact the front office if you need a note to access this free service.
• Opening Mass Thursday 16 February with Fr Joe-our new Parish Priest. All families are warmly welcomed to join us at 10am in St Mary's Church. Our Year 6 students will be inducted as our leaders and receive their badges and roles for this year. Our Kindergarten students will be presented with welcoming certificates. 
• Ash Wednesday Liturgy 22 February
• Family BBQ Evening Thursday 23 February 5pm
• NAPLAN Yr 3 and Yr 5 Wednesday 15 March to Wednesday 22 March
• Holy Thursday Mass 5 April

Attendance 

Please be advised that students should arrive at school no earlier than 8:40am and be ready to line up at 8:55am. Students who arrive earlier need to sit safely in the weather shed.

Parents are responsible for ensuring that thier children attend school on a regular basis. An attendance rate of 95% is acceptable but anything less that that can impact upon a students success at school. All abscences need to be explained via the parent portal.

Our Communication Tools

1.  Compass 

All parents who have the Compass app installed will receive notifications which includes notes that require permissions. Parents will be able to access their child's Semester Reports via the portal and book in for Parent teacher interviews when offered. If you haven't already done so, please install the Compass app on your phone. 

2.   Newsletters

Our newsletters will go out weekly every Thursday. Please check via Compass notifications. We will  be  'trimming down' our newsletters a little this year so that information is a little easier to access. Typically the first newsletter of each term will be more detailed and the following newsletters a snapshot of upcoming events. 

3.   Facebook

What's On is posted on Sunday evenings for a snapshot of the school week. Other posts celebrate our special moments. Please follow us and give us a 'like.' 

4.   Meetings

Teachers are available for one on one meetings at a mutually convenient time. Please contact class teachers via our office email address if needing to make an appointment or phone 69491270. 

 office.stmarysbatlow@cg.catholic.edu.au 

5.   School website

1. Our school website is a point of information especially regarding Annual School report and links to Canberra Goulburn policies. www.stmarysbatlow.nsw.edu.au 

Have a wonderful year everyone.

Jannine

Welcome to 2023 everyone!

I trust you all had a special Christmas and New Year break and are embracing all the opportunities that a new year can present or invite us to work towards.

Whether the past year brought you success, fulfilment, and joy, or you faced grief, setbacks, and struggle, you can look ahead to this new year with hope. The bible verse of Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, "for I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I was filled with such joy yesterday seeing so many beaming smiles on children’s faces as they returned to school and many new happy faces and families joining us. 2023 is going to be a wonderful year!

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone.

Amy Buckmaster - Religious Education Coordinator.