Dear Parents

Thank you so much for supporting the appeal for our neighbours in Northampton and Kalbarri. It was an outstanding demonstration of your generosity to raise over $2 000 for the people up there. I spoke to a former colleague at St Mary’s and she told me they were extremely grateful that we cared enough to support them in this way.

Gratitude Reflection Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always try to be a little kinder than what is necessary? J.M. Barrie

Eucharist Parent Information Night I think I spoke too early in the last newsletter when I said I hoped we don’t have any more disruptions like we did at the start of the year! Anyway, I would sincerely like to thank you for the way you have supported our community by complying with the COVID rules. Luckily, we didn’t have to make too many changes. The parent information night for the Year 4 students making their First Holy Communion will now be held tonight at 7pm instead of last Wednesday. It is a very exciting time for our students as they will be receiving the Sacrament for the first time on 15 and 16 May at our Church. Please keep these wonderful young people and their families in your prayers.

Interschool Swimming Carnival This carnival also had to be postponed because of the lockdown. We are hoping to be able to now hold the carnival on Thursday 27 May. Mr Power has sent all the updated details home.

Mother’s Day This weekend, we celebrate one of the most important days of the year when we acknowledge the amazing jobs our mothers and grandmothers do. They do so much for us and generally don’t ask for anything in return. However, this Sunday, we have the opportunity to show them our love and appreciation. All mothers are invited to our very special Mother’s Day Mass which will be held in our church this Friday 7 May from 8.45am.

P&F Our wonderful P&F have once again organised a Mother’s Day stall which will be held in all classrooms, so our students have the opportunity to buy something for their mothers or grandmothers. Our P&F do a great job of helping us build community spirit with activities like this. As you know, all money raised, goes straight into our playground upgrade. This week, another section of our playground will open for the Year 1 and 2 students on the main oval. The P&F have contributed fifty per cent of the cost of this beautiful new space which will benefit our students for many years to come. On behalf of everyone in our community, I would like to thank our P&F for their support.

Administration Block Upgrade This week will also  see another project completed with the upgrade of the rest of the administration block. We transformed the front office over a year ago, and now, we have completed the rest. I would like to thank the School Advisory Council for their ongoing support and the work they do behind the scenes to help projects like this come to fruition. Our staff now have a more functional space to work and gather in. I would also like to thank Sue Haynes, Lisa Liebregts and Jacki Tucker for their contributions towards putting this together. Like the playground upgrade, this will benefit the people who work here for many years to come.

NAPLAN Due to the COVID restrictions in 2020, we did not sit the NAPLAN tests last year. However, we will be doing them this year and they take place next week for our Year 3 and 5 students. Whilst the tests are a good guide of how we are travelling as a school, they are not the only thing we should focus on individually for our students. The teachers do testing all year long and they have the most reliable data on each child. Again, if you have any questions about your children’s progress, please make an appointment at any time to meet with the teacher concerned.

P&F/ School Advisory Council Meetings The next meetings will be held  in the newly refurbished staffroom on Monday 17 May at 9.00am for the P&F and at 6.00pm for the School Advisory Council.

School Photos Please make sure your children are looking their very best for the photos which will be taken from 19 to 21 May. All students will be required to wear their full winter uniform.

Yours sincerely
Laurie Bechelli