Past Student News
Past student Harry Browne has been having great success in the swimming pool. After winning at his school sports, then local schools' swimming competition, he continued onto the Grampians District School Swimming Competition, held recently in Horsham.
After winning at the Grampian District competition, Harry was invited to compete in the State Level Swimming Competition at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on the 19th of April, to compete in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly. Harry continued on his winning spree by placing third in backstroke and walked away with a bronze medal. Congratulations Harry!
Student News
Term two has started really well!
We have started learning Auslan, so far we have learnt how to say hello and goodbye, please and thank you and I am feeling sick and I am feeling better. We met Chantelle who is deaf and she will be helping us by making sure we have the right hand movements. She was born deaf but they don’t know why, her parents are hearing and she has a daughter and she can hear.
We have been talking about the resurrection and how it is all about hope. Did you know that Vinnies has been running for 170 years? They bring a lot of hope to people and we are helping them celebrate their birthday by writing messages of hope. You will see more about this soon.
We have also been learning about ANZAC Day and we are looking forward to walking up to see the lone pine on Clarkes Hill. ANZAC Day came about because of the landing at Gallipoli on 25th April back in 1915. So many soldiers lost their lives that day and from that day on, every year since we remember them.
It has been good learning about ANZAC Day and we have all researched a topic that we were interested in. We will make a speech as part of our ceremony. We made ANZAC biscuits on Tuesday and we are going to eat them at the top of Clarkes Hill. Yum!
School Advisory Council
The St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School Advisory Council (SAC) meets throughout the school year. “The SAC is the leading advisory group for the Principal, as an active forum for parent and community participation, providing support and advice in strategic planning, school improvement, educational outcomes and stewardship of resources”. (Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited - DOBCEL).
The 2024 SAC is made up of the following members: Principal: Clare Scanlon and Parent Representatives: Bryden Gage, Melinda Prendergast, Amelia Singline and Bec Slater. I would like to thank the SAC members for the fantastic work that they do in guiding and assisting our St. Mary’s school community.
ANZAC Day
Tomorrow, our students will raise the flag and lay a wreath at the ANZAC Ceremony at the Bungaree Recreation Reserve Memorial at 8am. We are very proud of our students for doing this and thank the parents for their support too. Everyone is welcome to come along, students in full winter school uniforms as they proudly represent their school.
Our sincere thanks to Emma Montano from Springfield Blooms who kindly made and donated the wreath.
Paw Pals
On Tuesday, 7th May we will welcome Kathleen Anderson from MacKillop Institute with her dog Millie. Kathleen runs a program called Paw Pals. The program focuses on building student engagement and confidence through animal assisted activities working alongside a trained therapy dog and Kath, the program facilitator. Kath and Millie will work with several students in the Paw Pals Program every Tuesday for an hour session.
The Paw Pals Program aims to:
- increase social confidence and emotional intelligence
- improve self-regulation and behavioural management skills
- increase student engagement in academic based learning tasks
- deliver positive learning experiences and opportunities for student success
We look forward to welcoming Kath and Millie to school on the 7th May.
Auslan
Auslan (Australian Sign Language) commenced in our classrooms this term from Foundation - Year 6, through an approach called Teachers as Co-Learners (TCL). TCL empowers classroom teachers to lead short, language-focused sessions daily. Children and teachers are co-learners of the language. The teacher is not expected to be the expert and is supported by our expert language assistant Chantelle Stacey. Chantelle joined us on Monday morning and will join us for a session in each classroom every Monday morning for the rest of the year.
Auslan in the West founders Briana and Darren Beath also support our program and feature in videos outlining the learning each day. Please encourage your children to share with you what they have learnt in Auslan each day, you might even see them using the signs at home.
Mother's Day Celebration
The St Mary's Mother's Day Celebration will take place on Friday, 10th May at 2:00pm. All mothers, friends and community members are welcome to come along and help celebrate the wonderful mothers in our lives. Please let the School Office know if you are able to attend to assist with catering numbers. We look forward to seeing you then!
Welcome
We are delighted to welcome Fr Justin Driscoll to our school and parish community. Fr Justin is now the Parish Priest for the Ministry District: Ballarat East, Bungaree and Gordon Parishes. We also welcome Assistant Priest, Fr Matthew Restall to our community. Fr Justin and Fr Matthew look forward to meeting students, staff and our whole school community soon. Fr Justin will be celebrating Mass at Clarkes Hill on Saturday evening at 6.30pm. If you are present at the mass, please introduce yourselves and your children when you can.
A Prayer for ANZAC Day
Dear Lord,
On this ANZAC Day, we come together as a school community to remember and honor the brave men and women who served our country with courage and sacrifice. We remember those who gave their lives so that we may live in peace and freedom.
We pray for all the soldiers who fought on distant shores, enduring hardship and danger for the sake of others. May their bravery inspire us to always stand up for what is right and just.
We also remember the families of the servicemen and women, who waited and worried, and who felt the pain of loss deeply. Grant them comfort and strength, and may their sacrifices never be forgotten.
Help us to learn from the lessons of history, so that we may strive for peace and understanding in our world today. Give us the wisdom to work towards a future where conflict is replaced with harmony, and where all people can live in dignity and security.
As we gather to pay our respects, we ask for your blessing upon our nation and all those who serve it. May we never forget the spirit of ANZAC, and may we always strive to uphold the values of courage, mateship, and sacrifice. Amen.
ANZAC Day Ceremony - Bungaree
School TV - Special Report: Trauma Recover
Trauma in children significantly disturbs their sense of safety and normalcy, leading to substantial emotional and behavioural changes. Such disturbances often result from exposure to traumatic events, which may be exacerbated by continuous media coverage. This exposure can trigger stress, anxiety, and trauma, with varying recovery timelines due to the unpredictable nature of trauma's impact. Observing young people grappling with these effects can be highly distressing for parents and caregivers.
It's important to establish a nurturing environment to help restore a child's sense of security to help promote resilience. Active involvement in their recovery is essential, as is recognising the unique, personalised needs of each child in responding to trauma. Depending on their age, children may present with different symptoms, such as regressive behaviours in younger ones or withdrawal and agitation in older children and teens. It is important to monitor and manage the type of information children may access to reduce their emotional distress.
The brain stores traumatic events as powerful emotional memories, influencing behaviour through mechanisms beyond a child's conscious awareness. By providing young people with support and equipping them with coping mechanisms to handle uncertainty, parents and carers can greatly enhance a child's capacity to recover and build long-term emotional resilience.
This Special Report will help you identify a child experiencing trauma and how you can support them to overcome it. Please see the link below to the special report:
Our Diocesan Community
The latest edition of Our Diocesan Community has now been published and is available by clicking on the link below:
The magazine contains good news stories of our schools, parishes and agencies across the diocese.
Principal's Message
Dear Families,
As we approach ANZAC Day this Thursday, it is important for us, as a Catholic school community, to reflect on the significance of this day. The children have been learning about this in class over the past 2 weeks and I hope they have been sharing their learnings with you.
ANZAC Day is a time for remembrance, honoring the brave men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country. We also remember their families who endured the pain of separation and loss and those who continue to serve in our defense forces, protecting our freedoms and way of life.
May we use this day as an opportunity to instill in our students the importance of gratitude, respect, and service to others. Through learning about the ANZACs and their legacy, may our students be inspired to live out the values of peace, justice, and reconciliation in their own lives.
I am delighted that many of us will join together at the Bungaree Recreation Reserve Memorial on ANZAC Day in prayer for peace, for our nation, and for all those who have served and continue to serve. We also look forward to the tradition of ‘walking the hill’ this morning to visit the lone pine which was planted more than 15 years ago and reflecting on the service of our ANZACs.
Lest we forget.
Clare
Upcoming Events
25th April: ANZAC Day Public Holiday
29th April & 20th May: Years 3-6 Golf Clinic, 2:25pm-3:10pm
6th May: Little Feet, Big Footprints Session at St Patrick's Gordon for Year 6 students
9th May: Athletics Carnival at Llanberris Reserve
10th May: Mother's Day Liturgy and Afternoon Tea at 2pm
12th May: Mother's Day
15th May: Football Carnival
26th May: National Sorry Day
29th May: Catholic Education Week commences
31st May: Netball Carnival
7th June: School Closure Day - ReLate Wellbeing PD for Staff
10th June: King's Birthday Holiday
13th June: School Photos
19th June: Inform and Empower Parent Session at Ballan
28th June: Last Day of Term 2
South Room News
It's been another busy time in the South Room since our last newsletter.
Kamden: On Saturday, the fair was held here at school so more people would know about us and hopefully more people will join our school. We were there too and it was very big! One of the stalls was the Newlyn FNC snag sizzle. I love their snags.
It was a very good event. Even some people we know came and had some lunch. There was a big steam engine and it needed fire to move. It was larger than most other tractors.
We set up on Friday and then we brought the goat and dad took the tractor, then we went back for our sheep but the donkeys didn’t get there so we got two little bottle fed lambs and put it in the donkey's pen. I had too much sugar so I was so dizzy and fell over a lot. There was tug of war, I played and won it for my team.
I was so proud of everyone but especially Amelia (my mum) and Bryden for all their hard work and effort. It was a good day for everyone in the district. Gary came down from Newlyn to sell the best chips, cheese and gravy that I know of. Addy Montano won the lolly jar.
Alexis: On Saturday the fair was on at St. Mary's but unfortunately I didn't get to go because I was at an end of season athletic event in Bacchus Marsh.
The end of the athletics event is called Championship Day. You get to choose 5 events to compete in. I did shot put, triple jump, high jump, 100 metre sprint and 70 metre dash. If you get first, second or third you get a medal. In the end I achieved three gold, one silver and one bronze medals. I got a gold in shot put, triple jump and high jump, a silver in 100 metres and a bronze in 70 metres. I was four milliseconds behind a girl in 70 metres but it was a good effort in the end. I was pretty proud of myself.
For school sports day I want to get into the Vic team to compete with Australia. If you go to a small school or you are home-schooled, there is a chance you can get a scholarship and a $1000 to put towards your travel, room and uniform. One of my goals this year is to get a medal at the nationals. We still are not 100% sure that we are in Sydney but I will be so excited for the Vic team.
Big thanks to all the people who helped set up on Thursday and Friday for the fair. We hope you loved it as well and enjoy your Easter holidays.
On Monday, the South Room counted all the Project Compassion money that we made from the fair, as well as the books for the school. In total we made $224.70 for Project Compassion and $248 from the books, that is $472.70! Good job to Emilia, Vanessa, Quinn, Maeve and Pat who brought in their family Project Compassion boxes as well. If you still have a box you can bring it in a plastic zip lock bag with the total written on it.
Vanessa: On Saturday March 23, I went to a wedding and got my hair curled by my sister. It was so pretty and cute. The wedding was going to be too long so we went to the beach instead. There were many dogs at the dog beach. The dogs are loud at the beach. I went to make sandcastles. It was so much fun. We had to go into the water. It was cold at first. It was so cold I got some sand. It was flat, scratchy and itchy. I had so much fun at the beach.
My mum got the wrong key so we were locked out of the house so we rang my sister and said we were locked out of the house. So we ate dinner outside. It was so fun to eat outside. It was fun till we went inside again. I went to my room where I got my toys and played on the bed. It was so fun to play with my toys.
Emilia: On Saturday, my Mum, my Nana and myself were at the fair for the St. Mary's school. We looked at some things that we liked and I got a treasure box. I also got my face painted, it was a cheetah. It looked very special. We had some sausages for lunch. There were so many people that came to visit the fair. It was really fun. We had to go home because my mum has to go home to rest because she is so tired.
On Monday, in the South Room we counted the money for the Project Compassion. My family's money was $73 and we used our math time to count the money that we had.
Evie: On Saturday , St Mary’s had a fair. It was a huge success and everyone was so proud of the effort that went into a little school fair that turned into a big community day. Even Jake Guthrie showed up with his backpackers on the back of his car. It was an amazing turnout of everyone.
We would like to say thank you to the Newlyn Netball Football Club for the BBQ, Newlyn Primary School for the delicious goods, all the stallholders, Gary from the truck wagon and the pony rides and many more.
We all had an amazing day and I would like to say thank you to Amelia Singline, Bryden Gage, Bec Slater, Melinda Prendergast and Miley Singline, Stella Slater, Tara Carlson, Abby Carlson and everyone else who helped out. We are very grateful to all of you . We all loved the fair. We hope we can see you all next year. I hope everyone has an amazing holiday. Thank you to everyone for supporting us.
Patrick: On the weekend, the community of Clarkes Hill had the school fair because we wanted to let people know where our school is. It had different stalls on the tennis court. There was a candy stall, a gin stall and a second hand stall. There were some food stalls as well and two coffee stalls. The fair also had pony rides, a petting zoo, hot rods including a corvette, two Holdens and a Chevrolet.
I had an egg and bacon roll and two sausages from the Newlyn Football Netball club stall. My favorite part was the hot rods because they looked cool. I had the best time ever.
Kaezia: On Saturday, my Dad and I went to the St. Mary’s Clarkes Hill 2024 Fair which was put on to show people how good our school is. I went on a pony ride and made a best friend keychain. I also got a book, a crochet bee and a blue scrunchie. I did a potato sack race and sadly did not win but it was ok. I had a lot of fun. My favorite thing was the pony ride, it was so exciting as I had never ridden a pony before. The reason I went to the fair was to have fun and enjoy myself.
Will: On Saturday we had the fair. There were lots of my friends there. I spent lots of time at my house with Kamden, Pat, Billy Quick and Billy Britt. When we went down to the fair my grandad’s hot rods were there and I got to say hello. We went in the mud next to the dam behind the school and the mud was up to my shorts. We found a water pipe and we washed it off there and we went back to school.
Raffle Winners
Here are the lucky winners from the Raffle at the Fair on Saturday:
Major Prizes:
Olive Lawson - desk
Gage family - bedside tables
Laiken Britt - load of wood
Polly Smithard - bicycle
Minor Prizes (donated by stall holders):
Kaezia Liss H Jess Sartori
Clare Montano Glenda Lyndal
Jayde Moran Raylene Mark Dangladesh
Tara Johnson Jenny Curran Nicky Carlson
Inez Taylor Danny Crilly
Guess the Number of Lollies in the Jar: 297 - Addy Montano
Fr Sajan
We would like to thank Fr Sajan for all of his support during his time in our parish and wish him all the best for his move to Warracknabeal. We will welcome Fr Justin Driscoll to our school at some time in the new term.
Harold - Life Ed (Health & Wellbeing)
Next term we have Life Education Victoria visiting on Monday 22nd April. If their mascot Harold is available he will be here too. Parents are invited to access the Online Information video prior to our visit.
NAPLAN
Well done to Quinn, Pat, Kaezia, Leo and Alexis for completing their NAPLAN assessments last week. Four assessments in two days was a fabulous effort. We know these assessments provide only one snapshot of selected aspects of what students know and can do.