Issue #7 14th May 2025
Principal's Update
Mother's Day We hope all of our mums, grandmothers and mother figures had a wonderful weekend. I am sure you were all spoilt by your children. Last week, for Mother's Day, saw the children choose their special gift for mum. A huge thank you to Maria and Jess for ordering gifts and coordinating the Mother's Day Stall. We also thank and sincerely appreciate the help of all the mums who gave up their time to help the children make their choice.
Our Mother's Day Breakfast was a busy and happy morning, as always. Overall, we were very lucky with the weather. Again, we thank and acknowledge the many parents who came in early (from 6.30am) to set up, prepare and serve the food. A massive thank you to Corinne, who preordered all of the food and coordinated the helpers to ensure the morning ran smoothly.
We also thank the many mums and grandmothers who were able to attend and share in the morning with their children. Unfortunately, we had to cut the liturgy short due to the rain, however the Year 1 children continued this in their classrooms. Thank you to the parents who were so supportive on the morning.
Winter uniform will begin next Monday (19th May). All children should be in their full winter uniform, including correct socks, shoes and ties. Please make sure you place your orders with Midford if you haven't done so yet - Currently, orders are delivered to school each Tuesday and Thursday. Please contact Midford for any questions about your order.
Midford's Gosford warehouse is moving to a new location, 72-82 Mann Street, Gosford. The warehouse will be closed Monday the 19th May through to Friday 23rd May and reopen 9am Monday 26th May resuming normal trading hours. A flyer with more information is further down in this newsletter.
Preschool Visit This morning we were excited to once again invite Toukley Preschool for a visit to our school. It was a great opportunity for the Preschool educators to reconnect with our current Kinders who were in their care last year, as well as allowing the preschoolers a chance to see our Kinder classrooms, and visit the oval; many of them will begin with us next year!
Kinder 2026 This week is the final week of booked Kinder 2026 interviews, signalling the conclusion to the first round of acceptances. We have had a strong number of applications and will have another 3 classes of Kindergarten in 2026. All families will be notified mid-June regarding their place for Kinder 2026. Once places are filled in the coming month, other applicants will join our wait list. Kinder Orientation begins in October.
Our next Playgroup will be held on Wednesday 28th May, followed by Tuesday 17th June, from 9.15am. We encourage you to attend if you can.
Feedback Consultation All parents are warmly invited to participate in a feedback and consultation session about the future of Catholic Schools Broken Bay and how we can further strengthen the Family Journey in your school community. To support meaningful dialogue, sessions have been organised by geographic precinct. The session for the Northern Central Coast will be held at St Brigid's Catholic College, 48 Carters Road Lake Munmorah from 6.00pm – 7.00pm on Thursday 15 May 2025. This meeting will be coordinated by Adam Murdoch.
Please use the link for more information and to register your attendance. Together, Let’s Shape the Future of the Family Journey Experience
Athletics Carnival This year, our Athletics Carnival will run like it did in 2024, with K-1 attending their carnival here at school on Friday 27th June, and Years 2-6 heading to Mingara on Wednesday July 2nd. For Kinder-Year 1, the morning will be held on our school oval from approximately 10.30-12.00pm. The children will complete a rotation of activities including running and fun relays during the morning, and parents will be invited to watch. For Years 2-6, a permission note will go out on Compass in the coming weeks looking for parent helpers and permission to travel to the carnival. Competitive events and fun activities are included in this day.
Combined St Brigid's and St Mary's Mass This Sunday evening we invite families to join us for games on the oval from 4.30pm, followed by Mass here at St Mary's at 6.00pm. St Brigid's and St Mary's students will lead the singing and readings. We look forward to seeing you here!
Feast Day Next Friday, 23rd May, is our Feast Day for Mary, Help of Christians. The day begins with a Mass at 9.15am. Following this, the students join in to fun activities around the school on the playground and in classrooms (parents do not attend these). The school also hosts a BBQ and offers all children a sausage sandwich. We finish the day with a Teachers vs Year 6 activity.
We are looking for any mums or dads who can help cook and prepare the sausage lunch for the students, between 10.30-2.00pm. If you are available, please call the office on (02) 7256 2143. The children love when you are able to help! There will be no lunch orders available on our Feast Day.
Excursions Our Year 2 and Year 4 students have upcoming excursions, to Tocal Homestead and The Rocks. Both excursions support their History Unit. We hope you all enjoy you days and can't wait to hear about your experiences.
Early Leavers We are seeing an increase in the amount of students who are leaving school early each day - some days we have 50 students across our school signing out between 2.00-3.15pm. While we understand that some specialist appointments during the day cannot be avoided, it is always appreciated when you can make an appointment after school, and not pick up your children early for convenience or to avoid traffic. Thank you for your support.
1, 2, 3 Magic! In Term 2 we are offering the 1-2-3 Magic Program, which is designed to help parents and carers manage behaviours with children 2 - 12 years old. The program will be run by Victoria Price, our Parent Engagement Coordinator, over 3 sessions (June 5, 12 and 26, 1-3pm). Registration is now open, and spaces are limited so please sign up early. https://forms.office.com/r/GZFy7Fr62T?origin=lprLink
Early Arrivals A reminder that supervision for children begins at 8.30am. Children should not be arriving to the school site prior to 8.15am. At this time, children are unsupervised. OOSH is available for families who require care before school. Thank you for your support.
REC Update
Combined Family Mass
This Sunday we will be celebrating Mass with St Brigid's Catholic College. We will begin at 4.30pm with some games on the oval. Light refreshments will be served before Mass. St Josie is looking forward to as many of our choir members joining us for Mass. She is planned some of our favourite hymns. Thank you to the parents who have already reached out to let us know their child would like a reading at Mass. As soon as I have them, I will allocate the readings.
Mother's Day Liturgy
Thank you to our Year 1 teachers and students who prepared our Mother's Day Liturgy. Unfortunately the weather got the better of us and we had to relocate part way through the liturgy to our Year 1 classroom. Thank you to all the parents who were so flexible. I hope you all had the opportunity to watch and listen to the Mother's Day Reflection. If you haven't, please take some time to check it out on Facebook. Our Year 5 girls, Katy-Leigh, Maddie and Indie are singing with Andrew Chinn. A special mention to Mrs Maiden for putting this together.
Feast Day - Mary Help of Christians
Next Friday we will celebrate our Feast Day, Mary Help of Christians. We will begin the day with Mass at 9.15am. Families are welcome to join us if they are able. Following Mass we will have fun activities. We are excited to again organise a BBQ lunch for our students to celebrate our Feast Day. Thank you to those parents who have helped to assist. If you are able to help out with the BBQ lunch on the day please contact the office. We are blessed to have some students from MacKillop Catholic College to assist us on the day. We thank them in advance for helping us with our activities. Please pray the rain holds off next week as it is always a fun day.
5 Green Sacred Space
Thank you to our Year 5 students who shared their learning in Religious Education. It was great to hear about the Glorious Mysteries and the five events that make up this mystery. May is the month of Mary, please take some time in prayer saying the Hail Mary.
First Eucharist - Enrolment Period
A final reminder that First Eucharist enrolment is coming to a close. If you are wanting your child to prepare for the Sacrament of First Eucharist they must be Baptised, been Confirmed and have made their First Reconciliation. Please see the flyer below for further information. Our First Eucharist Ceremony will be held at 9am on Sunday 22nd June at our Church at St Mary's.
Learning in Maths
Fact Fluency is an important part of building success in Maths. Here is an example of how fluency with addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division can be fostered at home, with a fun game of Bingo!
From Our Office
Merit and STARS Awards