Dear Parents,

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat challenged the befuddled Alice saying;

“If you don’t know where you are going, it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

At St Mary’s we carefully follow our Mission Statement. It reminds us of our commitment and our direction. As we begin our Parent Information Sessions this week, we do so in the knowledge that working in partnership strengthens our mission, and subsequently, enhances student learning.

St Paul gave us all the basic guidelines for a Christian’s Mission Statement, when he reminded us, that as we are part of our own human family, we are also part of God’s family. We are made in His image and likeness and we have His Spirit within us. Therefore, we should try to behave towards other people in our lives, as we hope they would behave towards us. We should try not to judge other people, rather, we should try reconciliation and forgiveness. We should try to love other people in the manner in which Jesus offered His love to all people. We should be also alive to God’s Spirit within us so our lives reflect joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, self-control; in other words live life inspired by Christ’s example. Gal. 5: 22-25.

Living the life of a Christian and making others aware of our beliefs and values takes courage and commitment and may at times feel ineffective. However, we can take some encouragement from this observation of Betty Reese:

“If you think that you are too small to be effective, you have never tried to sleep with a mosquito in your room.”

Peace and Best Wishes,

Terri Leotta, APRE

42 Juliet Street South Mackay Q 4740 (PO Box 4124) Telephone 07 4951 1743 Fax 07 4951 4793 Email smm@rok.catholic.edu.au

Week 2 Term 1 - 30 January 2018

Calendar of Events

JANUARY

Tues 30 Parent Information Sessions continue

FEBRUARY

Mon 5 Parent teacher interviews begin

Wed 7 Interschool Touch Competition begins

Thurs 8 Opening school mass @ 9am

Fri 9 Pupil free day

Mon 12 Safety Circus

Tues 13 School photos

National Apology Day

Wed 14 Ash Wednesday

Mon 19 P & F AGM @ 6.30pm—Media Room

MARCH

Fri 9 Interhouse swimming carnival

Thurs 15 Interhouse cross country - Years 3-6

Mon 19 Obstacle course fun run - Prep-Year

Wed 28 Catholic Schools swimming carnival

Leadership Induction Ceremony Thank you to all the parents that attended last Friday’s leadership induction ceremony. Our 2018 school leaders are a fine group and very eager to develop their leadership capabilities throughout this year. Our school leaders for 2018 are shown on page 4 of this newsletter.

P&F AGM and Goal Setting Meeting Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday 19th February at 6.30pm, held in the staffroom (entry via admin carpark). AGM – Presentation of financial reports for 2017, Executive positions 2018 General Meeting – Welcome, Introduction, & setting P&F Goals for 2018 We welcome all new and existing parents & friends of St Mary’s to be involved in the P&F Association – a community which supports your child’s education. These gatherings are light hearted and informative and provide a means for you to have a say in the spend and social side of St Mary’s P&F activities. All interests and skills are welcome to enrich the P&F Association. Uniform Guidelines A reminder to all families that our revised uniform guidelines are in effect this year. Several changes include; Changes to appropriate footwear. Students are to wear plain black footwear (formal shoes or joggers). Please note that appropriate footwear can be purchased from many retailers in Mackay, including; Lowes, Athletes Foot and Intersport. Fingernails. No coloured nail polish or acrylic nails. Boys hair styles. Be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes or past the collar. Hair may not be dyed or worn in a

style that is extreme or inappropriate for school (e.g. no tracks, rat’s tails, mo-hawks, top knots, hair no shorter than gauge 2 or undercuts that have a large variance between length).

Girls hair styles. Be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes. Girls with shoulder or longer length hair must have it tied back. Hair may not be dyed or worn in a style that is extreme or inappropriate for school. Hair accessories should be minimal and must be in colours of navy, blue or white.

Our students demonstrate pride in St Mary’s school by the way they wear their uniform correctly. Uniform checks will be undertaken next week, and children in an incorrect uniform will receive a letter outlining item/s requiring attention. If you have any queries about this, please do not hesitate to contact the school office. Parent Information Sessions A reminder that these parent information sessions are being held this week, in your child’s classroom. I encourage all families to attend these important presentations. Please see your child’s teacher if you are unable to make it along. Afternoon Pick Up Procedures All students in Prep are to be collected from their prep classroom by a parent or guardian. For all other students, the car park works effectively when everybody follows the procedures. Please allow others to come out of car parks. Drive slowly through the car park, especially when merging in front of the parking bays. Cars should drive from MacDonald St into Morley St. and turn right into the school car park. Everyone must turn right into the car park in the afternoon and turn left when exiting. (In the afternoon those that turn left into the car park are pushing in and this upsets others!) If everyone is considerate it will be safe and fair for all users. I encourage parents who are not Prep parents to actively use our drive through pick-up protocol. We have two staff members supervising this area. Parents are asked to drive on and line up if their child is not ready. This avoids any unnecessary delays. Please ensure your name is displayed on the front dash board as this will speed up the process. In the afternoon please turn left when leaving MacDonald Street as this speeds up the line-up. At no stage should you encourage children to wait outside of the school or church where they are not directly supervised. We have had some unpleasant situations in the past when children have been told to wait outside the school by parents. It is simply not worth the risk! Please support us to ensure the safety of your children. For those families using the drive through for the first time, please contact the office for your laminated name card. Parent Teacher Interviews In week 3, parents are invited to talk to their child’s classroom teacher about their child. This will allow teachers to be fully informed about each child’s needs and strengths. There will be 10 minute time intervals. If some parents need more time this can be arranged during the interview. Appointments are to be made on-line via Parent Lounge. Access St Mary’s website www.smmrok.catholic.edu.au and then click on the Parent Lounge icon. Parents will be able to make appointments from 3pm on Tuesday 23 January until 3pm on Friday 2nd February.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Please allow time between sessions if you are attending more than one interview.

If you are unable to access our website or have difficulty logging in, please do not hesitate to contact the office for assistance. A computer will be available in our school library for those parents who may require access.

Kind regards

Wes Rose

School Leaders 2018

School Captains: Ruby Lucas and Anthony Sorbello

Vice Captains: Isobelle Brand and Riley Gray

Eungella Green House: Eden Bagley and Jarrod Shepherd

Illawong Blue House: Alyssa van Lint and Fraser Camilleri

Iluka White House: Frances Carroll and Tom Vella

Student Ministry: Keely Phelan and Jack Hall

Social Justice: Lauren Carroll and Georgina Stevens

Cultural Leaders: Cohen Jackson and Molly McKendry

Tuckshop News

Try our new bacon & cheese bread which has been added to our tuckshop menu. 3 slices for only $3.30.

Please note: sauce will now be charged at 40c per serve.

Garden Club started today! Yippee!

We learnt how to open mango seeds and

incubate them in paper and plastic. It

should take a week for some shoots to

appear. We can't wait! When they are

potted ready, we hope to sell them.

We collected other seeds to plant for the

future vegetable patch along with raking and tidying.

Next week we are asking gardeners to bring in a

recycled pot. i.e. a soft drink or milk bottle cut in

half. Have fun recycling.

Prep Parents Morning Tea

Please join us for a cuppa

Friday 2nd February

@ Porter’s Café

immediately after school assembly.

Online Canteen

Our St Mary’s Tuckshop has gone online for all orders this year. Have you registered your student/s with QuickCliq? Are your details up-to-date for the new school year? Please click on the link and set up your account today. www.QuickCliq.com.au

Volunteers are always needed and greatly appreciated in our wonderful tuckshop. Please consider giving us some of your time!