Dear Parents,

We welcome the Hamidh family to our school community and we hope their time at St Mary’s is a positive and rewarding experience.

Grandparents Day

Today we welcomed our grandparents to St Mary’s for what was a wonderful Grandparents Day. I know some grandparents travelled a considerable distance to attend. The children loved showing their grandparents around the school and particularly taking them to their classrooms.

Many grandparents have a strong link to Catholic education in Young and for some visiting St Mary’s brought back many memories of their time at school. Many comments were passed on the changes that have occurred over the years.

I thank all who contributed in any way to the success of the day.

Public Speaking

Over the last two weeks when walking around the school I have seen groups of students outside practising their speeches. Many have had their year level competitions and I was fortunate to listen to some of the speeches. While many students were nervous it was great to see them attempt what is difficult for many of us. The speeches were also of a high quality and I am sure we will have some wonderful public speakers representing our school in the first round of the Archdiocesan Public Speaking Competition.

NAPLAN

Last week I shared our initial NAPLAN data with our parents. The results were very positive, showing the majority of students performing to a high level. On Wednesday I received a phone call from Mr Ross Fox, the Director of Catholic Education from Canberra passing on his congratulations to both students and staff for the outstanding results achieved this year. This affirms the hard work put in by staff and students.

Science Week

With so much happening at school this term it has been decided to set a task for students to do at home, should they wish to, for Science Week. Students are asked to build a ‘Bottle Rocket’. There are many sites on the internet with information on bottle rockets. Below are two of these.

https://www.science-sparks.com/making-a-bottle-rocket/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R625vwA4jpQ

We will be launching our bottle rockets in weeks 9 & 10 and will send a timetable home should parents wish to view the launch as I am sure your assistance will be required with the construction.

Years K - 2

There will be two awards per year level. The first will be for the best decorated, yet functional rocket. The second will be for the rocket that reaches the highest altitude.

Years 3-6

There will be one award per year level for the rocket that goes the highest while the second will be for best functioning parachute.

'The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. 'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it. 'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that is cast in the sea and brings in a haul of all kinds of fish. When it is full, the fishermen bring it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in baskets and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the upright, to throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'Have you understood all these?' They said, 'Yes.' And he said to them, 'Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old.'

REFLECTION

The Gospel readings for this week use a variety of metaphors and examples for “the Kingdom of Heaven.”  This week, Jesus says to His disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that the owner had been buried in a field.   Now if someone finds this treasure, he or she likely will hide it and then will go and sell all he or she has and buy the field.”  Jesus then uses a second example of a man who finds a rare and beautiful pearl.  This man immediately sells all of his belongings so he can buy this rare pearl, this treasure.

Jesus then proposes a third metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven.  He tells his listeners: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea which collects a wide variety of species of fish.  When the net is overloaded, they haul it to the shore and sit down and sort out the fish. They put the “good fish” into buckets; however, the fish that are not good and tasty are thrown away.

Jesus uses these metaphors to instruct His disciples.  He tells them:  “Thus will it be at the end of the age.  The angels will go and separate the “wicked” from the “righteous” and the “wicked” will be thrown into a fiery furnace where they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Today Jesus is speaking directly to us; He is inviting us to look for “the treasure” in our lives.  I invite you to take some time today to ask yourself:  Whom do I treasure?  How do I demonstrate my love and care for those people? Do I frequently tell them how important they are to me or do I often take them for granted?

Then ask yourself: Do I long for the Kingdom of Heaven in my daily life?  Do I look for the Kingdom of Heaven as I go through my day?  Do I notice how God, Jesus, or the Spirit is present to me, strengthening me, blessing me, and loving me?  The Kingdom of Heaven is among us!  I wonder how many times a day we are oblivious to this great gift?

Today, be attentive to the many gifts you receive…and thank the Giver!

GRANDPARENT’S DAY

Today we celebrated Grandparent’s Day at St Mary’s with a lovely Prayer Service hosted by our Infants classes. We thank all of our grandparents who were able to celebrate with us. It was a lovely day and we were so excited to share this special celebration with the grandparents who mean so much to us.

SAINT MARY MACKILLOP PRAYER SERVICE

On Monday, Years 1 and 2 will celebrate the Feast of Australia’s first saint, the blessed Mary MacKillop. Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day is held every August 8th in honour of the revered Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. She was the first Saint of Australia, and her influence has spread far and wide. She is recognised for her commitment to the poor, helping those who needed it the most in any way she could. We extend a warm welcome to all members of our school community to join us for this special celebration.

God Bless,

Warren Ziebowski

(Religious Education Coordinator)

Harden Trent Barrett Legends Gala Day

The draw and game rules for this upcoming day can be found HERE. Students should meet Mr Ziebowski by 9.30am. Shirts, shorts and socks will be given to students on Monday.

MacKillop Girls Rugby 7s Trials

Well done to Chloe Buck and Sarah Webber who travelled to Sydney on Wednesday to compete for selection in the MacKillop Girls Rugby 7s Team. An extremely tough field of competition. We are very proud of both of you!!!

This week, St Mary's commemorated NAIDOC Week as a school community. Throughout the week the students have learning about the culture of our First Nations people. 

Each class explored and unpacked the NAIDOC theme for this year - For our Elders - Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families.  

They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones.

Students participated in Yarning Circles, art making and creating digital creations that expressed their interpretations of the theme. Today we had a special NAIDOC assembly that was followed by a Tabloid afternoon of Traditional Indigenous Games.