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Upcoming Dates
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- 30th and 31st August: Parent/Teacher/Student Goal Setting interviews
- 1st September: P&F Father's Day Stall
- 2nd September: Father's Day Liturgy led by Year 1/2 Rooms 5 and 6
- 8th September: St Mary's Feast Day & Art Show
- 9th September: Pupil Free Day
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Event details will be updated on School Stream closer to the event date.
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Please check the EVENTS tab regurarly and add event details directly to your calendar!
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Principal's News
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Week 6, Term 3, 2022
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Dear Parents and Caregivers,
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This year a number of our staff have attended training workshops in a social emotional wellbeing program – 'Play Is the Way' developed here in Australia by Wilson McCaskill. Wilson has held game sessions in hundreds of schools with thousands of children. His Play Is the Way program of games is used Australia wide to help develop positive social behaviours in primary school children.
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In his book Children Aren’t Made of China, Wilson has a very simple and important message for parents about raising strong, happy and resilient children. Wilson encourages parents in how they can work with teachers in the common pursuit of raising children to be considerate of themselves and others. Wilson advocates practical and tested strategies that help parents and teachers:
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*Talk straight to children
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*Guide children towards effective self-management
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*Encourage honest self-assessment
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*Raise children to be of strong character
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And much much more.............
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Children need to develop resilience, perseverance, and other life skills if they are to remain optimistic in the face of life's daily challenges. Here is a little of the message Wilson shared with us today.
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As parents we are all concerned about the wellbeing of our own children and hopefully that of other children as well. Wellbeing is often thought of as happiness, but it is more than that. We need to feel worthwhile, with lives that are fulfilling and meaningful.
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We need the skills to create close personal connections and a network of strong relationships that give us a sense of belonging. We need the skills of emotional intelligence and social competency if we are to really feel like “WELL-BEINGS.”
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Australia, despite its wealth and high standard of living, has alarming levels of childhood depression, self-harm and suicide. Our so called “good life” has not protected us from this sad fact. Evidence proves that children with strong pro-social behaviour tend to lead more positive lives, have more meaningful relationships, enjoy better physical and mental health and do better at school.
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In the light of such evidence, many schools are making a commitment to the sustained and thorough development of pro-social behaviour.
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School though, is not the only place where children learn. Even with five hours a day, for five days a week, for four terms year children still do most of their “learning for life” outside school. In fact, most of their character shaping comes from family influences.
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What they learn within the family allows them to apply it outside the family. Hopefully, what they have learnt allows them to conform to the demands and expectations of community standards in behaviour and to the requirements of everyday school life and learning.
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Everyone in our school community has a role to play in helping children become independent, mature, socially competent, emotionally intelligent and successful human beings.
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The first step for us all is to be the best role models we can be. It is said, and we believe it to be true, that children need models more than they need critics. With that in mind, let us accept our role as the adults in their midst and offer them the commitment, care, firm guidance, and help they need to acquire the skills that lead to meaningful and fulfilled lives.
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Welcome to Marcus (Room 13) and family who joined our school community this week.
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God Bless and have a wonderful weekend,
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Prayer
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Help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
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so precious in your eyes.
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Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
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that we may sow beauty, not
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pollution and destruction.
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St Mary's School Feast Day
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Religious Education News
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Father’s Day Liturgy: Friday 2nd September at 8:30am in the hall
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School Feast Day Mass: Thursday September 8th at 8:30am
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School Catholic Identity Day Friday 9th September
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On this day, our school staff will be taking part in a professional development day with Holy Spirit CPS.
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The day will be led by Marty Ogle and will focus on the Making Jesus Real (MJR) philosophy. MJR has a simple message - Jesus is part of our lives and can change the way we live and we can make Jesus live through our actions and words.
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Religious Education Co-ordinator
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Father's Day Liturgy
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Pupil Free Day
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Friday 9th of September 2022 is a Pupil Free Day.
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Vacation Care will be open from 7:30am -5:30pm, if your child/ren requires care, please complete the booking form in School Stream.
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News from Room 16
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Why are outdoor activities important for students?
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Outdoor learning improves child development.
“By heading outside and learning in nature, kids improve their emotional, intellectual, and behavioural development. Outdoor learning helps foster the development of creativity, problem-solving, independence, and confidence.”
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What a busy start to Term 3 we’ve had. The highlight so far, our Year 5/6 school camp to Bachelor Outdoor Education Centre.
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In class we have been busy capturing memories from the camp through writing recounts. We’ve written about the activities and experiences we loved, things we learned and also the things that challenged us or we didn’t particularly like or enjoy.
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You’ll find some short excerpts below as well as some great camp photos.
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The next day I woke up and realized that it was the day that I could go to camp! I packed up my things as mum got breakfast ready. We all had breakfast and got in the car and got to school. My parents dropped me off and Ivy and I got into Ms Harrisons car. We got to camp, went to our cabins and set up our beds .I went outside and I saw Mrs Mac there and joined her group which was rock climbing. There was not much time left on that activity so after a couple of people went I got on but I got to have all my turns at once. So when I had finished I was pretty shaken and tired. - Rachel
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For breakfast we had toast, baked beans, bacon and pancakes, the first activity for the day was team challenges. It was fun. We did the rope and I was good at it. After that we did Criminal Mastermind (Raine and I won) I loved it. The next challenge was Radio Rogan. We had to find someone and we got put into team I found Raine and got put with Freddy and Raf. We worked together really well so well that we answered all 24 questions but we only got 20 right that is ok though. - Jade
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On day 2 we had a team challenge. After that we did rock climbing. For me rock climbing was the best because I didn't want to go up there but when I went up there it was so fun. After rock climbing we were done for the day so we had free time and then we had dinner. After dinner we got to watch a movie named Yes Day. It was about 3 kids and a Mum and a Dad. The Mum and Dad had to say yes for 24 hours. After the movie. We all went to bed. - Robbie
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We headed to a grassy area where we made catapults. When the catapults were made balls went flying. We headed back to the eating area where we had lunch. We headed to the Amazon Swing where we had to get everyone from a staircase to a platform without touching the floor. There was a rope though so that was helpful. After hundreds of tries we finally did it. We headed to a spider web where we had to get everyone from one side to the other without ringing one of the bells that were placed on the spider webs. There was a twist though! We couldn’t go through the same gap as someone else unless someone was lifted through. - Spencer
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When everyone was awake we went to get some breakfast and then went to our last activity at BOEC, high ropes. High ropes were very fun but got scary when I got to the middle and it started shaking but I got to the other tower and then ziplined down – Genghis
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On the last day we were all exhausted and tired. It was the last day of staying at the camp. After we had breakfast we went off to do our last activities. After 2 hours the bus came and we put our equipment in the bus and left to travel back to Darwin. – Krisztian
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We’ve also been busy preparing classic art pieces for the Art Show on September 8.
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Of course we can’t show any photos of those until that evening.
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Let’s just say they are very impressive and you’ll need to come along on the night to see them!
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Add it to your calendar 5:30 pm Thursday 8 September.
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Year 5/6 Art Work will be in the Library.
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We have also been working hard on Public Speaking techniques in preparation for a competition in Week 9 being hosted at our school for Year 6 students.
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Both Year 5 and Year 6 students have been learning how we can overcome fears of speaking in front of an audience and make a passionate plea about the damage that is being caused to our planet by e-waste. We have some budding young speakers coming up.
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Parent - Teacher - Student Goal Setting Interviews
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Parent - Teacher - Student Goal Setting Interviews are scheduled for
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Week 7 - Tuesday 30th August and Wednesday 31st August 3-6pm
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This year we will be offering families the option of face-to-face or zoom online interviews for those who may be isolating or unable to attend in person.
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These meetings are a wonderful opportunity for teachers, parents and students to come together to discuss, clarify and reflect on student's learning goals, achievements and progress.
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The obectives of these conversations are to:
- allow the student to reflect on their learning and achievements so far this year
- provide parents with the opportunity to discuss how their child is going
- provide teachers with the opportunity to give an overview of your child's progress and learning needs.
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You can book a time with your child's teacher by clicking the button below and enter the event code: zuqgz. Alternatively, you can select the "School Interview Bookings" Tab in our School Stream App.
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Please contact the front office if you require any assistance booking a time. The allocated time is 15 minutes per interview. Please contact your child's teacher directly if you cannot attend during the designated interview times to arrange an alternative.
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Face-to-face interviews will be held in your child's classrooms. If you require a booking via zoom, complete the online booking form and then contact your child's teacher directly to advise that you require a zoom invitation. We ask that you please be prompt and arrive early to your designated interview time, to ensure that we run on time. We look forward to meeting with you!
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P&F Father's Day Stall
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The P&F will be hosting the annual Father's Day stall on Thursday, 1st September 2022. Students can purchase a special gift or two for the special men in their lives.
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Please ensure your child's money is clearly labelled with their name and room number.
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Gifts will range in price from $2 -$12.
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Thank you for your support.
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Exercise Pitch Black 2022
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Art Show Sponsorship
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An exciting opportunity exists for businesses to sponsor our Art Show!
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You can sponsor by making a monetary donation or alternatively a donation of art supplies that our students can use to help support the creation of their art pieces. If you or someone who know own a business who would like to take up this opportunity, please contact our school front office at 8981 9796 or admin.stmarys@nt.catholic.edu.au. All businesses who sponsor our Art Show will have their business logo promoted in our Art Show Digital Flyer.
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Art Smocks
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As the students work on their amazing works of Art they will be using a variety of materials such as paint, clay or glue - which can be quite messy!! We strongly encourage all students to bring into school an art smock or oversized large old shirt which can be worn to protect their school uniform.
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Sports Voucher Scheme
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Pastoral Care and Wellbeing News
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Why internet safety matters
Children aged 9-11 years often have their own devices and go online by themselves. They use digital media and the internet for doing schoolwork and homework, playing games, listening to or downloading music, and general browsing. They might be communicating with other people through in-game chat, messaging apps like Discord and social media.
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Because pre-teens might be online more independently, including with older children, they might come across new internet safety risks.
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Internet safety risks for pre-teens
There are four main kinds of internet risks for pre-teens.
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Content risks
These risks include coming across material that some pre-teens might find upsetting, disgusting or otherwise uncomfortable, especially if they see it accidentally. This material might include:
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- sexually explicit content in music videos, movies or online games
- real or simulated violence
- things that are designed to shock or scare
- harmful user-generated content, like sites about drug use, self-harm, suicide or negative body image
- fake news that seems believable.
Contact risks
These risks include children coming into contact with people they don’t know or with adults posing as children online. For example, a child might be invited or persuaded to meet someone they don’t know, share personal information with strangers, or provide contact details after clicking on a pop-up message.
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Conduct risks
These risks include behaving in inappropriate or hurtful ways, or being the victim of this kind of behaviour. Examples include:
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- cyberbullying
- impersonating others online
- creating content that reveals information about other people
- buying something without permission
- having trouble regulating online time.
Contract risks
Contract risks include children signing up to unfair contracts, terms or conditions that they aren’t aware of or don’t fully understand. As a result, children might:
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- be open to identity theft or fraud
- get inappropriate digital marketing messages or scam emails
- have their personal or family data collected from apps and devices like fitness trackers.
To be continued next week.
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St Mary's Sensory Garden Project
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At St Mary’s we want our sensory garden to be a community space for students and families to enjoy. We want to embed the principles of Laudato ‘Si by caring for our common home with a space where students can learn to care for nature. We plan to sustainably source materials for the garden and grow herbs to be used in our canteen and shared with families. We are lucky to live in such a multicultural community and we plan to celebrate that in our garden by exploring native plants, bush tucker and visually represent our diverse community.
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If you or someone you know would like to be involved in this community project we ask that you please contact Ms Walsh. You may have a particular skill, be a keen gardener, and have some spare time to give or know a local business that may wish to be involved. We hope to form a committee with family, staff and student representatives to help with the planning and building of our garden. Ms Walsh can be contacted through the school office or via e-mail: Sinead.walsh@nt.catholic.edu.au
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We are excited to see this space unfold!
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Altruistic August
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Spirit of St Mary's
Our Spirit of St Mary’s goal for this term is: 25,000 points! We are almost at our goal for a super awesome Spirit Cup Fun Day. Well done St Mary’s students!
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Week 6 point check: 22,156!! (double points week)
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Shout out this week goes to Miss Brenda, for organising a wonderful book week and spending recess and lunch running our book fair. Thank you for Making Jesus Real by being a ‘giver’.
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St Mary's Playgroup
We are so excited to be running our very own playgroup sessions at St Mary’s!
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When: Wednesday 9.30 – 11.30 am (Term weeks)
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Where: Mary MacKillop Hall
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St Mary’s playgroup is the only playgroup in the Darwin CBD registered with Playgroup Northern Territory. Our playgroup sessions allow children to explore through play, enjoy story time, morning tea and create a masterpiece too!
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These sessions are open to families outside of the school and cater for babies and toddlers of all ages. You can find us every Wednesday (school terms only) in the Mary MacKillop Hall, please enter via the Parish entrance from Smith Street.
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Year 7 - 2023
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Year 7 enrolments for 2023 close on the 26th August 2022.
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If you know of students and families who are thinking of attending O’Loughlin in 2023 a gentle reminder to send their enrolment forms and all supporting documents in before the 26th August.
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Download School Stream
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Why download the App?
- Receive instant notifications for important news and classroom updates.
- Complete permission and absentee forms.
- Keep up to date with events and save event details directly to your own calendar.
- Order from our school canteen.
Don’t forget to turn your notifications on – so you don’t miss any important notices!
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Canteen Online Orders & Update
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To streamline processes across the school, in 2022 we are now only accepting online orders for lunches.
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All families need to set up an account for online ordering through Flexischools, which is linked directly in the School Stream App. Details on how to set up an account can be found in the “CANTEEN” tab of School Stream. There is no need to download the Flexischools App, it can all be accessed from the School Stream App.
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For those with an existing account, you will need to update your child's class and room number for 2022 before placing your first order. Please refer to the instructions in School Stream.
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You can find the updated 2022 Canteen menu in School Stream. Please note daily orders close at 8.40am. Any orders received after this time, will be fulfilled subject to availability of stock and may be substituted for a basic sandwich.
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What is happening in Darwin
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