St Mary's Primary School Yarram eNewsletter

Dear Parents,

Friendships are an important aspect of all of our lives – perhaps even more so for our children as they navigate the often complex years of growing up and discover their place in the world. As our young people grow and develop, so do their friendships. These friendships will have highs and lows and it is important as parents that we provide our children with strategies to navigate their way through these situations.

One of our School Wide Expectations at St Mary’s is ‘Be Respectful’. Being respectful at St Mary’s means that I speak politely, listen to others and take responsibility for my actions. Respect is the glue that holds our friendships together. Treating people with respect and receiving respect form others is important because it helps build feelings of trust, safety and wellbeing.

As parents it is important that we play an active role in supporting our children to develop positive friendships. It is important to have conversations with your child about what makes a good friend and what qualities they should look for in a friend. It is also important that parents lead by example and model how to speak, act and conduct yourself in a positive friendship.

Children will always encounter friendships that can become a little complex or tricky at times. We need to teach them how to handle this effectively and let them know that it is okay to set their own boundaries and enforce these when necessary. Feelings will often be hurt during friendships; however, it is how we deal with these hurt feelings that is most important. When your child experiences hurt feelings, try and use this as a teachable moment.

It is important that our children learn to be friendly – even to those who are unkind or cause conflict. There will always be people who annoy us or speak rudely to us for no reason. If someone is mean or nasty to your child, explain that we don’t always understand why people choose to do that. What we can control is, how we react in these situations. Teaching your child to show grace and act with kindness when faced with these challenges, will support them in dealing with these situations.

The teachers have been focusing on these important ways of behaving in their classroom conversations and when talking with children on the playground. As always, we are here to support you and your child navigate through these often tricky situations.

‘In order to have friends, you must first be one.’

Kind regards,

Joel

TERM 4

Friday 4th December -Fun Friday Colour Run

Thursday 10th December - Grade 6 Graduation and End of Year Mass for the whole school at 9.30am at St Mary's Church. All family members are invited to attend.

Graduation Lunch for Year 6 students only at St Mary's School.

Friday 11th December- Year 6 Graduation Fun Day.

Friday 18th December - Last Day of Term 4, 1.00pm finish.

2021

Wednesday 27th January - Uniform shop open 9.00am - 3.30pm

Thurday 28th January - First day for students for 2021

SCHOOL FEES SCHEDULE 2021

School fees are important for the school to meet its financial commitments. School fees are set annually in consultation with the School Board and Parish Administrator. Families who experience difficulty in paying school fees please do not hesitate to make contact with the Principal or Administration Officer to make alternative arrangements.

All fees and levies for the entire school year will be invoiced in February. Fees are to be paid in full by the end of Term 3. Alternatively, you can pay in equal instalments over 12 months from January to December.

Family Fee Assistance Scheme
Families that have a means tested Centrelink or Veteran Affairs concession card are eligible to apply for the Family Fee Assistance Scheme. This allows for a significant reduction of your school fees. Application forms are available from the school office.

CSEF Assistance
This is a government assistance scheme for families with an eligible Health Care Card. Applications are available at the office.

Conveyance Allowance
Victorian Conveyance Allowance is available for children who reside in Victoria and are more than 4.8 kilometres from the nearest free school bus service. Please call at office to complete an application form.

Terms of Payment for School Fees Accounts
Fees can be paid in one lump sum, by term, monthly, fortnightly or weekly. At the beginning of the year you are asked to nominate a payment frequency eg. Weekly, fortnightly, per term. If no payment mode is nominated it will be presumed that you will pay by the end of term 3, Friday 17^th September.

There are numerous options available to pay your school fee account. Money can be received via:

Cash, Cheque or Credit Card at school office
Direct Credit to our account from your bank.
Centrepay-Centrelink can deduct school fee payments prior to paying you Centrelink.

We would ask that you consider all the payment options available to you and make a commitment to one of them.

2021 SCHOOL FEES

Fees per Family (per annum)

Family fee - $1000.00
Capital fee -$150.00

Fees per Student (per annum)

Tuition Fee - $150.00
Swimming - $60.00
Excursion -$65.00

Camp Fees per Student

Year 2, Sleepover $20.00

Year 3 & 4, Phillip Island - $390

Year 5 & 6, Canberra - $460

Additional Fees

Sacramental Program

$25.00 per student

This fee is for Catholic children who participate in the Sacraments.

Fun Friday Crazy Colour Fun Run

Friday 4th December 2020 @ 2.00pm

We're only ONE

week out from our School Fun Run's Crazy Colour Day!

We hope students are working hard towards their fundraising goals!

Don't forget to create your online profile!

All money raised will go towards our Heesco Mural!

Remember donations can also be made directly into our school Bank Account

Account - St Mary's Primary School

BSB: 083 879

Account Number:84 769 9101

Ref: Child's Surname

Make sure you add all direct bank payments to your sponsor form as these will add to you total money raised.

Due to COVID restrictions, only students and staff are able to attend.

Students are to wear a pair of sports/board shorts with a white (or light coloured) t-shirt.

Throughout the Colour Run, students may get wet and covered in coloured chalk, so they may benefit from bringing an old towel to dry off and clean themselves up. It is also recommended that students bring in a change of clothes so that they can be clean and tidy for the journey home.

All funds raised need to be brought to school by Friday, 11^th December.

DRINK BOTTLES

Please make sure that your child brings a drink bottle to school everyday, as drink fountains are not allowed to be used. We do have St. Mary's drink bottles that are available for $5.00 each.

Do you know what Frankincense is?

No, no it's the man who made a monster- that was Dr. Frankenstein! He is not in the bible, but frankincense is! It's a fragrant substance that comes from some exotic tree, and it's mentioned in the Old Testament several times as one of the things the high priests would burn as a sweet-smelling offering to God. You might also remember that when the Wise Men came to find the Baby Jesus, they bought him three valuable gifts - gold, myrrh, and frankincense.

Do you like sweet smells- like perfume and flowers and fresh-baked cookies? Mmmm. Did you ever tell God thanks for your nose? Well, why not? Without your nose you couldn't smell your favourite dinner cooking in the kitchen or grass that had just been mowed or a fresh orange or a mint leaf. What are some of your favourite aromas?

Managing the Mother Load

Please View Article

Parent Teacher Interviews

To parents and teachers, thank you for your commitment, involvement and encouragement towards our children's/student's education.

SCHOOL ABSENCES

If your child is going to be away from school, I kindly ask that you contact the school via the school website, school app, by phone, email - hleemon@stmyarram.catholic.edu.au or in writing.

This is a legal requirement

When there is an unexplained absence, parents will be contacted by phone and if parents are unable to be contacted, student emergency contacts will be phoned.