Dear Parents and Carer’s,

Last week we celebrated the feast day of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop. Year 6 led us through a beautiful litugy acknowledging the deep contribution Mary made to Catholic schooling, particulary in rural communities and her vision for all children to receive access to education. Mary was a woman of vision and deep faith so the litugy was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate her visionary leadership in education and faith in God.

WR PUBLIC SPEAKING FINALS: How excited were we to hear the news that both Indi Cole (Year 5) and Taite Johnson (Year 6) nailed the WR Public Speaking competition finals that were held at St Mary’s Young last Friday! Indi won the Year 5 division and Taite was named as Runner Up of the Year 6 division. Both Indi and Taite will now go on to compete in the Archdiocesan finals in Bateman’s Bay in Week 8. We are so proud of these two young people who have worked so hard to achieve this success. A huge thank you is extended to Mr Peter Gain for all his support with coaching Indi and Taite through the last few weeks in preparation for the WR finals.

CANONICAL VISIT: This week we welcome Archbishop Christopher Prowse to our Tumut mission as he conducts his canonical visit to this area. Archbishop Christopher will lead Mass this Friday 16 August when our Year 3 students present their class Mass celebrating the Feast day of the Assumption of Mary. Archbishop Christopher along with Fr Joe and Fr Rofin will then join the staff for lunch and visit classrooms following lunch.

Archbishop Christopher will also lead Mass on Saturday evening in St Patrick’s Parish. Families are more than welcome to attend Mass at 5pm in St Patrick’s Church.

BOOKFAIR: Thank you to Mrs Hughes for organising another wonderful Bookfair last week. It is always a special event that our students look forward too. Thank you to families for their support in purchasing books as the school receieves a percentage from the sales to put owards buying new books for our school library.

SCHOOL PHOTO DAY: Please mark Wednesday 21 August (Week 5) in your calendars and phones for School Photo Day! School photos will be taken first up in the morning. ALL students are required to be in FULL WINTER SCHOOL UNIFORM please. Please ensure your child is wearing the school jumper and a tie. Hats do not need to be worn to school in the morning until after photos are taken.

BOOKWEEK: Another exciting event coming up is Bookweek on Thursday 22 August (Week 5). The theme for this year’s Bookweek is ‘Reading is Magic’. Students are invited to dress up in a book character that represents this theme. Our parade will start at 10.15am and all families are invited to attend.

TELL THEM FROM ME PARENT (TTFM) SURVEYS: Our annual TTFM school survey link was sent home to families last week. We ask parents and carers to please take the time to complete the online survey. The information enables us plan effectively for 2025 and beyond.

CATALYST UPDATES: Today we welcomed Gillian Forrester from CECG Teaching and Learning Team and Jo Barrett MultiLit consultant, to observe Literacy sessions utilising the MultiLit programs. Gillian and Jo together with Jess Eccleston (HITP Leader) and myself, conducted observational walkthroughs of InitiaLit, MacqLit and the Reading Tutor programs. Individual and group feedback was provided to staff and the leadership team. These visits are vaulable ways to support teachers and staff with ensuring our students are receiving best practice in all areas of literacy.

On Thursday we celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Please join Year 3 for Mass on Friday at 12pm to celebrate this special feast day.

Christine Baron

Principal