Dear families,

What a glorious place St Mary’s was this week! It was absolute bliss to hear the sound of children playing outside. The transition has appeared to go well for most.

It was great to see that almost all of our students from 3-6 have been wearing masks. Our teachers have explained to their classes that some people have a medical exemption and that this is acceptable.

Next week

Students will have a long weekend as Monday will be a School Closure Day, as was previously scheduled, followed by Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday next week all students will return to school full time.

Please note the following:

• Students may enter from any gate in the morning. These gates will be open between 8:30 and 8:45.
• Students coming to school after 8:45 will need to use the office entrance. Parents are currently unable to accompany children to classrooms
• The canteen is open every day in Term 4 for Lunch Orders only
• Please note the dismissal times and specific gates for your children below

Dismissal (every day until further notice) 

3:10pm Prep  (with older siblings): Sargood St

1 /2B, 1/2G (with older siblings): McBain St

1/2N (with older siblings): Church gate

3:20pm: Remaining Years 3-6, from any gate 

(Please note that on Mondays school will finish at 2:50 for P-2 and 3pm for 3-6 students)

Congratulations

We have welcomed many new members into the St Mary’s extended family this week!

Congratulations to Charlie and Ella on the birth of their baby brother, Sebastian.

We also congratulate Christian in Prep who welcomed a new baby brother, Michael.

Finally, we just heard this morning that Roman and Valentina have also welcomed a new baby brother to their family; Orlando.

We wish these families every blessing.

Have a wonderful (long) weekend, if you have one!

Blessings,

Sonia

A reminder that, as scheduled on our yearly school calendar, this coming Monday is a School Closure day.

School will resume for all students on Wednesday 3rd November.

We will look forward to seeing your smiling faces after a few days of well earned rest. 

Have you ever come across the term Number Sense? 

Maybe in a school report or in a conversation with your child’s teacher?

So, what is Number sense?

Number sense is the ability to work with numbers flexibly and efficiently. It is about having an understanding of our number system and more importantly, how numbers relate to each other. Having good number sense assists children to manipulate numbers to make working out problems easier, giving them more confidence in the way they approach these and solve them. 

Children who develop number sense have a range of mathematical strategies at their disposal. They know when to use them and how to adapt them to meet different situations.

Find out more here

I am a Mum of two girls, Ava, 10 years old and Mia, 7 years old. I have lived in the West all my life, moving to the Hobsons Bay area almost 16 years ago.

Prior to having children I worked as a Sales Secretary for a family owned Real Estate Company.

Once I had my children I became a stay at home Mum. After my eldest daughter started primary school I volunteered as a parent helper at her school, in the classroom. This is where my interest in working with children started, I found it so rewarding and knew it was what I wanted to do. My dream became a reality when after completing my course in Education Support, I found a job at St. Mary’s. The staff and students are amazing, such a great community to be a part of. 

On weekends and in my spare time I enjoy reading, spending time with family and friends, going for picnics and going for walks. My family and I enjoy spending time at the beach. If it’s a nice day, you’ll probably find us there!