The Parents & Friends Association at St Matthews is an active group of committed parents who strive to find ways to build community and make connections between families. In recent times they have been considering strategies to establish some more personalised ways to share information with families regarding the events they organise throughout the year. To that end, they have been able to identify one parent in each year level who is willing to act as a P&F liaison parent. You may have already received communication from your child’s class teacher regarding who the parent liaison is for their year level. If you haven’t received the email as yet, you can expect to see it come through soon. If for some reason you don’t receive an email by the end of this term, please contact the office and they will be able to provide you with the relevant contact details for your liaison parent.

The role of the parent liaison will be to keep you up to date with all the P&F happenings throughout the year and they may also establish an avenue for other social connections amongst the families in their grade. They will each do this by setting up a group via a social media platform of their choosing e.g. whatsapp. In essence, it is a lovely way for parents to connect socially and keep up with what’s happening at school.

This initiative is not intended to replace the existing communication structures we have in our school, so it remains important that families read the newsletter, utilise Compass, monitor emails from the school and perhaps follow our social media pages. It is also worth mentioning that, if you ever have concerns or questions about school matters, the best way to address these is to contact the school directly so we can connect you with the person best placed to respond. Please don’t put these generous parent liaison volunteers in the awkward position of having to respond to those kinds of matters.

Wishing you a safe and blessed holiday.

Angela Myles

To begin our last week of Term 1, I firstly thank the families for their continued involvement from the very first day of this term. Your presence during every aspect of your child/ren’s school life, from Open Classrooms, Reading Groups, Excursions, sporting events, Masses, Liturgies and Retreats has helped to ensure a very positive and successful start to the year.

Looking forward to Term 2, further information will be shared with families relating to Catholic Schools Week in Week 2, starting Monday 6th May. During this week we start with a special Liturgy and Open Classrooms, and include a number of extracurricular activities that showcase the amazing work of Catholic Schools across Australia. The week concludes with our very popular and well attended Mothers Day High Tea and Liturgy.

I hope that our families and staff will have a safe and relaxing holiday.

Justin Yeo

Head of Campus - Primary

Easter

Now into the 3rd Week of Easter, it was great to hear so many stories of time spent over the previous week and Easter break with friends and family.
Easter is a great time to reflect on what Jesus did for us on the cross. God made a way for us to restart by freeing us of the burdens that weigh us down. This transformation happens by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2).

This new start begins with the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus on the first Easter. After embracing that grace, you should allow the Holy Spirit to begin transforming you from the inside – renewing your mind.
● Pin Point Change Needed
● Learn to Laugh
● Grab a New Perspective
● Count Your Blessings

Sacraments

It’s great to see so many students and families at church as part of their preparation in receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation next term.

For Reconciliation and First Holy Communion in Year 3 and up, please keep an eye out for communication for these early next term.

Thank you

Thank you to all our families who have supported or attended class masses, retreat days, open days and other events involving your child this term.

Ross McKeown

Leader of Mission

Rugby League Gala Day

A great day of rugby league was experienced by 75 of our Year 3–6 students last week in Dunedoo. The annual NRL Western NSW Peachey/Richardson Legends Day hosted teams from Mudgee, Dunedoo, Coolah, Gulgong, and Wellington and was another great success. All the students who attended showed great sportsmanship and had a great day. We thank the mums and dads who assisted in managing the teams on the day.

CPS Swimming Carnival

Last week we had 13 students compete at the CPS Swimming.

Harrison came in 3rd in the 50m Breastroke and our Junior Boys Relay Team consisting of Ruben, James, Jock and Lachlan will represent Polding at the PSSA Carnival this coming Thursday.

Adam Coughlan

K-6 Sports Coordinator

Each year we participate in 2 rounds of spelling bees to determine 4 students to represent our school at the Diocesan Spelling Bee.

During Week 11, your child/children will take place in a class preliminary Spell-off bee. The two top spellers from each class will then be selected to compete in their Stage Spelling Bee. If your child/children are selected to compete, you will be notified via email. Students will have the holidays to practise before our Stage Spelling Bee in Week 2 next term.

Stage 2 list - Year 3 and Year 4

Stage 3 list - Year 5 and Year 6

Our school timeline is as follows:

T1 W7 - Spelling lists send home via email
T1 W11 - Class Spelling Bee
T1 W11 - Parents of finalists notified via email
T2 W2 - Stage Spelling Bee

If you have any further questions please contact myself via email.

Mell Hunt

Stage 3 Coordinator

Are you looking for an engaging way to boost and capture your child’s creativity? Provided below are the details of 2 creative writing competitions for your own enjoyment at home.

Dymocks Beyond Words is Back for 2024!

Having had such a successful 2023 we are back with more categories and the biggest prize pool to date with over $20,000 in prizes to be given!
So get ready to start writing!

Entries open on the 1st of March and close on the 31st of May. Students 12 years or younger may enter.

For more information: Dymocks Beyond Words – Creative Writing Competition

Poetry Writing Competition

The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards seek to capture the imaginations of school students across Australia, inspiring them to express their thoughts and feelings through the medium of poetry in their pursuit of literary excellence. The standard of entries year after year is consistently high, yet the winning poems never cease to impress the judges. Kindergarten to Year 12 writers are eligible to enter.

Key dates

• Entries opened on Friday 1 March 2024.
• Submissions close 5pm AEST Sunday 30 June 2024.
• Winners announced at 10am on Friday 6 September 2024.

For more information: Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards

For further support, please email Mellisa

Mellisa Hunt

Stage 3 Coordinator

Students are able to choose to wear either their full summer uniform or their full winter uniform, not a combination of both.

The move to full winter uniforms will begin on the first day of Week 3 in Term 2 (Monday, May 13th).

Secondary School Photos

Secondary photo day will be Wednesday 15th May

Primary School Photos

Primary photo day will be Thursday 16th May

Sibling Photos

Familes are able to order sibling photos. The cut off for sibling photos will be 12am (midnight) Monday 13th May. No exceptions can be made.

We are pleased to once again offer sibling photos for families with children at both campuses. More information regarding this will be communicated to families closer to the date.

Please find below instructions for booking school photos. Envelopes will be available from the front office for those families who are unable to purchase online.

Cindy Freeman

Head of Campus Assistant - Primary

Registrations are now open for our "Bright Beginnings" Playgroup.

Please use the QR code of follow the link

Please email Bernie for any questions or enquiries.

Bernie Atkinson

Kindergarten Transition Coordinator

Our school social media pages are an important source of information/reminders about upcoming events in our school and Church community.

• Family names displayed on the dashboards of cars in the afternoon.
• Parents and guardians remain in their cars at all times, no exceptions. If you child needs help entering or exiting the car, or needs a hug to say farewell in the morning, please park and support them away from the zone in front of the school.
• If your child is late to pick up in the afternoon, please do a lap and join the end of the queue.