You may have heard by now that Bishop Michael recently announced some changes to Diocesan Clergy appointments.

As a result of these changes, Fr Owen will be leaving our parish towards the end of June to become the Parish Priest of Oberon. Fr Paul Devitt VG will be relocating from the Cathedral Parish (Bathurst) and taking up the position of Parish Priest of Gulgong, Kandos and Mudgee and Administrator of Coonabarabran. Fr Cong Hoang will remain here in our parishes.

It will be a very sad occasion when we have to farewell Fr Owen from our school and Parish community. I am sure many of you will have been impacted by his gentle warmth and kindness during his time here and will miss him greatly.

We will be taking the opportunity to farewell Fr Owen at both Primary and Secondary assemblies later in the term. We will let you know when this is happening in the event that families would like to come along. You are very welcome to join us to thank Fr Owen for everything he has given to our community during his years in Mudgee.

An enormous thank you to everyone who contributed to making last week’s Mother’s Day celebrations so special. It was wonderful to see so many mums, grandmothers and mother figures join us on Friday morning for our Mother’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy. For those who weren’t able to attend, I wanted to re-share a quote that I spoke about at the end of the liturgy.

Becoming a mother changes you in ways that are difficult to describe. Teacher Elizabeth Stone did a pretty good job when she said "Becoming a parent is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

During the week leading up to Mother’s Day teachers shared some beautiful stories with me about little things the children have been saying about their mums - stories that make it very clear how much children put their mothers up on a very high pedestal. As Mothers we know that nothing compares to the deep, unconditional love we have for our children. In fact, It is said that a mothers love is the closest thing there is to something that resembles the love of God. On Mother’s Day we celebrate that love as a symbol and a reminder of the kind of love we are all called to show towards everyone. Let us also be challenged to imagine how much more beautiful the world would be if everyone loved each other the way a mother loves her children.

We hope our mums are enjoying their gifts from the Mother's Day Stall. They were so beautiful this year! A huge thank you to our Parents & Friends Association for all the hard work and organisation needed to make this happen.

God bless
Angela Myles

Mother’s Day

We thank all the Mums, carers and motherly figures who attended our Mother’s Day celebration last Friday. The participation of so many families was amazing and ensured all involved had a very special start to the day. The breakfast provided proved to be a great success and our Year 1 Liturgy was presented beautifully by the students. The feedback we have received from this new format for Mother’s Day was incredibly positive and will give us a platform to ensure next year is just as special.

To highlight the efforts in place to make the morning so successful, our wonderful staff were able to prepare and cook 400 croissants for the adults and 500 pancakes for our students, and our P&F provided around 700 gifts for the Gift Stall. To all staff and students, from both our Primary and Secondary, we thank you for your hardwork and dedication to such a special day on our school calendar.

Catholic Schools Week

This week we celebrate being one of over 1750 Catholic Schools in Australia, educating over 800,000 students. To signify the week, we have included a number of events to showcase the learning, faith and wellbeing of all of our students at St Matthews. On Monday we held a Liturgy, beautifully led by students from Year 3, before opening the classrooms for families to watch the ‘Learning in Action’. A large number of families were in attendance who then joined students in the playground for lunch.

We continue our activities throughout the week with excursions for Years 1 to the Mudgee Museum and Year 2 to the Dubbo Cultural Centre and Wellington Caves. A tradition for many years has been the annual Year 6 students vs Teachers Touch Football match, to be held on Wednesday. We conclude the festivities on Friday with our Year 6 led Mentor Groups and Students vs Teachers Tug o War.

Pupil Free Day

We inform families that Monday June 2nd is a Pupil Free Day for all our students across Kindergarten to Year 12. The purpose of this day is to provide an opportunity for our staff to participate in their annual retreat day. It is mandatory for all schools in the Bathurst Diocese to facilitate a retreat day for staff each year. The reason for this is to ensure that we take time to reflect on the meaning, purpose and importance of the work we do as Catholic educators.

Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV is known for walking alongside the marginalised, for his quiet strength in the face of global challenges, and for speaking to the heart with kindness and clarity. For our Catholic school communities, this kind of leadership matters. It models the very values we aim to instil in our students – integrity, service, hope, and love.

Lord, Source of eternal life and truth, give to your shepherd a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he, as successor to the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your Church into a sacrament of unity, love and peace for all the world.
Amen.

Catholic Schools Week

This week, we celebrate Catholic Schools Week. Nearly 800,000 children, or 20% of students, attend Catholic schools across the country.

On Monday, we were led in a wonderful liturgy, presented by our Year 3 students who linked the light of Jesus to each of us, called to be the light for others. Parents were then able to experience learning in action across the classrooms. To conclude the day, our families could share lunch, emphasising the strong sense of community our Catholic School brings.

Ross McKeown | Leader of Mission

NSW PSSA Swimming

While we were relaxing over the school holidays, a group of our dedicated students were hard at work in the pool, proudly representing our community.

A huge congratulations to our swimmers who progressed through to the Polding level and then on to PSSA!

Bonnie, Otto, Ruben, Gus, Artie, Rory, Angus, Jock, Mitchell, and Digby competed at the PSSA and achieved outstanding results. Well done to each and every one of you — we are so proud!

Polding Winter Trials

The Bathurst Diocese hosted over 500 athletes and their families in Bathurst for the Polding Winter Trials last Thursday and Friday. Teams trained Thursday afternoon and trialled on Friday. The teams were competitive, and the weather was fantastic.

Congratulations to the following students who were selected for Polding Teams:

12's Rugby League: Angus
11's Rugby League: Benji
Girls Football: Heidi

NSW PSSA Basketball Championship

Peta Swain | Primary Sports Coordinator

Primary School Photos will be on Thursday 15th May 2025

Please find attached instructions for booking school photos. A small number of envelopes will be available from the school office for those families who are unable to purchase online.

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 close to the date. The cut off for sibling photos will be 12am midnight Monday 12th May.

At St Matthews, we take great pride in our school and the appearance of our students, and we insist that their uniform is neat and tidy for school photos. Full winter uniform must be worn, no sports uniform. Winter shirts should be tucked in and ties properly done up. A reminder that a our Uniform Shop is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the school term for any items you may need.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Cindy Freeman | Head of Campus Assistant - Primary

Date: Friday 23rd May 2025

Time: 8:50am arrival at Walkers Oval for a 9.00am start

Venue: Walkers Oval Mudgee, 24-34 Short St, Mudgee

Activities: 800m (before the carnival at 8:00am), 100m, 200m, Discuss, Long Jump, High Jump and Shot Put

Transport: If your child normally catches a bus to school, the bus company will drop them off at the oval after the scheduled bus run is complete at approximately 9am. Similarly, the buses will collect the children who catch buses home from the oval at the end of the day and then transport them to the Primary Campus to disembark (if necessary) and wait for their regular bus . Other children will need to organise transport to and from the oval.

Finish Time: The carnival will conclude at 3:00pm

Dress Code: Students are to be in athletic attire, which can resemble their House colours. If this is not possible, they must be in their School Sport Uniform

What to Bring: Students should bring a hat, sunscreen, water and food for the day

Year 12 Fundraising: Year 12 students will be running a canteen and BBQ throughout the day to help fundraise for the Mudgee Men's Shed - their chosen charity for 2025

Program of events for the day:  It is difficult to give exact times for certain events. The field and track events for all age groups will commence at the same time and run together throughout the day.

Please Note: Students will NOT be able to leave the carnival prior to its conclusion at 3:00pm.

Peta Swain | Primary Sport Coordinator

Name of Event: Infants Athletics Carnival

Date: Friday 30th May 2025

Time: 12:15pm to 1:40pm

Venue: St Matthews Catholic School - Primary Campus

Activities: A range of novelty events and games, parents are encouraged to participate with their child/ren

Dress Code: Students are to be in athletic attire, which can resemble their House colours. If this is not possible, they must be in their School Sport Uniform

Peta Swain | Primary Sport Coordinator

Flexischools is St Matthews Catholic Schools preferred way to order from our canteens. The cut-off time is 9am, orders can be placed the night before or even days in advance.

How to set up your Flexischools account

• Please let your child know if they are having a lunch order and what they are having. Some of our younger students are accidently throwing out their “tokens”. They need the token to redeem any frozen item/ slushie/ special that may have been ordered for them.
• There are several students in Years 5-6 who are not coming to the canteen to collect their lunch orders. It is not the responsibility of the canteen staff to find students to hand out food.
• Orders that are phoned through via reception after 9am will be offered a simple sandwich, a drink and snacks only (No Hot Food will be offered, so please do not ask). Credit Card details must be provided at the time, no exceptions. This ensures no further follow up for payment is required.
• If parents are experiencing issues with Flexischools, please contact Flexischools directly using the Parent Help Line Number- 1300 361 769 (8am-12pm)

How to Cancel a Flexischools Order

• From the Order icon on the bottom navigation bar, select the student whose order you'd like to cancel.
• On the relevant order, select the ..... icon to expand the available options. From here, select "Cancel Order"
• Tap yes to confirm. Your order will be cancelled and the funds will be returned to your Flexischools wallet.

If you are unable to cancel an order, it may have already been processed by the Canteen Staff (order lables are printed each day at 9:05am) You will need to contact the school office and request the order is held for another day. Please do this as a matter of urgency.

• If hot food has been heated, we cannot keep this food for another day, it will be forfeited.
• If fresh food has been prepared, we can keep it until the following day unless it has been sent out in the lunch tub, in which case it will be forfeited.
• Any snacks and drink items can be provided on another day, providing they come back to the canteen (if they have gone out in the lunch tub)

Birthday Bucket

A bucket of frozen Quelch Sticks will be delivered to your child’s class for them to share and enjoy with their class.

Available Monday to Friday, 7 days notice is needed.

Order and Pay via Flexischools - $18 (enough Quelch Sticks for the whole class)

Classroom Cupcakes

A platter of Cupcakes with vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles will be delivered to your child’s class for them to share and enjoy with their class.

Available Monday to Thursday, 7 days notice is needed.

Order & Pay via Flexischools - $32 (enough cupcakes for the whole class)

Alicia Cowden | Primary Canteen Manager

EFTPOS only, no cash

Enjoy the convenience of online shopping. Save time and energy by ordering your uniforms online in six easy steps:

1. Go to midford.com.au
2. Select St Matthews Catholic School from the Online School Shops tab
3. New users to click the ‘Register New Account’ button
4. Start the registration process by selecting St Matthews Catholic School from the drop-down menu and add the unique school pass phrase: “Matthews1912”
5. Add your personal information, create a username and password
6. Order the items you need, select pick-up in store/deliver to school.

If you have any queries please contact the uniform shop directly:
Phone: 0439 442 509 or by email

Ally Lusty | Uniform Shop Manager