It was so lovely to be able to welcome everyone back to school this week with many smiling faces greeting us, eager to share great stories from their holidays. Term 4 is always full of activity, and there is much to look forward to over the coming months. This week, we start things off with students having the opportunity to engage in NAIDOC Celebrations.

While NAIDOC week is officially celebrated nationally in the first full week of July, it is appropriate for events and celebrations to be held at other times of the year and many local events can and do happen outside of this week. In fact, the NAIDOC committee encourages continuous engagement and celebration not just through the designated week. This allows more opportunities to build genuine partnerships.

NAIDOC celebrations remind us to set aside time to recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Sometimes people wonder why these celebrations are so important in schools, especially if they themselves don’t feel personally connected to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander culture. From a Catholic perspective, we believe that dedicating time to explicitly help students develop their understanding in this area is central to living out the St Matthews Way - encouraging everyone in our community to grow in compassion, respect and love for all people.

For more than 65,000 years, First Nations peoples have cared for this land, shared knowledge, and built rich cultural traditions. NAIDOC events give us the opportunity to learn from that incredible heritage and to celebrate the resilience and strength of the world’s oldest continuing culture. Together, we strive to model for our students what it means to listen, learn, and walk alongside others with understanding.

To acknowledge this important part of our nation's story, this Friday, students at both our Primary and Secondary campuses will be spending some time during the day learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture through a variety of fun and engaging activities, These activities will be supported and led by our Aboriginal Education Officers, Ashlee and Sharyn, as well as some AEO’s from other diocesan schools.

Finally, I would like to wish our Year 12 students all the best for their HSC exams which commence this week. Please keep them in your prayers.

God bless
Angela Myles

Welcome back to all families. Term 4 has started well with our students excited about a number of events taking place during the next 10 weeks. I remind families that information has been shared about one of our favourite events, with Grandparent’s Day coming up in Week 3, Monday 27th October. This is always a well attended event and showcases the amazing school community we have at St Matthews. The day will start with a beautiful liturgy in the Gym at 10:50am before visits to classrooms and lunch in the playground. We look forward to seeing as many families as possible on the day.

The school term calendar has been shared with families to assist with the various activities taking place throughout Term 4.

Extended Leave

Parents who wish for their child to take an extended absence from school for more than 10 days must provide reasonable advance notice to the school. If your child is going to be absent for more than ten school days for any of the following reasons, you will need to contact us via the school office and complete a ‘Notification of Extended Absence’ form. You may also be required to attend a meeting with a member of our Senior Leadership Team to discuss the potential implications of your child missing school.

• Misadventure or unforeseen events
• Participation in special events not related to the school
• Domestic necessity (e.g., serious illness of an immediate family member)
• Attendance at funerals
• Travel within Australia or overseas
• Participation in recognised religious festivals or ceremonial occasions

If your child is going to be absent from school for 50 days or more (one or more school terms) then either the Principal or Head of Campus will need to discuss alternative arrangements for your child’s education during that time.

If you have any questions or concerns about our diocesan extended absence procedures, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Justin Yeo

St Matthews Mass and Mission Frolic

On the final day of Term 3, we celebrated our School Patron, St Matthew, with Mass for K-11 and then participated in a variety of activities to raise money for Catholic Missions. It was a fantastic day with our whole school community coming together to celebrate and end a successful term. The final tally for our money raised was over $5000. Thank you to all our families who supported this wonderful initiative.

Ozanam Feast Day

Next Tuesday, we catch up on our final Feast Day for the year when we come together to celebrate Frederick Ozanam. Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, when only a young man, showed us how to live with kindness, generosity, and faith. When Frédéric was a student, he noticed that many people around him were struggling. They didn’t have enough food, clothing, or shelter. He felt called to help. So, Frédéric gathered some friends and began visiting people in need. They brought food, clothing, and friendship. They called their group the Society of St Vincent de Paul, named after St Vincent, who also cared deeply for the poor.

More information will be sent this week.

First Holy Communion and Reconciliation

We are approaching the Sacrament of Eucharist and Reconciliation for our Year 3 students. A reminder that all Mass attendance and booklets are asked to be completed by this date. If you are having any trouble with this, please contact myself or Rue at the Parish Office.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will occur on the 4th of November. This is the same day as our Year 3 Reflection Day for their First Holy Communion.

Parish Mass

Each week, our Primary classes participate in the Parish, celebrating Mass. It’s a lovely time for our students to engage in Mass with our parishioners. 

Our canteen will have a special Grandparents Day menu available on Flexischools.

There will be limited morning tea available for purchase from the counter.

Our uniform dress code reinforces in students a pride in their own appearance, instills recognition of themselves as an integral part of the school community, and assists in developing pride in representing their school. Issues of equality, health and safety, and financial constraints are also factors that contribute to the establishment of the Dress Code.

A few reminders for our families includes:

• The Dress Code applies during school hours, while travelling to and from school, and when students are on school excursions and activities.
• Female students may wear one pair of small, simple stud earrings or sleepers (one per earlobe).
• Makeup, cosmetics, nail polish and false nails are not permitted. Hair accessories must be simple and in school colours only.
• The only hats that are acceptable are the St Matthews school hats available at the Midford Uniform Shop. Consistent with our Sunsmart Policy, hats must be worn outside at all times.
• Shoes should be black, polishable, traditional style lace up with a moderate heel. Infants students may wear velcro fastened shoes. Joggers may be worn only with the sports uniform
• Repeated breaches of the Uniform Policy may result in exclusion from school activities and/or representative opportunities for students.

The beginning and end of the school day are busy times for pedestrians and vehicles outside schools. Parking signs are planned with your child's safety in mind.

You should always:

• park legally
• avoid parking in the school bus bay

Drop off:

• make sure your child uses the Safety Door (rear kerb-side door) to get in and out of the car.
• parents and guardians remain in their cars at all times, no exceptions.
• if your child needs help entering or exiting the car, please park and support them away from the zone in front of the school.

Pick up:

• Cars should not be parked in the pick up zone until children are ready to be collected at the end of the day. This means that arriving at 3pm and waiting in the queue until your child arrives 15 mins later is not an option.
• Our advice to all families is to wait until 3:15pm or later to enter the pick up zone. That allows time for students to leave classrooms and make their way to the front of the school.
• If you are waiting for your child for 2 mins or more, you will need to lap around and join the queue again.
  If your child requires some support getting into and out of the car, staff are available to assist, or you may want to consider the option of parking elsewhere and walking to meet them at the gate instead.
  Have your family name card clearly displayed on your windscreen.

Please note - The fine for stopping in this zone for more than 2 minutes is $227 and the driver also incurs 2 demerit points.

A healthy lunch can help your child have plenty of energy to learn and play during the day. Packing your child’s lunchbox with healthy foods, including vegetables and fruits, can help kids to learn better, concentrate for longer, and enjoy playtime with their friends.

Filling your child’s lunchbox with foods from the 5 food groups can help them stay healthy and do their best at school. Don’t forget to include a bottle of water!

NSW Goverment | Healthy Eating, Active Living

Breakfast: Over the Counter

Lunch Orders:

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 item that may have been ordered for them.

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)

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

Katie Ruth | Uniform Shop Manager