Term 2 Week 6 2025

Happy Week 6, Families and Friends of St Mary's,

Monday the 26th May was National Sorry Day. As a school community, we paused to pray for the Stolen Generations and the First Peoples of this land.

We pray for healing, truth, and a future built on justice and respectful listening.

 Semester One Reports and Parent Conferences

As we approach the end of the semester, our teachers are diligently preparing student reports. These reports offer a comprehensive snapshot of your child’s academic progress and personal development across all subject areas. 

This semester’s reports will include comments in English, Mathematics, other Key Learning Areas, and a general comment that reflects your child’s holistic development - their strengths, characteristics and participation in school life. Semester reports are a snapshot of student achievement at this point in their learning.

Students in Years 1-6 receive a grade on the A-E 5-point scale, unless the student has a modified report. Students in Kindergarten receive Working Towards, Working At or Working Beyond in each key learning area.

Reports will be published for parents in Compass on Wednesday Week 9. 

Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Week 1, Term 3 these conferences provide an invaluable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, share insights, and collaborate on strategies to support their continued growth.

We encourage you to engage with these reports and conferences to gain a deeper understanding of your child’s learning journey. Should you have any questions or require further information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher.

School Bus - Pick Up and Drop Off

Families, we are still having issues with pick up/drop off miscommunication. Our school bus will only drop students to home or family that has been pre-arranged. We are not able to drop students at Soccer training/Football. Students need to be dropped home and then taken to sporting activities by their parents. Please help us with this arrangement moving forward.

Barrmarrany Girrwa - St Mary's Family Group

Next week we are having another Family group meeting at St Mary's, on Thursday, the 12th of June, from 5.30pm-6.30pm. Families are all invited to have a quick connect and check in, followed by a guest speaker presenting to our families and students. Dinner and Child minding will be provided. It would be great to see as many families as last time!

I  hope to see many of our families next Thursday evening.

Nadine 

If any details change for your child please let us know. This may include, but not limited to, change of phone number or address, a medical diagnosis or emergency contact. Please email the school with changes to: bwpp@lism.catholic.edu.au or call 02 6564 7369. 

"Giinagay! My name is Jarrah. In the Noongar language, it refers to the Eucalyptus marginata tree. 

I am very excited and grateful to be working as a school counsellor/psychologist at St Mary’s, Bowraville.

I am passionateabout holistic and accessible healthcare and education as well as assisting others to identify their unique strengths and challenges to realize their full physical, social, emotional, psychological, intellectual, spiritual and cultural potential in life.

I can’t wait to get to know everyone, their stories, and their hopes for the future."

Jarrah Flanagan

School Counsellor/Psychologist

We are thrilled to welcome Jarrah to our school community as our new School Counsellor! With a passion for student well-being and a commitment to helping every child succeed, Jarrah brings a wealth of experience and a caring heart to our school.

Jarrah will be supporting students here at St Mary's and you may hear from her or feel free to reach out to the school to arrange a chat with Jarrah about your student on 02 6564 7369.

Please join us in giving Jarrah a warm welcome! We are excited about the positive impact she will have on our students and school environment.

We would like to invite all of our families to attend our family group meeting on Thursday 12th June 5.30pm - 6.30pm. We would like to hear from you about what is important to you and your child in our school. Our last parent meeting was so successful in our school plan we are excited to run it again. 

AWARD WINNERS

In the Kinder room this afternoon the class had a choice of activities to do. The activities students chose included lego, kitchen play and drawing.

In Class 1/2 we have been doing a treasure unit over the last 2 weeks. Students have carefully made their very own treasure maps of the school and marked where there treasure will be with a red X.
1/2 then wrote down their instructions on a fancy piece of scroll! On Wednesday we got to hide the treasure, find it and eat it! What lucky treasure hunting kids!

Miss Elizabeth 

Class 1/2 Teacher

Class 1/2 also had a visitor on Wednesday. Miss Elizabeth's dad Wayne came to class to meet the students. Wayne also attended Mass in the church with our students. The 1/2 class had heard about Wayne from Miss Elizabeth and they got to meet him in person.

This term, our class took on the exciting challenge of writing and recording a song for the national Moving Forward Together songwriting competition. We’re thrilled to share that our entry was awarded Runner-Up out of submissions from all across Australia!

The students worked collaboratively to brainstorm, write, and combine lyrics, holding creative writing sessions to put all of their ideas into a song about what Harmony Day means to them. We even turned our breakout room into a mini recording studio, giving students the chance to experience what it’s like to record music!

In recognition of their incredible effort and talent, Miss Mady will attend the NSW Parliament House, where she will represent the 3/4 class to be presented with an award by the Minister for Multiculturalism. We love singing our song proudly at school and we are so proud of 3/4 showing their creativity and shining their light!

Miss Mady

Class 3/4 Teacher

Last week, St Mary's Year 6 attended GLOW along with other Catholic primary schools across the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed regions. GLOW was a vibrant, joy-filled experience for Year Six students.

GLOW is more than just an event. It’s a unique opportunity for young people in their final year of primary school to gather together in faith, friendship and fun. With the Wildfire Worship Team leading powerful praise and worship, and the dynamic presence of College Youth Ministers (CYMs) and the Mission School Evangelisation team, students were invited to encounter God in a real and personal way.

Each GLOW event brought something uniquely special: creative expressions of faith, inspiring testimonies, and the unmistakable joy that comes when young people are empowered to live out their faith with confidence.

We’re so grateful to the staff, youth ministers and school communities who helped create an environment where students could build faith and friendships in such a meaningful way. And most of all, we’re proud of the students, whose energy, reverence, and boldness to step out in faith was truly inspiring.

Friday afternoon was assessment afternoon! Students are pictured completing their assessments on their computers.

Miss Mady's Eco Art Club at lunch time has been showing some great talent this term, the students have been so passionate in bringing their creations to life! Our students will be entering work for the Eco Art Challenge. This challenge is mainly based on public votes to pick a winner. We would like to encourage our families to go and vote and spread the word to our community! 

St Mary’s is very excited to announce that children will be starting to borrow books to take home to read at the start of Term 3.

Children will pick their own library book from the school library each week. These books are to read for fun, not part of our in-class reading lessons. 

Books will need to be returned in good condition weekly. If any books are lost or damaged, then families will need to pay a $10 fee to the school for us to replace the book.

We were also lucky to have Urunga CWA members Rhondda, Yvonne and Lynda attend our Friday afternoon award assembly to present each of our students with a handmade library bag. We are so grateful for all the hard work these ladies put into making sure all of our students have a library bag to use.

Thankyou to our families who attended our DCLP afternoon to create plans for our Aboriginal students. 

We are proud to share our commitment to acknowledging and celebrating the rich Aboriginal culture included in our DCLP's.

It includes initiatives such as integrating Aboriginal perspectives across our teaching platform and creating safe spaces for all students to learn and grow.

Our goal is to ensure that every student feels connected to the Aboriginal culture and appreciates the deep cultural heritage that shapes our nation. 

Honouring Our Past, Building Our Future: Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week

Each year, Australians come together to acknowledge a vital part of our shared history during Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week. These important occasions offer us a time to reflect, remember, and work towards a future grounded in respect, understanding, and unity.

National Sorry Day — held on May 26th — commemorates the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly the Stolen Generations. On this day, we remember those children who were forcibly removed from their families and communities as part of government policies aimed at assimilation. It is a solemn moment to acknowledge the pain caused by these actions and to express our sincere apology and commitment to healing.

Following Sorry Day, Reconciliation Week held this year from May 27th to June 3rd provides an opportunity for all Australians to deepen their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories. The week encourages us to engage in conversations and actions that promote respect, truth, and positive relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The theme for this year’s Reconciliation Week is “Be a Voice for Generations” — a call to stand together in solidarity to ensure a brighter future for all. Whether through community events, educational activities, or personal reflection, everyone can play a role in advancing reconciliation.

As we observe Sorry Day and participate in Reconciliation Week, we remember that reconciliation is not just about acknowledging the past, but also about creating a more inclusive and just society today and for generations to come.