Term 4 Week 3 2025

Dear Families,

Term 4 is always action-packed! We have a lot of important events scheduled, including the much-anticipated Stage 3 Camp and preparations for our end-of-year celebrations, particularly getting ready for Back to Bowra. We are looking forward to a term full of learning, fun, and finishing the year strong!  

As we settle into the new term, I wanted to share a staffing update. Our Principal, Nadine, will be taking scheduled leave for the next five weeks. During this time, I will be stepping into the role of Acting Principal. I am looking forward to this opportunity and have been working closely with our incredible staff to ensure a smooth and productive term. Please know that the door is always open if you need anything at all.  

We had a very special visit last week from delegates of Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) and from the Catholic Schools Office for the Diocese of Lismore. We were honoured to perform three songs for them—two of which were beautifully sung in Gumbaynggirr language. The visitors were incredibly impressed by this vibrant display of culture and talent. Following the performance, the delegates spoke directly with our students and commented on the warm, respectful atmosphere and the confidence and clarity with which our students articulated their learning. It was a wonderful confirmation of the strong, caring, and engaging environment we build together every day. Thank you to our students for being such fantastic ambassadors for St Mary's Bowraville!

Our Kindergarten Transition Program has now concluded and we can't wait to see our new kinder students next year. It was wonderful to see our future St Mary's students explore the school with such joy, build connections with staff and each other, and especially enjoy visiting our animals in our school farm. On their final session, it was a special moment seeing them fitted for their uniforms, truly making them feel part of the St Mary's family. We are counting down the days until they officially start next year!  

It has been a busy and joy-filled few weeks at St Mary’s Bowraville, and I am continually proud of the way our students approach their learning with curiosity, persistence, and kindness. Walking through our classrooms, I see students engaged in their work, collaborating with their peers, and showing great pride in their achievements.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our amazing little school. I am looking forward to a productive and successful Term 4!

The Catholic Schools NSW Board and Leadership Team visited St Mary’s on Tuesday the 21st of October. During their 45 minutes here, St Mary's students and staff showcased our cultural and educational setting.

The board and leadership team were greeted at the front gate by our students. This was followed by the Principals welcome at our bell then by a walk up to our yarning circle. A smoking and sprinkling ceremony was perfomed by Aunty Brenda and Uncle Mark followed by a welcome to counrty from Cory and Jacob and prayer led by Miss Alice and Stage 3 students.

Our visitors were encouraged to participate in our cultural welcome dance and then treated to our whole school Kookaburra song and Giinagay song.

The morning was concluded by a student testimony by Adrian and a farewell by Miss Nadine. Our students and staff did an amazing job of showing our guests how wonderful St Mary's is.

AWARD WINNERS

Photo Includes award winners from previous weeks: Jayden & Carter

Yesterday our students attended Macksville Park for a League Tag Gala Day. They played other schools: Scotts Head Public, Macksville Public, Eungai Public & Bowraville Central School. 

On Wednesday 24th September Stage 3 students Luka, Jayden, Harry, Alexis, Adrian, Ariana, Mason, Regent, Tayven, Jacob, Corey and Aaliyah travelled by bus to Geoff King Motors oval in Coffs Harbour to play the Greg Inglis league gala day. They played 4 games

On the last day of term 3 students dressed in their favourite sports jersey and gave a gold coin donation to raise money for kids with cancer.

Our 3/4 students have come back into term 4 with a positive attitude towards learning! We are so excited to keep learning and thriving as we discover more things every day! 

Bobbie the class bee is still going on so many adventures with the class. Each weekend a student will take Bobbie home with them and will write a story in 'Bobbie's Adventure Book' to let their class know what exciting things Bobbie has been doing! Bobbie has been a very lucky bee meeting lots of people, playing sports, swimming and even travelling to the Maldives!

With our visitors coming (CSO Board of Directors) students showed our school value of community proudly as they all pitched in to make our school look its best for the special day.

The learning club are studying electricity  and circuits this term for Science. Today they are building and experimenting with simple circuits using switches, lights and buzzers. - Mr Pascoe

Today our Stage 3 students held a car wash to raise funds towards their Stage 3 camp in Port Macquarie.

They worked super hard and had a constant flow of cars to wash! They were very ambitious and made sure everything was clean and washed which included Harry's Lightening McQueen crocs and Mr troy!

It was a big effort by our students and teachers. Well done!

Last week was our last Kinder transition day for the year. Our Kindergarten students made our future 2026 Kinder students feel welcome in their new school. They are very excited to welcome their new friends in 2026!

Our new kinder's received their transition pack and school uniform ready for next year.

We had some cute visitors thanks to Miss Sam, and we loved patting and meeting the day old baby piglets!

Tayven took the initiative to start and lead Puppet Club once a week, and the first one was a huge success! The students got together and told incredible stories with the puppets, thank you Tayven for showing leadership and bringing people together! Miss Mady