Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a very busy few weeks with the visit from our local kindergartens. The children have had a wonderful time experiencing life as a Foundation student. It has been such a pleasure to have the children, their teachers and parents visiting our school and, with more groups still to come, we will be busy over the coming weeks too.

A reminder that we have a whole school closure day next Monday, June 16. This provides the opportunity for staff to engage in professional development to support them in their roles. I thank you for your understanding and support.

As we approach the end of Term 2, our staff are finalising mid-year reports for all students. These reports provide a valuable snapshot of each child’s progress in their learning and development so far this year. They are designed to celebrate growth, highlight areas for improvement, and guide the next steps in each student’s learning journey.

Our teachers have thoughtfully assessed each student’s achievements in line with the Victorian Curriculum and have taken great care to provide clear, meaningful feedback. We encourage families to read through the reports with their children, recognising both the successes and the opportunities for continued growth.

The reports will be sent out before the end of this term, and we look forward to following these with our upcoming parent-teacher conversations. These discussions are a wonderful chance to work together to support each child to reach their full potential. The parent-teacher conversations will take place early in Term 3.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership in your child’s education. Your support is always appreciated.

The pies from our recent Pie Drive will be delivered on Tuesday June 17. Thank you for your support with this drive and for the support you continue to give to our fundraising. The proceeds from our fundraising throughout the year goes to resources for the children. In the past year we have successfully resourced our school with the latest take home books, more chrome books and many other important resource materials. The fundraising work that makes this all possible is the result of hard work and dedication from some of our wonderful parents. If you have any ideas regarding fundraising, you are most welcome to join our Parents and Friends group. We meet one Wednesday per month.

Kind regards
Lisa

Pope Leo XIV provided a most powerful reflection that was shared through Vatican News.

Pope Leo: Compassion is a matter of humanity, not a religious issue

Reflecting on the parable of the Good Samaritan at the weekly General Audience, Pope Leo XIV challenges everyone to not let our busy lives “prevent us from feeling compassion” towards others.

Continuing his reflections on the parables in the Gospel during his Wednesday General Audience, Pope Leo XIV recalled the “learned and well-prepared man - a doctor of the Law” from Luke’s Gospel. The Pope says this young man is too focused on himself and ignores others.

The doctor of the Law speaks to Jesus, inquiring how he can inherit eternal life. But Pope Leo exposed “the deeper need for attention” behind this question as the young man asks Jesus to explain the word “neighbour.”

Whom have I loved?

To answer this, Jesus recounted a parable that changes the young man's question entirely from "Who loves me?" to "Whom have I loved?"

The Pope explained the first is immature, “while the second is the question of an adult who has understood the meaning of life.” The first is inactive, while the second requires action.

Jesus then shares the parable of the Good Samaritan, whose setting is the road a man takes to travel from Jerusalem on a mountain to Jericho, which is at sea level. Pope Leo likened this journey to life, calling it a “difficult and dangerous road.”

On his journey, the man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead, which can happen to us when “circumstances, people - even those we’ve trusted—strip us of everything and leave us out in the open.”

It is not a religious issue:

But, the Pope pointed out, it is in these encounters with others that we come to know who we really are. When we meet someone in need, we are faced with a choice: “to care for them or to look the other way.”

In the parable, two people, a priest and a Levite, who we would imagine would stop and care for the hurt man, simply choose to ignore him. This, Pope Leo highlighted, shows that "religious practice alone does not automatically lead to compassion.” It is not a characteristic of religion but one of being human. Human beings are called to be compassionate, no matter their religion.

The priest and the Levite represent all of us—in a hurry to get home. This hurry can keep us from being compassionate because, the Pope warned, people "who believe their journey takes priority are not willing to stop for others."

Compassion = taking risks

Only a Samaritan, “someone from a people traditionally despised,” stops to help the wounded man. The Samaritan helps, not out of a religious requirement, but because “he is one human being in front of another human being in need.”

Compassion, Pope Leo stressed, takes form through concrete actions, because in order to help someone, “you cannot stay at a distance.” To be compassionate, you have to get involved and be prepared to “even get dirty, perhaps take risks.”

The Samaritan is an example of compassion because he physically takes care of the wounded man. The Pope underlined that truly helping someone “means being willing to feel the weight of another’s pain.” He pointed out that only when we recognize that we ourselves are the wounded man can we truly feel compassion.

This term, our Year 3 class has been learning about Australia's closest neighbours.  During writing, we have learnt how to write a topic sentence and a supporting detail.

 A topic sentence introduces what your paragraph will be about, grabs the readers attention, tells the reader what to expect and keeps our writing organised!. We have learnt to add an appositive to our sentences to further explain the noun in our sentence. After mastering the topic sentence, we are now working on our supporting details. These sentences give you interesting facts about the topic sentence, gives reasons and examples.   Here are some samples from our class when we were writing. 

Papua New Guinea by Sophie

Papua New Guinea, a rural island, has an abundant amount of beautiful and pretty flora and fauna.

Much of the flora found here is endemic, but some can also be found in other countries as well. 

The Laulau, a native plant, is a tiny rose apple, shaped like a bell. It is eaten to replenish water in you, and it's healthy for you. The Mushroom plant, native to the area, tastes like cucumber, grows in warm places and is the most popular vegetable used in dishes. The chayote is a native, spikey plant that can be eaten cooked.

Papua New Guinea   by Kobe

 Papua New Guinea, a mountainous area, has a diverse climate. 

There are two seasons, in the wet season from December to April, it has tropical downpours, causing floods.

Papua New Guinea  by Masen 

Papua New Guinea,  a special island,  has abundant native flora and fauna.

Much of the flora there is native, but it is also found in other countries.  

Papua New Guinea By Charlotte

Papua New Guinea, a traditional island, has many unique features. 

Papua New Guinea has a variety of wonderful languages because there are lots of indigenous tribes.

Papua New Guinea has tropical rainforests because it is situated on the equator.

Papua New Guinea By Abbi

New Zealand, Australia’s closest neighbour, has delicate features.                                             

Glaciers,  built out of snow, are only found between tall mountains in New Zealand. 

Papua New Guinea By Blake 

Papua New Guinea, a rural island, has abundant Flora and Fauna.

Much of the flora found here is native, but is also found in other countries.

The Getuya plant is easy to grow and is important because it’s found in most foods.

Congratulations to Xavier, Aidan, Annabelle, Evie, Cruz, Seth & Lexi who received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Thursday 29th of May.

Our footballer's had a great day and fought hard in all their games, they didnt get a win for the day but enjoyed the day overall.

We had 2 Netball teams competing on the day, Team B won 1 of their games and we had Team A win all their games and have now advanced through to Division. Great effort by both teams.

Our Volley stars had a great day, they had 2 wins and 1 loss but overall enjoyed the day. Great effort!

 The soccer team had a great day and made it through to the grandfinal but unfortunately didnt get the win. Fabulous effort by everyone and great teamwork.

We would like to say a big Thank you to everyone who supported the Pie Drive, we have raised $1033.55 which was a fabulous effort.

Delivery day is Tuesday 17th of June, place & time for pick up with be advised shortly.

Totally Swift

Football Auskick Program

Moe United Soccer 

St Mary's Craft Group

St Mary’s Craft Group would like to thank the families who have supported our fund raising efforts this year. 

If any of the new families would like to know more about us we meet in the School Hall every Tuesday at 9.00am and always ready to welcome newcomers and share a cuppa!

Many Thanks,  

St, Mary’s Craft Group

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PAM (Parent Access Module)

June 2025

• Monday 16th - School Closure Day
• Thursday 19th - Division Winter Sports
• Thursday 19th - Foundation Excursion to Myuna Farm
• Friday 27th - St Mary's Day - 9am Feast of Immaculate Heart of Mary Prayer Gathering
• Friday 27th - St Mary's Day - 2pm St Mary's Talent Show 

July 2025

• Thursday 3rd - Students Last Day of Term 2
• Tuesday 22nd - Student First Day of Term 3
• Friday 25th - Pyjama Day - St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal Food Donation

August 2025

• Thursday 14th - WV District Summer Sports (Basketball)
• Friday 15th - School Closure Day
• Monday 25th to Friday 29th - F-2 Learn to swim
• Monday 25th - Eisteddfod
• Tuesday 26th - Eisteddfod
• Thursday 28th - Division Summer Sports (Basketball)