School Newsletter Term 3, Week 6, 28th August 2025

Principals Letter

Dear St Augustine's families,

Last week we had the Book Week Celebrations and thank you to all the families who came along to the Parade, book stall and the activity afternoon. This was a fantastic way to engage our families in our school community through the enjoyment of books. 

Monday, we had Geoff James and John Williamson visit from Maryborough Rotary. Rotary encourages Literacy programs in a desire to stimulate an appreciation of books and encourage a lifetime interest in reading. We were very lucky to receive a donation of a book for each year 4 student at our school at assembly on Monday, to help foster the enjoyment of reading. There were some great tips for families to help with reading at home:

• Read aloud- it's a great way for children to learn the structure. 
• Mix it up- try to read some favourite books and new ones. 
• Have fun- make it enjoyable and praise your child's reading. 

Father's Day is coming up, and next week we have our Father's Day Stall on Thursday 3rd September. Our Liturgy will be on Monday, 8th September at 9 am and families are invited to come along and then stay for morning tea. We look forward to celebrating all the special people in our lives. 

A reminder the end of term is approaching very quickly! Students last day is Thursday 18th September as Friday staff will be involved in professional development of phase 2 of our literacy program .

St Augustine's Feast Day is today the 28th August and we celebrate our patron Saint. Saint Augustine was born in Hippo in Africa. He didn't always make good choices in his life and was inspired when he heard a child reading.  We use his motto 'Take up and read' in our school logo. We can use the inspiration of St. Augustine in many ways, and today in our liturgy, we thought about how we can all make mistakes sometimes. God is always ready to forgive us when we say sorry and want to do better.

Many blessings,

Mrs Sonia Turner

Principal

My New Gallery

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Happy Birthday to...

Nathaniel F - Year 4     Hamish N - Year 1     Larnie T - Year 6     Archie T - Year 5     Aravind - Foundation     

Kyzer L  - Year 6     Tyson S - Year 6      Hunter B - Year 1     Jaxen C - Foundation

Savannah T - Foundation    Allera D - Year 5    Livianne N - Year 1       

From our Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader

Energy Breakthrough Sponsorship Program

CADBURY FREDDO FUNDRAISER - boxes are available through Emma Ryan or the office. $60 box, 120 Freddo's at 50 cents each. Payment can be made via cash, eftpos or on CDFPay. 

SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM - We invite families, businesses and individuals to please jump on board our sponsorship program that provides this invaluable experience for our students.  More information below. Please contact accounts@samaryborough.catholic.edu.au with your sponsorship amount and we will send out an invoice with payment details or phone the office if you have any questions. 

From the Art Room

Indigenous Art Week 5 -  the children enjoyed making their own paint by using rocks, just like the indigenous people did. First they made the paint by crushing the rock and adding water. Then they had creative freedom to design what ever they wanted. 

My New Gallery

BOOK CLUB

Hard copies of the Book Club Issue 6 catalogues have been sent home this week. 

You can also view the catalogue online via the link below .

Orders are due in by Friday 5th September 2025.

Parents & Friends News

Next meeting will be held 9am Friday 29th August at Daily Dose Cafe, all welcome!

Thank you to everyone who ordered pies, we raised over $1000!

Tea Towel fundraiser has also been very successful! Fundraising figure to follow soon. 

Fathers day stall will be held on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th September - donations of small gifts can be dropped to the school office. Helpers needed! Contact Jacinta or Sarah as per flyer below.

Fathers day Liturgy and morning tea will be on Monday 8th September (9am Liturgy followed by morning tea) We would love if you can bring a plate of something for morning tea to share. These can be dropped off to the Marian Centre prior to the liturgy.  

Save the date - Our Trivia night will be held on Friday 17th October - volunteers are required to help planning and organising the trivia night. Tickets will be on sale soon for $20 each, tables of 8 - 10.  The theme is country and western (start shinin' ya boots partner, yee-haw!)

Our Diocesan Community Magazine Issue 2 July 2025

CANTEEN

ALL CANTEEN ORDERS MUST BE PLACED THROUGH CDFPAY BY 3PM WEDNESDAYS. LUNCHES WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CLASSROOMS FROM 1PM. 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!   If you can spare some time on a Friday it would be greatly appreciated! You can choose to help for 2 hours or 4 hours in the Canteen. The jobs are not difficult, stickers on bag, packing orders etc and Sinead is very organised and clear in her instructions. Please consider if you could spare one or two Friday mornings a term.

It is a requirement of our school and DOBCEL that everyone complete this food handling course. It takes about 15 mins.
https://dofoodsafely.health.vic.gov.au/index.php/en/
Certificates to be sent to the school office or emailed to admin@samaryborough.catholic.edu.au. 

You will also need to hold a current Working With Children card.  It is free for a volunteer card. Go to;

https://www.vic.gov.au/working-with-children-check

Lunch box ideas

SchoolTV

Because parenting doesn’t come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource that can support you in the challenges relating to modern-day parenting.

This award-winning resource helps build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It can assist in starting conversations on topics that are sometimes awkward or difficult to tackle.

STAR Students

At St Augustine's we are a SWPBIS school (School Wide Positive Behaviour in School) and we have a STAR culture. STAR stands for:

S  - stay safe

T  - take pride

A  - act justly

R  - respond positively

Just like children are explicitly taught academics, acceptable behaviour is also explicitly taught. STAR awards are given at Assembly each fortnight, exceptional STARs are sent a postcard which qualifies them to morning tea with the Principal at the end of the term.

STAR lessons are taught around a nominated behaviour blitz. Children are taught how to be a STAR in all places they go and what the acceptable behaviour looks like. Examples of a lessons: how to stay safe in class, in the library, the toilet, at the bus stop, on the playground or when walking to the swimming pool.

2025 School Fees & Levies

2025 School Fees & Levies - below is the 2025 School Fees & Levies information.

All fees are to be finalised by the end of November each year unless other arrangments are made with the school office. 

All credits have now been applied for valid concession card holder claimants of the government Camp Sports Excursion Fund (CSEF), School Saving Bonus & Family Fee Assistance.  

We welcome all students and their families who share or respect our Catholic faith, values and traditions. Catholic education is supported by State and Federal funding, with families contributing the balance of the cost of educating their children. At times, some families are unable to meet their commitment to the full costs of education. As a Catholic school system, we ensure fee relief mechanisms are available to support families in time of need. We encourage these discussions on enrolment or as these needs emerge.

Ambulance Cover

Emergency medical transport services are not free and not covered by Medicare. Become a genuine Ambulance Victoria member and be protected against the cost of transport and treatment by paramedics.

If your child required an ambulance at school we would not hesitate to call for one before speaking with parents. Without ambulance membership it can be a very costly trip! If your not already covered please consider!

Bus Travel & Conveyance Allowance

Bus travel on the country buses is available for students at St Augustine’s School and arrangements are made through the bus co-ordinator, Heather Leach, at the Maryborough Education Centre on 5461 7900 or via email to Heather.Leach2@education.vic.gov.au. 

A PTV form must be completed and approved prior to any bus travel.

For one off or seasonal travel, parents of the student/s must organise a bus pass through MEC at least two days prior to travel. Students cannot travel on the country buses without a pass.

The town bus is currently full so no additional travellers are being accepted. The town bus costs 50cents a trip, payable on the day of travel.  Please advise the office if your child will be travelling on any of the buses so we can update our bus rolls.

IMPORTANT

All bus travel requires parents/guardians to complete a Public Transport Victoria (PTV) Application for Permission to Travel form prior to any bus travel. This form can be emailed direct to Heather Leach at MEC, Heather.Leach2@education.vic.gov.au. It is important that this form is completed as these details will be used in the event of an emergency.

PTV forms are required to be updated and completed yearly by all families who have bus travellers.

CONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE 

Eligibility

An application on behalf of a student may be submitted if the student is:

• a Victorian resident.
• school aged and enrolled (3) three or more days per week at a school; and
• attending a school/campus located outside the Melbourne metropolitan conveyance boundary

A student who meets the above requirements may be eligible if they:

• attend their nearest or designated neighbourhood government school/campus appropriate to their year level, at which admission is permissible, or
• attend their nearest appropriate non-government school/campus appropriate to their year level, at which admission is permissible, and
• reside 4.8km or more by the shortest practicable route from the campus attended

Student Medical Information

If your child is unwell please keep them at home.

This includes coughs, colds, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea and any other contagious illnesses.  

Coughs & Colds

Children can return to school once symptoms have eased and they are not actively coughing or blowing their nose.  

Vomitting & Diarrhoea

Children can return to school 48 hours after the last episode.

We will send children home if they present with any of these symptoms whilst at school.

Notifying Absences

All absentee notifications should be recorded either through the Parent Access Module (PAM) or directly to the school office by phone or email to admin@samaryborough.catholic.edu.au prior to 9.30am on the day of the absence. Please do not send notes of absence through to classroom teachers on Class Dojo as they may be absent or unable to check messages prior to commencement of class.

If a student is absent and we have not received any form of notification by 9.30am, a text message will be sent to parents asking them to call the office or send a reply text. 

Child Safety

St. Augustine's Primary School Maryborough demonstrates a strong commitment to the care, safety and wellbeing of all students at our school.

All of our Child Safe policies and procedures are accessible on our website through the link below.

Uniform Shop

Uniforms will continue to be filled weekly and sent home with your child/ren.

We have discontined the lemon polo's due to the large delay in delivery times. We are out of stock of short sleeved lemon polo's in most sizes now. Long sleeve lemon polos are still available in some sizes while stocks last. Send a dojo to Amber if you would like to purchase.

Beanies are available in the school office for $20

Uniform orders will continue to be filled and sent home with your child(ren) weekly. If you would like to enquire about secondhand uniform, please send a message to Amber on Class Dojo with your required items and sizes and we will send home what we can supply, $5 per item. This can be paid through CDFPay under IOU uniform. 

If you have any queries or items to be exchanged, please contact the school office. 

Note: There is no designated period for summer or winter uniform. Students can choose what they would like to wear in any season. The only exception is that sports uniform must be worn on designated sports days and bucket hats are to be worn between August & April.

ALL ORDERS TO BE PLACED THROUGH THE NEW CDFPAY APP. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCOUNT SETUP ATTACHED.

PAM - Parent Access Module

To complete/update your child/rens medical profile including contact information, go to PAM, click on your child/rens name, go to 'Medical Profile' and click 'Edit Details'. Complete details then click in the box at the bottom of the page to confirm the details are correct and click ‘Update Details’.

This information is mandatory and vital in the case of an emergency.   It is important that if you have any change to your contact numbers, including work place, mobile, home number, that these be updated through PAM and to advise the school office.

If you have any questions or require your login details, please contact the school office.

Parking & Road Safety

Parking behind the church & tennis courts is STAFF ONLY parking. Please do not use these areas to park or pickup your children. Vehicle movement in and out of these areas means you are driving over footpaths/walkways which both our students and Highview students are using. This creates a potential safety hazard.

Follow road safety regulations, keep driveways clear, check carefully before reversing and avoid letting your children exit or enter a car whilst on the road or stopped at the crossings. Please do not double park. We all want to keep our families safe so your co-operation is appreciated.

Please observe road rules around our school for the safety of all of our children.

* Schools have 40km zone.

* Parking behind the church & tennis courts is STAFF ONLY parking.

* Please use the children's crossing on Burns, Kars St and Burke St.

* For safety purposes, please avoid letting your children exit or enter a car whilst on the road or stopped at the crossings. Please do not double park. 

Thank you for your co-operation.

Bell times

5 minutes prior to classes commencing there is music played. This signals to the children it is time to start moving to class. This is the time children need to have a drink, go to the toilet etc. so they are lined up and ready to start class when the bell goes. 

8:30am - Yard Care Supervision begins

8:45am  -  Classroom teacher in classroom - meet & greet

8:55pm - School classes begin

9am-11am - 2 hour learning session

11am-11:40am -  First break

11:40am-1:40pm - 2 hour learning session

1:40pm-2:20pm - Second break

2:20pm-3:15pm - 55 minute learning session

3:10pm - Fiscalini & Flanagan dismissal

3:15pm - Arundell & Scanlan, Bus students dismissal

Parish News

Please see link below for the latest Parish Bulletin & readings.

Advanced dates for your diary

Up and coming whole school closure days and important dates

Term 3 - Friday Sept 19th - Literacy closure day 
Term 4 - Monday October 6th - RE closure day 
Whole school transition day - Tuesday 9th December

Graduation Mass - Wednesday 3rd December

Last day for students - Wednesday 17th December

Please see the link to the school calendar below for all  important dates.

Community Notices