Our Term 2 Parent/Teacher interviews are coming up next week. Hopefully you have had an opportunity to book yours by now. Parent/Teacher interviews give you a great opportunity to learn more about your child’s academic, emotional and social development, help your child’s teacher understand more about your child and make plans with the teacher about how you can both support your child in the months ahead.

If you don’t have any particular concerns, you might wonder whether it’s worth going to parent-teacher interviews, however, it’s a great way to show your child that you’re interested in their learning and what’s happening for them at school.

To get the most out of parent-teacher interviews, it helps to be prepared. At St Matthews, we deliberately plan our Interviews to coincide with the time school reports are published. Teachers assume that you will have read your child’s school report carefully and noted anything you want to ask about. Since interview time slots are relatively short, it can help to come prepared with a list of questions so you remember what you want to talk about. Here are a few possible questions to get you started:

• What are my child’s strengths in the classroom?
• What does my child struggle with?
• How much homework should my child be doing?
• What can I do at home to help my child with schoolwork?
• What can you tell me about my child’s behaviour in class?
• How is my child getting along with other students?
• What support services might be helpful for my child?

If you don’t get through everything you want to discuss, you might need to arrange another meeting with your child’s teacher.

For more tips about preparing for parent teacher interviews, you might want to check out the Raising Children website.

God bless.

Angela Myles

Numerous events to celebrate from the last fortnight, where students had the opportunity to experience many different activities at different venues across our diocese. Our senior Rugby Union team made the semi-finals at the Bathurst Diocese Rugby Union 10s day in Orange, representing our school in a way that made all in attendance incredibly proud. Our Year 5 classes had an amazing time visiting Ferntree Gully as part of their Geography unit, which included a field study of an environment. This week, we held a Year 6 Confirmation Retreat in the Parish, with a large number of students this week receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. We also completed the 2025 Kindergarten ‘Bright Beginnings' program, which saw a large number of new families visit St Matthews.

Looking towards our final week, please be aware of the following events taking place:

Monday: Semester 1 School Reports go live on Compass
Tuesday: Year 4 have a Reflection Retreat
Tuesday and Wednesday: Parent Teacher Interviews
Wednesday: K-6 Thanksgiving Mass at 10:30am
Thursday: Years 5-12 Vinnies Sleepout
Friday: Last day of term and K-6 Pyjama Day

As this is our final newsletter for Term 2, I thank all families who were able to support our students and teachers throughout the term. Your time and effort in helping with classroom activities, on excursions and at extracurricular activities provide us the opportunity to continue to support the faith life of our school community, the high quality education we are able to offer and the ability to support the wellbeing of each individual child of St Matthews.

School resumes for all students on Monday 22nd July and we wish all families a happy and safe holiday break.

Justin Yeo

When we act with compassion at St Matthews we acknowledge all our differences. Together we make the school community a welcoming place for everybody where we are all treated with respect.

Showing compassion also means that we listen to others’ ideas and thoughts without judgement or interruptions. We try to do this in the classroom and on the playground, with our peers, teachers and parents.

Being a compassionate member of our school community means celebrating the success of others and picking each other up when we fail. An example of this is helping someone who has had success in reaching their goals, while having the courage to grow through our own disappointments.

While we move on to focus on a different value next term we keep our compassionate ideas at the forefront of our thoughts and actions so we can ensure our school remains a happy and caring place.

Aubrey Crestani (as part of the St Matthews Way Year 6 Partnership)

St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our families who have donated a food item for the Vinnies Winter Appeal. At last count we had over 700 items. This is a monstrous effort and will surely make a difference to so many families in our community who are doing it tough this winter. Thank you.

Students can still donate an item(s) from the list if they are able to:

As part of our St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal, we will be hosting a Years 5-12 Vinnies School Sleepout. The school community will come together in solidarity and give up one night in a warm comfortable bed to help raise funds and awareness about homelessness and disadvantage in our very own backyard.

Students are encouraged to raise money for the Winter Appeal using the fundraising link. They can click 'join sleepout' so that others can sponsor them as well!

Confirmation

This weekend a large number of our students will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Michael McKenna. The St Matthews community would like to wish all our students the best and congratulations on completing the journey which included Mass attendance, booklets and a Retreat Day yesterday with their peers. It’s the final Sacrament that the children will receive at school and a very important milestone on their faith journey.

Ross McKeown

Leader of Mission

Polding Touch Football Trials

An amazing effort by Milla, Ella, Sophie, Lauren and Lily who represented St Matthews and the Bathurst Diocese at the Polding touch football trials in Parkes. The sportsmanship and skills on display was fantastic!

Congratulations to Sophie, Milla and Ella who were selected into the Polding team.

CPS Cross Country

Well done to all the students who competed at this level, we are proud of you all.
Congratulations to Alfie, who finished 1st in the 12-year-old boys age group at the CPS Cross Country event held at the Equestrian Centre in Eastern Creek. Alfie will now be a part of the Polding Team at the PSSA Cross Country Carnival.

Alfie showed good sportsmanship, encouraging the other boys in his race as well as the other St Matthews students who competed.

Adam Coughlan

K-6 Sports Coordinator

Mudgee Arts Precinct Visit

Year 4 had an extraordinary opportunity to visit Mudgee Gallery and experience the powerful exhibition 'Guwayu: For All Time.' This exhibition showcases the remarkable works of some of Australia's most renowned First Nations artists, including Tony Albert, Nicole Chaffey, Jo Clancy, Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Karla Dickens, Blak Douglas, Fiona Foley, Amala Groom, Aleshia Lonsdale, Juanita MacLaughlan, Danie Mellor, Vincent Namatjira, Joel Sherwood Spring, Jason Wing, Maddison Wing, and Judy Watson.

The visit was more than just an art viewing; it was an invaluable opportunity for our students to gain deep insights into the challenges and injustices faced by Indigenous Australians throughout our history. The artwork provided a profound reflection on these themes, sparking curiosity and thoughtful discussions among the students.

Guiding us through this impactful journey was Michael Bourke, whose informative and engaging tour brought the exhibition to life. His expertise and passion for the artworks provoked many questions from our eager students, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of Indigenous art and culture.

This visit has left a lasting impression on our students, inspiring them to learn more about and respect the rich cultural heritage of Indigenous Australians.

Our Year 4 students returned with a greater appreciation for art and a heightened awareness of the historical and ongoing struggles faced by First Nations people. It was indeed a memorable and enlightening experience for all.

Year 4 Teachers

Last Tuesday, Year One had an educational trip to the Mudgee Museum. We were fortunate enough to have wonderful parents join us in our exploration of life from the
past and to help us engage in conversations to make it a more meaningful experience. It was great to see the respectful behaviour and enthusiasm the Year One students had for comparing life in the past to now.

They particularly enjoyed the olden day toys, communication devices, role playing in the old school classrooms, imagining using the old farming implements and trying on the Australian Defence Force hats. It was lovely to hear the students comment on hoping to return in the future, to explore further.

Year 1 Teachers

We had our fourth and final week of our "Bright Beginnings" playgroup sessions last week. 

The children had a fun filled time completing circus themed activities and collaborative play. Our fabulous Year 6 leaders assisted with gross motor activities and interacting with the children.

We visited the school library, where Mrs Mort read "Wendy", a story about a chicken who wanted to join the circus.

A big thank you to families and staff who supported our sessions. We look forward to meeting the 2025 Kindergarten cohort again in November when our "Get Ready for Learning" Kindergarten Orientation begins.

Bernie Atkinson
Kindergarten Transition Coordinator

Year 9 and 10 Commerce students have been learning about how to successfully run a business and will use this knowledge to run a business for the Commerce Market Stall Exhibition which will be held at the Primary Campus on Friday 28th June during Break 2.

Your support is greatly appreciated and contributes to the success of this learning experience.

Commerce teachers

Karla Croake, Melodie Coleman and Emily Presland

• We ask that students wear suitable pyjamas and joggers.
• Gold coin donations will go towards the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal.

A sausage sizzle meal deal is available on the last day of term; order through Flexischool before Wednesday 3rd July at 12pm.

For more information regarding making a booking, please email or call us on 0492 802 671

St Matthews OSCH

John Freebody
Creative Arts Club Coordinator

To support the busy start and end to our school day, we remind families of a number of strategies put in place that reduce the impact to traffic along Lewis Street and also provide a safe environment for our students. We are currently experiencing issues with the impact on traffic and reinforce with families the need to abide by the processes we have in place. The strategies are supported by Mudgee Police and the Mid-Western Regional Council (MWRC), therefore we ask all families to be aware of the following in the Drop Off & Pick Up Zone:

• Family names displayed on the dashboards of cars in the afternoon.
• Parents and guardians remain in their cars at all times, no exceptions. If you child needs help entering or exiting the car, or needs a hug to say farewell in the morning, please park and support them away from the zone in front of the school.
• If your child is late to pick up in the afternoon, please do a lap and join the end of the queue.

Our school social media pages are an important source of information and reminders about upcoming events in our school and Parish community.

Flexischools is St Matthews Catholic Schools preferred way to order from our canteens. The cut-off time is 9am, please allow yourself enough time to complete an order. An order can be placed the night before or even days in advance.

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. 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)

1. Introduction to Flexischools
2. How to Register with Flexischools
3. How to Place an Order (Canteen)
4. How to Place an Order (All Services)
5. How to Top Up Your Flexischools Wallet

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 that may have been ordered for them.

Lunch Orders

Breakfast Menu

Birthday Bucket & Classroom Cupcakes

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 Email: st.matthews@midford.com.au

Parents and Carers of new or existing students enrolled in St Matthews can apply for free school bus travel with Ogden's Coaches for every route (except Botobolar and Cudgegong which is serviced by Booth's Bus Service)

• free school travel is available for Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 students no matter how close or far away they are from school.
• if students are not eligible for free bus transportation they can still ride on the bus by paying a fare or by purchasing a book of 10 tickets or a term/annual pass from the Ogden's Coaches office.
• students who changed address or schools must update existing details through the NSW Transport online portal
• if you are unsure whether or not your child has a current bus pass, please contact our office.
• to travel on our bus service, students must present their bus pass to the bus driver morning and afternoon.

Apply for student bus passes through the Ogden's Coaches website

Select ‘Schools’ tab in top header then select ‘Apply for a New Pass'

Fill in the application form for each child and you will be notified of eligibility via email from Transport NSW. Bus passes will be distrubuted by post to students home address.

Ogden's Coaches - Mudgee

(02) 6372 2489