T3 W4 Newsletter 2025

From The Principal

Next week, St Anne’s Catholic Primary School proudly commemorates its remarkable centenary, celebrating 100 years of education, community, and faith.

Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, our school continues to honour their legacy by living out the values they instilled: responsibility, kindness, compassion, and respect.  These principles remain at the heart of everything we do, guiding our students and shaping the spirit of our school community.

As we reflect on a century of growth and grace, we give thanks for the generations who have walked through our gates, and we look forward with hope to the future we are building together.

Loving God,
As our school community prepares to gather in celebration of 100 years of faith, learning, and love,
we ask Your blessing upon all those traveling to join us.

Watch over them on their journey.
Grant them safety on the roads, in the skies, and across the seas.

Guide their steps, calm their worries, and bring them peacefully to our gates.

May their travels be filled with joyful anticipation,
and may their arrival be met with warm embraces and shared memories.

We give thanks for their presence,
for the stories they carry, and the legacy they help us honour.

St Anne, our patron, and the Sisters of Mercy who founded our school,
pray for us and protect all who journey to celebrate this sacred milestone.

Amen.

Principal's Messages

Closure of School Office Due to Centenary Celebrations

Due to the Centenary Mass & morning tea the St Anne's office will be closed from 8:50am to 11am on Thursday 14th August. This will allow all staff to join in celebrating this momentous occasion.  

MORNING MEETINGS  |  To support teachers in holding their daily morning meetings and making final preparations for the day ahead, classrooms will remain closed until 8.20am.  Obviously, there will be exceptions to this especially in the event of a parent needing to have an interview with a teacher.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

YEAR 3 & FOUR NEWS  |  Please keep our year 3 and 4 students in your prayers as they go on day excursion tomorrow to Kinchant Dam.  We pray for their safe return.

We can’t wait to hear about their adventures.

PREP TO YEAR TWO EXCURSION  |  Tomorrow prep to year 2 students travel into Mackay to view a performance of the Gruffalo’s Child.  We hope that they enjoy this excursion and pray for safe travel for them too.

St Anne's Catholic Education Week Nominees

Bunnings Landscaping Donation

St Anne's received a kind donation from Bunnings in Paget to help with the landscaping of our front entrance for our Centenary celebrations. 

A big thank you to Karen and Hailey. They were amazing today at our school. They worked with 2 classes for hours, removing weeds, planting new plants and mulching the gardens. They were very informative with their presentation to the students and answered all their questions. Karen gave us lots of tips on how to maintain the garden and improve the others throughout the school.  The garden club is also grateful for the kind donation of gloves and tools, which were used today.

The gardens look fantastic and fresh, ready for our 100 year celebration next week. Our school can't thank Bunnings enough for their professionalism and support today. 

Once again, our heartfelt thanks to Karen, Hailey and Bunnings for their fantastic efforts and generous donation today at St Anne's Catholic Primary School. 

Prep Enrolments Now Being Taken For 2026

PREP 2026  |  Do you have a Prep student beginning in 2026?

We are now taking enrolments via the online system.  We encourage both existing and new families who have a child starting Prep in 2026 to lodge their enrolment application as soon as possible.  Applications are to be made via our online enrolment application available on our website via this link: https://www.sasrok.catholic.edu.au/   

Please contact the school office for further information or if any assistance is required.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND GOALS FOR 2025

St Anne's Centenary Week 2025

ST ANNE’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL CELEBRATES CENTENARY  |  Please find a summary of the week of celebration below.

MONDAY 11 AUGUST 2025

OPENING PRAYER CELEBRATION

We kick off the week with a prayer celebration in the school hall to which you are all invited.  This will commence at 8.40am.

100 YEARS OF EDUCATION, COMMUNITY AND FAITH DISPLAY

This will be housed in the hall and is open to all for viewing this whole week; please come along and view our display.

THURSDAY 14 AUGUST 2025

CENTENARY MASS

Bishop Michael McCarthy will lead our Centenary Mass, which will begin at 9.00am at St Michael’s Catholic Church.  He will be joined by fellow clergy as we mark this significant milestone in our school’s history.  All are warmly welcomed to attend and share in the celebration.

CUTTING OF THE OFFICIAL CAKE

Following the conclusion of the Mass, guests are invited to gather in the school hall for the ceremonial cutting of the official Centenary cake.  This special moment will be shared by our oldest living alumni and our youngest current students, symbolising the generations that have shaped St Anne’s Catholic Primary School.

After this families are invited to join their children for a BYO picnic on the lawns.

MORNING TEA

Invited guests are to stay in the hall for a morning tea and a catchup.

FRIDAY 15 AUGUST 2025

SCHOOL ASSEMBLY

You are warmly invited to our assembly which will commence at 8.40am in the school hall.  This is our regular Friday assembly.

CENTENARY DINNER

Tickets for the Centenary Dinner can be purchased from the front office.  This dinner is being held locally at the Sarina Sporting & Services Club commencing 6pm.

SUNDAY 17 AUGUST 2025

SUNDAY GET TOGETHER

After mass you are invited to view our Centenary Display in the hall, walk around the school, buy some lunch and a barista-made coffee.

THANK YOU TO THE SPONSORS OF OUR CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

GOLD SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSOR

Student Protection News

Across The Curriculum

ICAS

Good luck to all the students participating in the ICAS testing over the coming weeks! We know you will have fun and try your best.

What is ICAS?

ICAS is an independent, online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. ICAS is not compulsory and is run by the University of NSW.

ST PATRICK'S EXTENDED LEARNING PROGRAM 

On Friday the 1st of August, four students from St Anne’s joined other Catholic Schools across Mackay for an Extended Learning Program Day which focused on Religion. 

Inspired by the teachings of Jesus and the vision of Catherine McAuley, students explored the St Patrick’s Service Learning Program, focused on the values of Compassion, Hope, Justice and Respect, through a special hands-on experience.

The students baked delicious brownies, then delivered them to staff at the Mater Hospital, Red Cross and the Good Shepherd Lodge. The students embraced the concept of service in action and caring for those in our community.

Religious Life of the School

From the Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Ms Georgia Moloney

Term 3 Prayer Celebrations at Assembly

Please see the table below for the Prayer Assembly roster for this term. It includes information on which class will be presenting a Prayer Celebration and the day of the Assembly. It also includes class mass and which class will be attending each week. 

Finance News

Important Information regarding how School fee payments show on the Parent Orbit App  |  With the introduction of the new Parent Orbit App, parents are now able to easily see where they are up to with their school fee payments. However, an important thing to note is that any payments that have been made in the past 2 weeks may not show in the App, as they need to be processed to your account after the payment is received and this is done in bulk every week or two. If it is longer than 2 weeks since you have made a payment and it is still not showing on the Orbit App, please contact the Finance Officer, Sandra Adams, for it to be looked into. Sorry for any confusion this has caused.  

Term 3 Fees  |  Term 3 fees have now been issued. Payment is due 15/08/25. If you foresee an issue with payment in full by the due date, and do not have a payment plan in place, please contact the Finance Officer, Sandra Adams, to discuss options. 

Sports News

ATHLETICS

A special congratulations to Bella R, Naveah W, Katelyn B, Bronson L, Rylan B, Preston H, and Hadley W on your qualifying selection in the Sarina District Team for athletics. We congratulate you on your efforts at Mackay District Trials in Week 2.

Congratulations to the students selected to trial for further representation. We look forward to following your journey and will keep you posted on their progress!

AFL VISIT 

Get ready to hit the field!

Next week, all students will take part in a special AFL workshop during their PE time. The session will feature engaging games and activities designed to help everyone build their ball-handling skills, no matter their experience level.

Following the school workshop, there will be a four week Auskick clinic taking place at St Anne's during playtime at first break. Please refer to the information below.

AUSKICK IS BACK!

We are excited to be coming to St Annes Sarina to run Auskick in Lunch Breaks!

Auskick is a fun program that teaches kids general ball and motor skills and also about AFL! It is aimed to cater for kids at school from Prep to Grade 6.

This will be a 4 week program starting August 19th.

Cost is $55 - this includes 4 x 30  min weekly sessions and a pack with a ball, pump and footy cards.

Registration link is: https://www.playhq.com/afl/register/769111

The first session is a FREE TRIAL - no need to register straight away!

Contact Alex for more information - alex.brooks@afl.com.au 

P&F News

Student Leadership

Leadership is a quality that all students of St Anne's Catholic Primary School are encouraged and supported to develop.  These experiences ensure that students perceive themselves as leaders and have the opportunity and confidence to take on leadership roles and find their voice.

Newsletter Report Week 3 By  Brooklyn |   First I would like to congratulate all the students that went to Challenge Cup for Football & Netball last week. Everyone was very well behaved and listened to all the rules. Thank you to Ms Moloney, Mrs Gibson and al the parents for their support for football and netball. 

I have noticed at lunch time everyone has been wearing a hat so keep that up and also make sure that at lunch you pick up all your dropped rubbish even if it isn't yours. 

Make sure you are listening to all your teacher's rules whether you are in or out of the classroom, and wearing your uniform with pride. Good job to al those who attended the NAIDOC Mass on Tuesday. I hope you all had a great time with all the different schools there. 

Newsletter Report Week 4 By  Jed |  First I would like to congratulate everyone for being so respectful in Church yesterday. You all were amazing. Also thank you all the lovely grandparents and parents that came to the grandparent's day. we really love your support. It was also under 8's day yesterday. I hope everyone had fun, enjoyed it and had a great time with their grandparents. Students, listen to your teachers and have a great day. 

Mercy Awards

Congratulations To Our Mercy Award Recipients Week 2  |  Matilda J, Lleighton R, Jaxson T, Hamish M, Ameliyah G, Phoebe W, Taytum C, Amelia T, Bailey W, Mackenzie S, Hayman C, Louie K, Paige E, Darci K, Jed P.

Congratulations To Our Mercy Award Recipients Week 3 |  Corbin K, Billie H, Jaxon D, Dakota A, Matilda D, Year 2C, Zachary Zahnow, Benny P, Isabelle B, Bryce G, Year 5R, Chad M, Nait B. 

Fire Safety Visit

Fire Safety Incursion

This week 1C had an exciting visit from our local firefighters! Both firemen and firewomen came to our school to teach us all about fire safety and what to do in an emergency.

We learned that in a real emergency, we should call 000, and it’s very important to know our home address so help can find us quickly. The firefighters showed us how to "Stop, Drop, and Roll" if our clothes catch on fire, and how to "Get down low and go, go, go" if there’s smoke in the house. We also learned how to count the exits in our home so we’re always prepared to get out safely.

As part of the visit, the firefighters showed us their fire truck and all the equipment they use. They even dressed up in their full fire suit and let us touch the material to see what it felt like. The highlight for many of us was getting to hold the fire hose (with their help!) and squirt water at traffic cones—it was so much fun!

A big thank you to our local fire crew for such a fun, hands-on learning experience and for helping us feel more confident about fire safety.

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Box Exploration Station

Class Newsletter Article – Week 4: Box Exploration Station

Last week in our classroom, we dove into the world of creativity, construction, and sustainability through our Box Exploration Station. Inspired by the imaginative story Box Boy, we began with a discussion on how everyday materials—like cardboard boxes—can become tools for innovation and play. We also touched on the importance of sustainability and how reusing items helps care for our planet.

Students were invited to explore a range of recyclable materials including boxes of all shapes and sizes, cardboard tubes, egg cartons, bottle caps, and more. As they experimented with stacking, balancing, and constructing, they discovered the different properties and uses of each shape. Some boxes were great for building tall towers, others made the perfect foundation for tunnels or ramps. The classroom was buzzing with curiosity and collaboration as students shared their ideas and tested different building techniques.

To deepen their learning, we challenged the class to design and build something specific—such as a house, robot, vehicle, or playground—using only the recycled materials provided. The results were incredible! From rocket ships with sliding doors to elaborate dollhouses and colourful cars, each creation was unique and showed off the students’ creativity and problem-solving skills.

We concluded our exploration with a sharing session where each student presented their creation to the class. Together, we reflected on the importance of reusing materials and how creative thinking can help us reduce waste and care for our environment. It was a wonderful hands-on experience that connected design, sustainability, and imagination in a meaningful way.

We are so proud of the students for their enthusiasm and inventiveness—and we can’t wait to see how they apply these skills in future learning!

General Information

Community News

📣 NIPPERS COME & TRY/SIGN-ON Days @sarinaslsc for 2025-26 season 

SUNDAY 10th AUGUST 9am - 10:30am 

SUNDAY 17th AUGUST 9am - 10:30am

*Please arrive 20 min before start

🚩 ALL AGES WELCOME 🚩

Must be 5yo by 30 Sep 2025

Green Caps 5-6 yrs (Under 6-7)

Nippers 7-13 yrs (Under 8-14)

Cadets 14-17 yrs (Under 15-17)

Seniors 18-30 yrs (Opens)

Masters 30+ yrs (Masters) 

💲 Affordable FAMILY Memberships 

💲 FAIRPLAY Vouchers accepted 

WHAT TO BRING: Swimmers, Sunscreen, Water Bottle, Towel, Goggles (recommended) 

*Stinger suits, pinkies and caps available to borrow for 1st Come & Try Session and may be purchased from surf club with membership. 

📍 Parents and grandparents keen to volunteer and/or interested in participating, please come along for more information on our Nippers and Lifesaving opportunities. 

For more information email: lifesaving@sarinasurfclub.com.au or jac@sarinasurfclub.com.au