Last Tuesday all our teaching staff from both campuses participated in a Professional Learning Day with Dr Michael McDowell. This day was planned, organised and supported by our Catholic Education Office in Bathurst and all teachers across our diocese had the opportunity to hear from Michael at various sessions over the course of that week. This meant that our Student Free Day needed to occur on a Tuesday in order to accommodate the overall schedule for the diocese.

Michael is an experienced educational leader and published author who advises schools and school systems on innovative methodologies in classroom instruction. Michael’s work aligns beautifully with the St Matthews approach to learning and teaching as he has a passion for building rigorous learning experiences for all students across all subjects. During the Staff Development Day, Michael emphasised practical strategies that can challenge students to not only learn surface content knowledge but to also develop depth in their understanding and enhance their ability to apply what they learn to new tasks and different situations. In our school context we refer to this as Surface, Deep and Transfer Learning. Our teachers walked away feeling inspired and ready to immediately test out some of the learning strategies in our classrooms.

In 2018 the NSW Government announced a comprehensive review of the school curriculum from K-12 with the intention of ensuring that students are being properly prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century…. This was the first major review of the NSW Curriculum since 1989! There are extensive mandatory curriculum changes occuring now & over the next few years as a result of this review. These changes provide an exciting opportunity to improve the learning experience for all students and the learning framework we have developed at St Matthews see us perfectly placed to make the most of this opportunity. The staff development day with Michael this week was one important component of how we are preparing our staff for these changes.
We know that student free days can present significant challenges for families, and we are incredibly grateful for the support you provide that enables our staff to engage in continuous learning and improvement which ultimately benefits our students.

I look forward to sharing more with you about our learning journey over the course of this year.

God bless
Angela Myles

Kindergarten Retreat

Our first primary school retreat was held on Monday this week, with our Kindergarten classes and their families spending time at St Mary of the Presentation Church. Many families were in attendance once again and participated in a range of activities with Mr McKeown, Father Owen and Parish staff and also stayed for a beautiful BBQ lunch. This retreat was a beautiful welcoming to the Parish for all involved and a great way for families to again build our school community.

Hats

St Matthews is a ‘No Hat / No Play’ school and we remind families that hats are a compulsory component of the school uniform expectations and must be worn for all activities in the sun, including during recess and lunch. I encourage families to please check with your child/ren and make sure that all hats have names clearly marked and that they arrive at school each day. There has been an increase in the number of students without hats and your support will prevent the disappointment of missing playtime.

Justin Yeo

The St Matthews Way 

Get involved with Project Compassion, this Lent, by watching a video about this year theme: For all future generations. 

All families would have received a Project Compassion Box to contribute to if possible. You can also donate directly through the  St Matthews fundraising page. 

Welcome to the Library 2024

The year has got off to a great start in the Library. It’s a wonderful place for the students to visit in the morning before school or at first break. We have a wonderful book display of junior fiction books on the topic of starting school and making friends. The students can also find many passive play activities like Kapla blocks, chess boards, Uno cards and puzzles as well as many opportunities to draw and colour. Please feel free to come up to visit our beautiful space whilst you are dropping off your child to school in the morning.

The Premier's Reading Challenge 

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is now open to all students from Year 1 to Year 6.

If you would like your child to participate this year and they have done so previously, just get them to use the same login and password from last year. If they have not participated in the past and they would like to, get them to come up to the Library to register their name and birthday and I will enter them into the competition.

Challenge opens: Monday 26 February
Challenge closes: Friday 23 August

2024 Challenge details:

PRC accounts are managed by school coordinators. Nongov school students need a DoE student account created for them, and your school's PRC coordinator will create this account for you and provide you with login details.

Once the Challenge is open, you can log in to the PRC website to add books you have read to your Student Reading Record using your PRC account.

In order to complete the Challenge, students are required to read the following number of books:

Northern Region Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all students who received a ribbon on the day and who have qualified for the Diocesan Swimming Carnival in Dubbo.

Our 4 relay teams finished 1st or 2nd and have qualified for the Diocesan swimming carnival.

Congratulations to Angus, Ruben and Charlotte, who were awarded an Age Champion Medal on the day.

Cross Country 2024

Students will arrive at school as normal, at 9:10 teachers will mark the roles and write ages on wrists. Races will run in the age group that students has/is turning this year.

Students are able to wear sports uniforms or appropriate house colours.

Reminder: please pack sunscreen, a water bottle and a school hat.

Primary students will make their way to Lawson Park, with teacher supervision, to Lawson Park at 9:20.  

Infant students will make their way to Lawson Park in class groups at 11:00.

12:10 all students return to school. 

Adam Coughlan

K-6 Sports Coordinator

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, so please do not ask). 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.

“Birthday Bucket” & “Classroom Cupcakes”

Alicia Cowden

Primary Canteen Manager

The Midford Uniform Shop is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8.00am to 4.00pm. 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.

Online orders for Primary will be delivered to the school office on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:30pm. Cut off time for ordering is 1.00pm.
Online orders for Secondary will be delivered to the school office on Wednesdays and Fridays at 9.00am. Cut off time for ordering is 3:30pm the day before.
Online orders for shop pick up - pick up only within the shop hours, please allow 1 hour after ordering for collection.

If you have any queries please contact the uniform shop directly:
Phone: 0439 442 509 or Email: st.matthews@midford.com.au