Welcome to Week 9.  On Friday, 33 St Mary’s students travelled to Temora as part of the school’s western region athletics team. Congratulations to all students on the exemplary behaviour and conduct they exhibited. It was great to experience the immense support all students gave to their fellow classmates as they competed. It made me very proud to be principal of such a supportive and thoughtful school. Thank you also to Bree Taylor who accompanied the team. There were a number of fabulous personal achievements that will be outlined later in the newsletter.    

On Wednesday this week we will welcome Philippa Brearley to St Mary’s. Philippa is the Performance Improvement Leader for our school. You would remember Brad Gaynor who became a familiar face at St Mary’s toward the end of 2023. Philippa has taken on Brad’s role as he enjoys some well-earned Long Service Leave. I am sure we will make Philippa feel welcome and we look forward to her joining our school community.  

Thursday will see the 2025 kinder parents take part in a tour of the school’s facilities and grounds. This will be a great opportunity to show off our fabulous school and meet and greet potential parents of St Mary’s. The tour will begin at 9:30 in the staffroom and finish back in the staffroom with morning tea. The tour will include an information session and presentation from the school leadership team in the school’s library. We look forward to meeting the new members of our St Mary’s community. A reminder, if you are wishing to enrol your child at St Mary’s in 2025, please visit our school website for enrolment details. Having correct enrolment numbers is important as we are currently in discussions with the Catholic Education office in Canberra in regards to our class structure for 2025.   

Helen Bramanathan from the Catholic Education Office visited our school last Tuesday. She spent time in each class teaching staff and students about Christian Meditation. The students have embraced this meditative practice in our school and are enjoying their Christian Meditation time each day after lunch.

On Friday students reports will become available via compass. These reports are based on an A - E scale for students from Year One to Year Six while Kindergarten reports use the achievement descriptors ‘above expectations’, ‘meeting expectations’, ‘working towards expectations’ and ‘experiencing difficulty’. To make it easier to understand, simply view a ‘C’ as your child is meeting expectations. Included with this report is a section on the general capabilities the children have been developing as they work with others, as well as how they live out the school’s mission behaviours of ‘Respect’, ‘Resilience’, ‘Compassion’, Commitment’ and ‘Courage’. Should you wish to discuss your child’s report with your child’s teacher, you will be provided with this opportunity in Week 10 at our parent conferences. Please check compass to book your times, these times will become available on Friday.

This week’s newsletter will feature our awesome Year 5/6 students!!

Remember my door is always open.

Acting Principal

Damian Collins