Dear Parents and Carers 

What a term it has been! We’ve shared many highlights, from excursions to the Swimming and Cross Country Carnival, the Welcome Barbeque and Disco, and our Easter celebrations—not to mention the wonderful learning happening across all year levels.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our families for the many ways you have supported St Mary’s this term. Your involvement and encouragement make a real difference in our school community. Thank you also goes to the incredible staff of St Mary’s. Your dedication, hard work, and commitment to teaching do not go unnoticed. We are so fortunate to have a team that consistently goes above and beyond for our students.

Finally, to our students—thank you for your

enthusiasm, effort, and commitment to learning. Each week, as I visit classrooms, I am inspired by your engagement and willingness to grow. Just last week, I was speaking with a couple of Year 4 students about their day. When I asked how it had been, they both responded, “Great!” Curious, I asked what had made it so good. One student shared how much they had learned that morning, while the other spoke about how much they were enjoying Spelling Mastery. Moments like these truly highlight the joy of learning at St Mary’s.

It is our students who make our school such a special place! I feel incredibly blessed to be part of the St Mary’s community and look forward to all that Term 2 will bring.

On Tuesday we celebrated the Combined Schools’ Mass with Carroll College and St Bernard’s Primary School Batemans Bay. In the Year of Pilgrims of Hope, it was lovely to celebrate 30 years for the College and share in the growth of our students as they transition from Primary School to Secondary School. I congratulate the staff and students at Carroll College, St Bernard’s and St Mary’s for their coordination of the Mass. A great week of celebration for our K-12 schools!

Prayers
We continue to keep Mrs Sue Heffernan in our prayers following the loss of her father and we keep Mr Matt Harpley in our prayers following his dad passing away this week.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon him. May Laurence rest in peace.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Sacrament of Reconciliation
Congratulations to all our students receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, next Thursday 10 April. This is an important part of each students’ faith journey as they are strengthening their relationship with God. Fr George will lead the students through the Sacrament at 5.00pm at Sacred Heart Church. It is our Catholic identity that unites us. I warmly invite all families to join with us in celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Special thanks to all involved in preparing the children to receive this Sacrament, especially Mrs Ziegler, Mrs Durnan and Mrs Afflick. 

Communication
Parents and community members play a vital role in our students' education. Open communication serves as a bridge to engagement, strengthening the partnership between home and school. Effective communication is a shared responsibility, and we encourage parents to stay informed and keep teachers updated on any relevant information about their child’s learning.

If you have any questions, concerns, or updates to share, we encourage you to email your child's teacher as the first point of contact. Your insights are important, and we look forward to working together to support your child’s academic growth. If a meeting is needed, please reach out via email, and your child's teacher will arrange a suitable time.

Please note that teachers are unable to respond to emails during the school day while they are teaching. For urgent matters, please contact the front office at (44742 817).

Exciting News: Our Library is Moving!
We are thrilled to share that our school library is moving to a bigger and better space! This new location will allow us to offer an even richer learning environment, with more room for books, reading areas, and engaging activities for our students.

As part of this move, we are also expanding our collection of books, ensuring even more wonderful reading opportunities for our students. From Term 2, all students will have the opportunity to visit the Library every Friday. In addition, the library will be open on some lunchtimes as a quiet and welcoming space for students to enjoy.

We are working hard to ensure everything is ready for the start of the new term, and we can’t wait for our students to experience their new library. Please see below some photos of how our new library is progressing!

We look forward to sharing this exciting new space with our school community soon!

Bus Travel
For students who catch the bus, we ask parents to continue reinforcing positive behaviour expectations. It is important that all St Mary’s students follow our school rules while on the bus. This ensures the safety of everyone on board, including the driver. As representatives of St Mary’s in the wider community, our students’ respectful behaviour makes a real difference. Thank you for your support in encouraging safe and considerate bus travel.

Catholic Schools’ Week
Our Catholic schools continually strive to be inclusive places and have an education model that promotes a partnership between individuals, communities and governments based on the principles of equity, needs, access, social justice and religious freedom. Our schools strive for strong partnerships with the Parishes they serve. All families are invited to discover the hope, joy and wonder of our Catholic Schools.

At St Mary’s we have a holistic approach to educating children to become adults who personify Catholic values and serve their communities.

During Catholic Schools’ Week, our students will be involved in the following:

• Year 7 Information Night at Carroll College: Monday 5 May
• St Bernard’s Open Day for Kindergarten 2026: Tuesday 6 May
• Feast of the Ascension Thursday 8 May
• Year 5 & 6 visit Carroll College on Friday 9 May to celebrate Carroll Day
• Mothers' Day Breakfast and Liturgy; Friday 9 May

As we approach the end of Term 1, please note the following key dates:

• Thursday 10 April – Final day of Term 1 for students.

• Friday 11 April – All staff will participate in First Aid Training (student-free day).

• Monday 28 April – Professional Learning Day for all teaching staff (student-free day).

• Tuesday 29 April – Term 2 begins for all students.

Enjoy a safe and holy Easter. Thank you to our wonderful community and for all that you do everyday!

Blessings on the week ahead.

Kind regards
Jo

Mrs Johanna Wain
Principal 

What’s Happening in Year 1?

It has been an exciting and action-packed Term in Year 1! Students have settled beautifully into our classroom routines, and they are working so well across all curriculum areas.

In Religious Education, students have been learning about meditative prayer, participating in daily Christian Meditation, as well as learning about ‘Dadirri’ (meaning ‘deep listening’). This is an Aboriginal form of meditation, with a focus on the natural world around us. Students have also been learning about choices, discussing right and wrong choices and evaluating the impact of our choices on our relationships with others. This week, Year 1 joined students from St Mary’s and our Pathway Schools, St Bernard’s and Carroll College, to participate in our annual Combined Catholic Schools Mass at Carroll College. It was a beautiful morning and Year 1 are to be commended on their participation and respectful behaviour throughout the Mass and the ensuing morning tea.

In English, students have been learning about the structure of simple and compound sentences. Students have been applying their learning to compose sentences containing a ‘who?’ (a subject) and a ‘what doing?’ (a verb predicate). Students have then been encouraged to expand their sentences by adding a when or where detail, an adjective (a describing word), or a conjunction (a joining word). Students take great delight in drafting their sentences on whiteboards before publishing their edited work into their lined writing books.

Mathematics lessons have seen some very clever work produced, with students using number bonds to complete addition and subtraction equations. Students have also been learning about the properties of 2D shapes and the workings of analogue clocks through participation in daily review, explicit lessons and independent practice.

Geography lessons have been designed to explore various habitats. Students were highly engaged in their lesson on water habitats, in which Mr Nolan taught us the dhurga names for several local sea creatures. Yr 1 also enjoyed creating a camping plan for the Three Bears!

We have been studying Biology in Science, with a particularly memorable lesson on ‘tardigrades’. Students enjoyed making a tardigrade model out of playdough!

PDHPE lessons are always a favourite in Year 1. Students have been learning about water safety with Mr Hill, as well as participating in Gross Motor rotations each Friday. Each session students are asked to put one of our four school rules into action as they participate in the activities.

Last Friday was met with much excitement as Year 1 braved the elements to complete their cross country run at Gundary Oval. Congratulations to all our competitors!

Finally, in Creative and Performing Arts, students have enjoyed participating in imaginative play scenarios with Ms Shannon, as well as producing some very impressive artworks using a variety of media during Visual Arts lessons each Thursday.

We are looking forward to the final week of Term 1, where Year 1 will take time to explore the traditions, teachings and craft making practices surrounding the very special time of Easter! We wish all our families a happy, safe and holy Easter break.

Mrs Rebecca Brady
Year 1 Teacher