Principal News
How quickly Term 4 is flying by! With just over three weeks left of school, we have a lot to get done to finalise this year and plan for 2025. We have talked to the students about the importance of being patient and cooperative, especially now as everyone is so busy and getting tired.
New Families
In recent weeks, a number of new families have enrolled their children at St Mary’s for the last part of this year or from Term 1 2025. We welcome Sriyan T, Adeline M, Patterson M, Hadley M, Nyguen T, Aiden WV, Faith WV and their families and trust that they will enjoy their time in our beautiful school community.
If you are aware of any other families considering moving their children to St Mary’s for 2025, please urge them to make contact with Annette or Cathy early next week. We already have waiting lists for some classes.
Swimming Program
Our whole school swimming program is once again proving to be very successful. The students' confidence has grown and their swimming abilities have improved greatly in just a few weeks. Thank you to Mrs Grant for organising the entire program, the staff for walking the students back and forth and supervising them at the pool and back at school. A special thank you to our wonderful swimming coaches, Mrs Grant, Mrs Connaugton, Mrs Durnan and Mrs White for their huge commitment to teaching swimming groups all day. They use a lot of sunscreen and look a bit tired on Friday afternoons!
Thank you to our School Community Council for donating money to the school, to employ casual teachers to replace our swimming coaches. We are very fortunate to have such a high quality and affordable swimming program for our St Mary’s families.
2025 Kindergarten
It was wonderful to meet all the 2025 Kindergarten students last week during their first Orientation morning and we look forward to seeing them again next Thursday November 28 for their second one. Next week, the children will meet their Year 6 Buddies who will help the Kinders settle into school next year. Our Year 6 Buddy Program is a special part of our school and something we are very proud of.
Kinder 2025 Information Evening
On Monday December 2 at 6pm we will be hosting an information session for parents of children starting Kindergarten. The evening will provide information about expectations, details of the daily routine and school programs. It is also an opportunity for parents to meet some key staff who will be working with their child.
Classes 2025
Having experienced much success this year, with our Direct Instruction in Reading, Spelling and Mathematics, we have committed to continue the same model in 2025. Schools have been directed by Catholic Education to do everything they can to limit distractions to learning and focus on what matters most in education. We will therefore be keeping our 4 day 9 - 12:30 pm structure of uninterrupted Literacy and Numeracy.
Students will be grouped in Mastery classes at their level of learning in each area. To keep the groups as small as possible, we have committed funds to employ additional staff for Reading, Spelling and Mathematics.
In the afternoons and on Fridays, the students will be placed in their home classes for other Key Learning Areas.
We have begun the process of placing students into Home classes for 2024. These decisions are based on what we believe are in the best interests of the students and their social and academic development. Students will be asked to nominate a couple of learning partners (classroom friends) that they would like to be with next year. Every student will have at least one learning partner in their Home class.
If you have any questions or concerns about classes for next year, please feel free to email me or pop in for a chat with Sue or myself in the next couple of weeks. We will do everything we can to set all of our students up for success.
I am pleased to announce the Home Class teachers for 2025:
Kindergarten -Mrs Alicia Hampson
Year 1 - Mrs Bec Brady (transfer from St Bernard’s for 2025)
Year 2- Mrs Genevieve Schofield
Year 3 -Mrs Carla Durnan
Year 4 - Mr James Campbell and Mrs Jess Afflick
Year 5B - Mrs Megan Grant
Year 5M Mr Matthew Harpley
Year 6 - Ms Allison Lock
RFF- Mr Paul Hill
Mrs Jessie White will be working as our Classroom Support Teacher and teaching in the Kinder/ Year 1 space when their teachers require release for planning and assessments.
Front Office
Mrs Annette Hazell
Mrs Cathy Smith (2 days)
Classroom Support Assistants
Mrs Shellie Butler
Mr Dom Ziino
Mrs Janet Ryan
Mrs Brooke Connuaghton
Mrs Cathy Smith
As you are aware, Mrs Jo Mathews will be resigning from St Marys at the end of this school year.
Mr Justin Bateman and Mrs Fran Devonald will be taking a break from teaching at St Mary’s in 2025. I know the students and staff will miss them both greatly and be excited to see them back in 2026.
After school arrangements
We have noticed over the last couple of weeks that there is a growing number of students who walk/ride bikes downtown after school on certain days. We are concerned about safety, especially around riding bikes on footpaths and across roads. I urge parents to let teachers know if there are any changes to afternoon arrangements. e.g. if your child normally catches the bus home, please let us know if you give them permission to walk downtown after school one day. We just need to be sure that your children are safe and that parents know their whereabouts after school. Please also remind your children that when wearing their St Mary’s school uniform, they are representing our school and their behaviour reflects our school. Thank you for your support with this.
School Leadership 2025
Finally, this weekend I will have the pleasure of reading over our Year 5 students’ applications for School leadership at St Marys in 2025. I look forward to ‘interviewing’ the students who have nominated themselves for the School Leader positions early next week. On Friday November 29 School Leader Speeches will be held in the PAC. Parents are most welcome to join us. Those students who wish to be considered for House Leader positions will speak to their House peers at a different time that day. Mr Bateman has developed a very fancy electronic voting system for the students. Please tell your children just to be themselves!
Recently we heard that there was a concern about the timing of the announcement of our school leadership positions. We believe that it is important to announce them publicly at our Award Nights, but we are happy to let the students know beforehand to prevent disappointment on the night. Our Annual Awards Night is a very special occasion for our school community to celebrate a successful year of learning. We made the decision to have it in the evening to allow all working parents to attend. Thanks to our School Community Council for supporting our families for the Pizza night following the Awards. The Community Council and the school received very positive feedback after last year’s event. More information about our Annual Awards Night will be coming home shortly. Please mark the evening of Thursday December 5 on your calendars, put your Pizza orders in when requested and have a night off cooking!! Hopefully the weather will be as perfect as it was last year.
We pray for peace and justice in the world. We pray for the people of Palestine; that next week’s United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People reinforces their hope for a homeland of peace. May Mary our mother protect all of the children in the world.
God Blessings on your families
Mrs Noeleen O'Neill
Principal