National Science Week 2025
Next week, we are looking forward to celebrating National Science Week. Science Week runs from 9-17 August and is a fantastic time to spark curiosity and wonder across all year levels. This year’s theme is “Decoding the Universe – Exploring the unknown with nature’s hidden language.”  The theme invites students and teachers to delve into the mysteries of the Universe by exploring the fundamental languages of nature, including mathematics and the groundbreaking field of quantum science. On Wednesday afternoon, students will have the opportunity to participate in a science activity of their choice.  In mixed Kindergarten to Year 6 groups, students will engage in a variety of fun, hands-on science experiences that encourage them to think like scientists - asking questions, making predictions, and exploring the fascinating patterns and mysteries of the natural world. It's sure to be a week full of discovery and excitement!

Jollybops Science Show 
We’re excited to be hosting the Jollybops Science Show later in the term. Jollybops will be visiting St Mary’s on Tuesday, 9 September.  Students in Kinder - Year 2 will take part in ‘Move and Groove with Energy’ and students in Years 3-6 will view ‘The Big Chemistry Show’.
These interactive and entertaining shows bring science to life through fun experiments, colourful demonstrations, and lots of laughter. We can’t wait to see our students  inspired and amazed by the wonder of science!

Public Speaking
This week, a number of students proudly represented St Mary’s in the Southern Region Public Speaking Competition, hosted by St Joseph’s Bombala via video link. I had the privilege of watching the Year 3 and 4 presentations on Wednesday and was incredibly impressed by the confidence, clarity, and preparation shown by all students.

Our finalists were:

Year 3: Olivia L and Quinn A
Year 4: Maisie B and Harriet W
Year 5: Fergus P and Tommy D
Year 6: Tessa H and Matilda W

A huge congratulations to Olivia L, Harriet W and Tommy D, who were the winners of their respective categories, and to Quinn A and Matilda W who were awarded runner-up. These students will now compete at the Archdiocesan level on Friday 12 September. We are so proud of all students who participated and represented our school with pride!

Book Week
Excitement is building as we move closer to another Book Week! The Children’s Book Council of Australia theme for 2025 is “Book an Adventure,” inviting us all to embrace the wonder, imagination and adventure that books can bring. One of the highlights will be our Book Week Parade, where students are encouraged to dress up as a favourite book character. There is already plenty of talk about costumes, and we look forward to celebrating the magical worlds we can explore through a good book. The Book Parade will be held on Monday 18 August at 9:00am in the PAC, followed later in the day by our annual Book Week Trivia at 12:30pm. This fun event sees students working in mixed-age groups, competing to answer questions based on popular literature, picture books and class novels that have been the focus of their learning over the past few terms. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Jessica Afflick
Assistant Principal (Acting)