At St Mary's we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school.

We acknowledge the Yaluk-ut Weelam clan of the Boonwurrung – as the Traditional Owners of Port Phillip, the land where St Mary’s is situated, and we pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their Elders, both past, present and future.

IMPORTANT - RETURNING IN 2022

If your circumstances have changed and your child is not returning next year and you haven't let the school know, please email me as soon as possible. As enrolment patterns influence staffing and class numbers. (cathy.ferrari@smstkildaeast.catholic.edu.au)

The pace around school and in the wider Melbourne world is really stepping up as we head towards the end of Term 4, with Christmas around the corner. We have welcomed our 2022 Prep students and their families for two orientation days. It is wonderful to meet our new students and we look forward to getting to know each of them. They have had two very settled sessions with Miss Jacquie and we look forward to a third session next Monday 29th November, where they will meet their new buddies and do some activities with them. Thank you to the parents who supported Kasia with the uniform stall and it was great to see many 'old' and 'new' people doing their uniform shopping.

Sacraments of Confirmation & Eucharist

Last week our Year 6 students and parish students celebrated their Sacrament of Confirmation and last night our Year 3 students and parish students celebrated their First Eucharist. We thank Father Jerome, Bernadette, Chelsea, Clare, Rosemary and Kat (Confirmation), Catherine, Katie and Rosemary (Eucharist) for preparing the students so well for these special prayerful Sacramental milestones. Our Religious Education Leader Maureen has worked tirelessly behind the scenes with all of the organisation to ensure all of this ran effortlessly. We thank her for her dedication and hard work to support each child, family and staff member.

Important dates

The support from families in regards to our change of dates at the end of this term has been overwhelming and we thank you for this. Please note the date changes and upcoming dates on the Calendar of Events section within this newsletter. Whilst it is important to uphold traditions we are also trying to work around school Covid guidelines. Therefore to gather and celebrate as a community on Thursday 9th December we are going to have Mass in the Church at 5:00pm, then we will walk across to the main playground for a picnic. The dress code will be a touch of Christmas and the evening will conclude at 7:00pm. There may even be a special visitor......An invitation is on the way. Please note in line with child safety and the Child Safe Standards this will be an alcohol free event, thank you for your understanding.

Advent 2022

Advent commences this Sunday as part of the liturgical year. This is always one of my favorite times. Our Year 6 leaders will share advent with us each week at assembly, as we learn about the advent candles of hope, love, joy and peace. Please read more about this further on in the newsletter from Mrs Maureen McDonald our Religious Education Leader.

Christmas Appeal 2022

As I mentioned in our last newsletter our Year 6 Social Justice Leaders; Audrey, Lydia, Elli-Grace and Milly met with Margaret and Sr Barbara from St Vincent de Paul and have designed a promotional flier for the community advertising this year's Christmas Appeal. The leaders will introduce the appeal at assembly this week and visit classes in the next few days. The St Vincent de Paul Conferences help many families at Christmas time as well as throughout the year. Please see the Community page for the informative and engaging flier the leaders have designed.

2022 Information

This year has allowed many people to make changes to their lives be it moving interstate, secure work closer to home or follow a new direction. A few families within our community have moved to regional areas, moved suburbs and with the Melbourne Lockdowns and border restrictions, fewer families have moved into the St Kilda East area. Next year we will have ten classes and these will be based on the main campus, where we can all enjoy the refurbishment. Art and Italian and other sessions will be held on the Senior Campus.

Next year the classes will consist of:

Prep, Yr 1, Yr 2 ,Yr 2, Yr 3, Yr 3, Yr 4, Yr 5 , Yr 5 and Yr 6.

We also farewell the following staff members at the end of the year; Caroline Egan (Art Teacher), Katie Bryan (3B) and Chelsea Roche (6R). We wish them all the best with their new schools and thank them for all they have done for St Mary's during their time with us.

Our Meet and Greet on Friday 10th December 11:30-1:00pm will give students the opportunity to meet their new teachers for 2022.

Next year our Year 6 students will participate in a new leadership program in Term One. Finding the light within each student is the leadership model that St Mary's can offer our senior students, as they lead our school in many ways from leading assembly, promoting their portfolio within the community and creating and enacting events/activities throughout the year. We will be introducing a new Year 6 2022 St Mary's Rugby Jumper that will be worn next year. We thank all those who completed the google surveys and from the responses from students, families and staff we have opted for the navy collar. Please see the design below. We are excited to be offering this to our school leaders and also thank the P & F for their support of this new initiative and Janelle Adams for working with the supplier and designer.

Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you.

Mrs Cathy Ferrari

TheirCare Program