Term 3, Week 7

Mini Marys has begun!

We have had our first session with our 2027 Preps for Mini Mary's! They will be back this week for another visit. It was wonderful to see them in our school and they already seem like they have been here forever!

Bully No Way Week- Small Acts, Big Impact

Last week we marked Bullying No Way Week in lots of different ways across St Mary’s.

Our students explored what it means to be an upstander—someone who speaks up, seeks help and supports others when something isn’t right. They even created their own superhero upstander masks as a reminder that we can all play a part in standing up against bullying!

A big focus for us is continuing to build students’ help-seeking skills. We are teaching students that when problems arise, the safest and most effective response is to seek help from a trusted adult rather than trying to manage or resolve the situation themselves.

By speaking up, getting help and looking out for one another, we can all help make St Mary’s a safe, respectful and supportive place for everyone.

School Review – Celebrating Our Strengths

Our St Mary’s School Review has now been completed, and we are very proud to share some of the positive feedback received through this process.

The review provided an opportunity to reflect deeply on our school, recognise the progress we have made and identify the strengths that make St Mary’s such a special community.

The reviewer highlighted a number of areas of strength:

A welcoming and inclusive Catholic culture that embraces diversity while maintaining a strong Catholic worldview and identity.
A strong leadership focus on teaching excellence, supported through the careful selection of resources, collaboration with MACS personnel and active participation in professional networks to drive ongoing improvement.
Staff who are committed to continually improving their practice through professional learning, collaboration and collegiality, with a shared commitment to ensuring all students flourish.
Whole-school alignment in curriculum delivery and evidence-based practice, creating greater consistency in learning and teaching across the school.
Well-resourced learning environments and expansive outdoor learning opportunities that support student learning, engagement and wellbeing.

This feedback is a wonderful affirmation of the work that has been undertaken across St Mary’s over the last 4 years, and, importantly, the collective commitment of our staff, students and families.

The review also provides recommendations that will help guide the next stage of our improvement journey and inform our future School Improvement Plan. We look forward to building on these strengths, continuing to set high expectations and identifying new opportunities for our students and school to grow.

I am incredibly proud of the progress we are making together and grateful to our staff, students and families for the important role each person plays in our community.

Our School Review has reinforced our commitment to creating a Catholic learning community where every student is known, valued and supported to flourish.

UNIFORM

At St Mary’s, we have high expectations for our students, and this includes wearing our school uniform correctly and with pride. Our uniform is an important part of our identity and reflects our PBL values, particularly Respect. Wearing the correct uniform shows respect for our school and helps students recognise that they are valued members of the St Mary’s community. Many members of the community know that I am not great at being the uniform police, and I rarely notice incorrect uniform- but on Friday I was very aware of the breaches of uniform as there were so many!

Recently, there has been some confusion regarding when sports uniform should be worn, particularly for some Year 5/6 students who have received mixed messages about wearing sports uniform on Fridays. To clarify, Friday is not a sports uniform day.

Sports uniform should only be worn on designated sports days or for special events when families have been notified:

Prep, Year 1 and Year 2: Tuesday
Years 3–6: Thursday

At all other times, students are expected to wear their full school uniform.

We have also noticed some students wearing items that are not part of the St Mary’s uniform, including shorts that are too short or are not in school colours. Bike shorts are not permitted to be worn as school uniform.

We ask families to please support us by ensuring students come to school in the correct uniform each day. We understand that occasionally life is busy or circumstances arise where the correct uniform cannot be worn. When this happens, please send a note or contact the school to let us know. We are always happy to help families access the uniform they may need for their children, in whatever way necessary.

We want our students to feel proud when they put on their St Mary’s uniform. It represents who we are as a community and reinforces our shared commitment to being Safe, Respectful and Responsible.

Thank you for your ongoing support in maintaining high expectations and encouraging our students to wear their St Mary’s uniform with pride.

Parent/Carer/Guardian Code of Conduct

Recently, I have been made aware of some inappropriate and negative comments regarding St Mary’s being shared on social media. As a result, I would like to remind all members of our community of the Parent/Carer/Guardian Code of Conduct, which forms part of the conditions of enrolment at St Mary’s.

We are very fortunate to have a supportive and positive school community, and this is not something I have needed to address previously. However, it is timely to remind everyone of our shared responsibility to communicate respectfully and appropriately, including online.

We understand that from time to time parents and carers may have questions, concerns or grievances regarding aspects of school life. We welcome these conversations and encourage families to raise concerns directly with the school and with the appropriate people, so that they can be heard, understood and addressed constructively. Publicly airing grievances or making inappropriate or harmful comments about the school, its staff, students or families on social media is not consistent with the expectations of our Code of Conduct.

I am incredibly grateful to the many families who continually support and promote St Mary’s within our wider community and who, when concerns arise, approach us directly and respectfully. Open and constructive communication allows us to work together, resolve concerns and continue making St Mary’s the best possible school for every child and family.

Our school is here to support every member of our community, and maintaining a culture of respect, partnership and open communication is something we all share responsibility for.

All school policies are accessible on our webpage (button below).

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