Happy Holidays!

What an amazing term it has been.

It has certainly been a busy one, with so much happening across our school and so much to celebrate. With that in mind, I think the holidays have arrived at a very good time for our whole community!

The break is a great opportunity for everyone to reset, recharge and enjoy some time together, particularly as the weather starts to warm up and we head into AFL finals time.

There have been so many highlights throughout the term, and I want to thank all of our families for their continued support of St Mary’s. It really is a fantastic community and a wonderful school to be part of.

I hope everyone has a safe, relaxing and enjoyable holiday break, and we look forward to seeing everyone back refreshed and ready for Term 4.

Aladdin Jnr

It is hard to put into words just how proud we are of our students following yesterday’s performances of Aladdin Junior.

Both the matinee and evening show exceeded all expectations. We were absolutely blown away by the confidence, energy and professionalism of our students. The standard of the performance was incredible, and it was so special to see every child in our school have the opportunity to be part of something so memorable.

A production of this scale takes an enormous amount of work behind the scenes. A huge thank you to our Production Manager, Nicole Everett, whose expertise, professionalism and commitment brought the entire show together. We are incredibly fortunate to have had Nicole leading the production.

Thank you also to Miss M and her amazing costume team, particularly Annie and Anna, for the countless hours spent creating every costume from scratch. The result was extraordinary. To Michelle Perpina and the props team, thank you for bringing Agrabah to life through your creativity and hard work, and to Vanessa Gooden for the enormous role she played supporting our students throughout rehearsals and performances.

A special thank you also to Ev Whatmore, who was a constant support throughout the entire process and played a huge role in bringing all the moving parts together. Ev was also brilliantly supported along the way by Zara in Year 6, who became a superb assistant throughout the production. Zara helped with logistics, organisation and countless other jobs behind the scenes, always willing to jump in wherever she was needed. What an incredible contribution from one of our senior students.

To our entire St Mary’s staff, thank you. Productions require an incredible team effort, and it is all the little things behind the scenes that make a night like this possible.

We are also very grateful to St Leonard’s for allowing us to use their beautiful theatre and for the support they provided throughout the day.

Thank you to our sponsors, Imbeco Group, Stage Door Academy and Amanda McBride Photography, as well as Mark and Rashani from Pino’s Mercado for looking after our staff on such a busy day.

To our families, thank you for your support, encouragement and enthusiasm throughout the entire production.

And finally, to our students – you were simply outstanding. We love providing opportunities for our students to shine, and yesterday was certainly one of those occasions. We hope Aladdin Junior is a memory that stays with you for many years to come.

We had Videographers there last night and the performance will be available to purchase. For Pre ordering please follow the below link to purchase.

Video Purchase

We are still buzzing!

Sacrament of First Eucharist

Last Saturday, our Year 4 and Year 5 students celebrated the Sacrament of First Eucharist.

It was genuinely one of the most reverent celebrations I have witnessed during my time in education. Our students approached the occasion with such respect, maturity and faith, and we could not have been prouder of them.

A sincere thank you to Father Martin for leading the celebration, to Ed Simpson and our staff for their preparation and support, and to all of our families for making the occasion so special.

Congratulations to all of our students who received the Sacrament of First Eucharist.

Year 5 Camp

Last week, I was fortunate enough to join our Year 5 students for camp at Forest Lodge.

What an experience!

We were blessed with fantastic weather, and our students were absolutely outstanding throughout the camp. They were respectful, positive and willing to challenge themselves. They gave everything a go, supported one another and embraced every opportunity that came their way.

A huge thank you to Grant Douglas, Shona Fitzsimmons, Dillon Trower and Georgie Bevenuto for giving their time and energy to attend camp and support our students throughout the experience.

There were plenty of laughs, challenges and happy memories created across the camp.

Term 4 Uniform Requirements

A reminder that we move into our summer uniform from the beginning of Term 4.

Students are expected to wear the correct summer uniform.

Students are also required to wear black leather school shoes.

Hats are compulsory from the very first day of Term 4. Our No Hat, No Play expectation will be strictly enforced, so please ensure your child has their St Mary’s hat ready for the beginning of the term.

Thank you for your support in ensuring our students continue to wear our uniform with pride.

Student Success

As always, we love hearing about and celebrating the wonderful things our students achieve outside of school.

Congratulations to Zara, whose team won the Under 13 Bayside District Netball Association Championship. To make the achievement even more impressive, Zara was also awarded Best on Court. What a fantastic effort!

Well done also to Griffin and Will, who were both named Players of the Season for Racing Rugby Club. Will received the award for the Under 12s and Griffin for the Under 8s. An awesome achievement by both boys.

Finally, a big shout-out to Anteo, who recently completed his Grade 1 Piano examination with the Australian Music Examinations Board.

We love celebrating the many different talents and achievements of our St Mary’s students.

Welcome New Students

Over the past few weeks, we have been delighted to welcome two new students to our Year 3 community, Lucinda and Zoe.

We hope both girls have enjoyed their first few weeks at St Mary’s and are already feeling very much at home.

Next term, we are also excited to welcome the Gard family to our community, with Ivy joining Year 3 and Pia joining Year 1.

We look forward to welcoming them to St Mary’s and hope they have a wonderful start to their time with us.

Steele

Important Dates