Dear Parents,

I wish all families a Happy Christmas and

New Year. As this is the last newsletter for

the year I begin by acknowledging the Year

6 children.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE YEAR 6

CHILDREN ON COMPLETING YOUR

PRIMARY EDUCATION. WE HOPE AND

PRAY THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS STRIVE TO

ACHIEVE AND DO THE BEST YOU CAN.

GOOD LUCK IN SECONDARY SCHOOL.

It has been an enormous pleasure to watch

the growth and development of the Year

6’s, not only during this year but, for many

of them, since they began as Prep children

seven years ago. As they leave us we wish

them well as they begin Secondary

Education. Good luck and thank you.

On behalf of the school community I wish

to express my sincere gratitude to the

following families who have their last child

with us in Year 6 and have been part of the

school for many years. My thanks for all

that you have contributed to our school:

Amoroso, Dalton, Douglas, Giano, Kiriazidis, Loffredo, Mazzocato, Mihailidis, Park, Prokos, Rostan-Herbert, Taouk, Tassone, Van Hecke, Watts and Wells-Jansz

I refer you to a wonderful quote which I

believe sums up our school year:

‘Today is not just another day. It’s a new

opportunity, another chance, a new

beginning, embrace it.’

This year we have endeavoured to make

every day a new beginning, a new chance

to explore, inspire and create new learning.

Our school theme this year was ‘What lifts me up.’ Every task, and unit of work

explored the concept that anything we

strive to do can be achieved.

In 2018, learning and teaching focused on

developing a culture of continuous

improvement. For teachers this has meant

that they needed to be seen as risk takers,

and have the courage and readiness to

explore and embrace evidence based

teaching through the collection of accurate

data to drive the implementation of

programs.

For taking the risk and providing a well -

balanced curriculum, I thank the teachers

for a job well done. I congratulate the

children for always doing their best and for

their enthusiasm in all that they do. I thank

the parents for your continuous support

and the generosity you have demonstrated

in the many things that have taken place at

St. Mary’s. I thank Father Shabin for the many

ways he continues to support our school.

I use the analogy of ‘The Tram’ with staff.

However, I know and realise that the

‘Tram’ can not move if not for the parents who

have supported us in the learning journey.

For your involvement we are very grateful.

In 2019, we look forward to new beginnings

and we give thanks to God for all that we

have and all that we endeavour to do.

Staffing Changes

It is with sadness that we say goodbye and good luck to Emma Cutler (Performing Arts). Emma has been on the staff for the past 3 years. Emma has produced 2 fantastic Musicals (Alice & Peter Pan) in her time with us. We wish her all the very best for the future.

Due to an increase in enrolments, we have added an extra class in 2019. We welcome Bethany Rees. Bethany is a graduate teacher who is very much looking forward to beginning her career at St. Mary's.

We welcome back from Maternity Leave Julia Lipinski and Renee Loprevite.

We welcome David Cenzato to our school. David is a very experienced Performing Arts teacher with his own theatre company.

After much consultation, time and effort

we have finalised classes for 2018.

Children and parents will be notified on

Tuesday 18th. These classes will not be

altered and are final. Please do not come

and see me to request a change as your

request will be denied. As you can

imagine we put enormous effort into this

and we are not prepared to make any

changes.

ST. MARY’S SCHOOL STAFF 2019

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Parish Priest

Fr. Shabin Kaniampuram

Principal

Dino De Propertis

Deputy Principal/Wellbeing/Student Services

Amanda Gill

Deputy Principal/ School Management

Jarrod Mullavey

Religious Education Leader

Sharen Maguire

Learning and Teaching Leader

Sharen Maguire

Numeracy Leader

Jarrod Mullavey

Literacy Leader

Emilie Owen

ICT Leader

Stephanie Sutherland

TEACHING STAFF

Year Prep C - Hayley Honan

Year Prep E - Emilie Owen

Year 1/2 B - Bethany Rees

Year 1/2 C - Jason Caruana

Year 1/2JR- Julia Lipinski/Renee Loprevite

Year 1/2 NT - Naomi Marron/ Tracey Long

Year 3/4 C - Carla Scobell

Year 3/4 TM - Tania Calabrese/Jarrod Mullavey

Year 4/5 A - Anne-Marie Winnell

Year 5/6 LC- Stephen Luckman/Amanda Caiafa

Year 5/6 S - Stephanie Sutherland

Library -Jane Grapas

Literacy Intervention - Victoria Failla

PE - Stephen Luckman

Performing Arts- David Cenzato

LOTE Italian - Irma Cimarosti

LOTE Mandarin - Bei Chen

Maths Intervention - Sandra Karnezis & Gae Lo Presti

Design Technology - Sally Erickson

ADMIN STAFF

Admin Officer - Margaret Marciano

Library Technician - Cheryl Griffin

Education Support Officers

Sarina Leptos

Vicki Prokos

Poppy Brennan

Viviane Lacey

Eileen Martoccia

Michelle Ray

Sophia Dimitropoulos

Reports will go home with your child on 18 December.

A REMINDER, SCHOOL WILL CONCLUDE FOR THE YEAR ON WEDNESDAY 19 DEC AT 1.30PM.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. I look very much forward to working with you in 2019. Let new adventures begin!

Dino

Dates to remember

January

February

March