Principal's Address

Dear Families,

Father's Day will be celebrated tomorrow at Stella Maris and on Sunday with families.

It will be a time to acknowledge the fathers and special males in each family. For others, it may be a time to reflect upon those no longer with us.

For those who have visited my office, you may have noticed a photo frame of a Collingwood jumper - which was given to me in honour of my father. Many students have asked me about the photo, even if they barrack for another AFL team.

Although I am proud of my Dad's achievements, it is not what I treasure most. As a young boy, I remember him farewelling me when going off to school camp. Often he was the only father present, after taking time off work. I also remember visiting the local park and kicking the football with Dad or playing tennis together. It's the time he spent with me that I remember and treasure the most.

I encourage fathers to visit our school and engage with their children as often as possible. Children appreciate your involvement at school as it validates the place they go to learn each day.

Wishing everyone a Happy Father's Day.

• Father's Day Stall 
• Father's Day Liturgy from 2:30pm
• Father's Day Footy Match
• Father’s Day Dinner & Drinks 

Art Show

Congratulations to our wonderful students and Mrs O'Sullivan (Art teacher) for our Art Show, held this week. It has been attended by a large of families with students keen to show off their work. Many have acknowledged the uniqueness of the work and how Mrs 'O' is able to channel the individuality of each student through the pieces of art. We also thank the parents that assisted with setting up; Year 6 students for helping to dismantle the work; St Bede's staff for kindly putting up the display boards; and to Lauren Stevenson who organised the hospitality for visiting parents on Tuesday.

Congratulations

Congratulations to the following Principal Award recipient:

• Week 7 - Kiri from Prep

Week Eight Update

Please watch the following video on Book Week and our Art Show:

Stella Maris Podcast - Episode 5

Click on the following link for Episode 5 of our student podcast

Our students are speaking about current and future events. It is really worth listening to.

Celebrating Australian National Flag Day

Today, our Year 5 and 6 students celebrated Australian National Flag Day and the flag’s 125th anniversary with a visit from the Hon Tim Wilson MP, Liberal Member for Goldstein.

Students have been researching the history and symbolism of the Australian flag. Its design was selected through a national competition following Federation in 1901. Five people submitted similar winning designs, including 14-year-old Melbourne schoolboy Ivor Evans.

The flag was first flown on 3 September 1901 at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, before Canberra became Australia’s capital. Ivor later lived and retired in Beaumaris, giving this important story a special connection to our local community.

We thank Mr Wilson for visiting and helping our students mark this historic occasion.

2027 Camps

You may have read that a number of Victorian primary schools may be reducing or cutting out school camps from 2027. A new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement has outlined a pay structure for staff to be paid a lump sum payment for each night spent on camp.

For larger schools who need a number of staff to attend, this will become unaffordable. The cost of the camps are expected to increase significantly for families with children in larger schools. At Stella Maris, will are a smaller school and able facilitate camps at a lower cost for families. 

Attendance on school camps provides a unique opportunity for students to grow independence and confidence. 

We will continue to offer camps for our students from Years 3 - 6. Please see below our 2027 camp program:

Year 3 - Zoo Snooze 30/11-1/12/2027

Year 4 - Angahook - 17/5-19/5/2027

Years 5/6 - Peninsula Outdoors School Camp - 15/2-18/2/2027 (date TBC shortly)/ Canberra is booked for 2028

TheirCare

TheirCare has provided supervision before and after school this term.

Whilst TheirCare will continue to provide afternoon supervision, they have decided to temporarily pause before school supervision due to a lack of numbers at the end of this term.

We encourage all families to register with the attachment below and utilise the service. For the long term viability, we will require a higher number of families to access the service.

School Advisory Council

Expressions of Interest — New Community Engagement Team

We are forming a new Community Engagement Team for Stella Maris Primary School and we are looking for passionate parents/carers who want to help our wonderful school shine!

Our focus will be on fresh ideas to:

• Strengthen connections within our school, parish and wider Bayside community

• Welcome new families across all year levels

• Get the Stella Maris name out there

We’ll be looking at everything from marketing and socials, to networking with local kinders and businesses, reconnecting with alumni, and growing community events — Christmas Carols, open days, playgroup and kinder trial mornings.

Whether you have skills in marketing, events, social media, or simply have lots of energy and great ideas — we would love to hear from you!

This is a fantastic way to get involved and help shape the future of our school.

Want to find out more? Please speak to Jen Willian or register your interest by emailing the office by the end of term - Friday 18th of September.

Thank you for your support.

Child Safety

Yesterday afternoon we received an arborist report - it showed that the tree in this photo has several points of high risk. For child safety reasons, we immediately cordoned off the area until we are able to make alterations to the tree to make it safe for the students.

Kitchen Garden 

As communicated previously, we will be constructing a kitchen garden on the Oval. Our students developed designs and submitted them to the office. A short-list of the student designs were passed onto our landscape gardener to be incorporated. See below the design with construction due to begin from Tuesday September 15. 

We envisage the garden being used for STEM, Science and Maths learning activities.

Thankyou again to our wonderful Parents and Friends who have raised the funds to produce the kitchen garden.

MACSSIS Surveys

Families, students and staff have been invited to participate in the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS).

MACSSIS provides our school with valuable feedback about the experiences of our community and helps guide our ongoing school improvement. 

Students in Years 4-6 will complete the survey during supervised sessions at school, while families and staff have received an email with a secure link and password to complete the survey online. Please let the office know if any families have not received their link.

Participation is completely voluntary, and all responses are treated securely and confidentially through the independent survey provider, ORIMA Research.

We strongly encourage our families to take the opportunity to share their feedback and help us continue to improve our school to be the best it can be.

Today and tomorrow, all students from Years 4-6 and the staff will have completed the survey.

Yesterday families have been sent a link to complete the survey. We are aiming to have ALL families complete the survey by September 18. Last we had only a small amount of surveys completed. 

Why should you complete the survey? The information was used at a previous Community Conversation evening and to provide ideas for staff planning. 

If 50 or more families complete the survey in the school, we will provide a free coffee to parents early in Term Four.

Open Day

On October 28, Stella Maris will be holding an Open Day session with the goal of attracting Preps for 2028 and beyond. In the last week of term, we will be doing a visit to all kinders in the surrounding area and dropping off showbags with fun and important information about our school. I thank our school Leadership Team and members of the School Advisory Council for their ideas to better promote our school.

Leave

I will be away for the last two weeks of Term Three on Long Service Leave to spend time with my family. Whilst I am away, Mrs Palombi will be Acting-Principal. Unfortunately I will not be able to stay after school for the football match (I am heading away on holidays tomorrow night) but I look forward to hearing all about it.

Please read the Religious Educations News about our Coats for a Cause activity held on Monday of this week. Helping our students and families to understand and empathise with the vulnerable in our society, is what makes us uniquely Catholic.

Simon Millar

Principal

#CourageAlways