Principal's News

Welcome to Term 4!

Prayer to begin Term 4

Dear God,

As we step into the final term of the year, we thank You for bringing us safely through the months gone by.

Please bless our school community as we begin Term 4. 

For our students: Give them fresh energy, open minds, and the focus they need to finish the year strong. Surround them with your peace when they feel tired or anxious. 

For our teachers and staff: Fill them with patience, strength, and joy. Thank you for their dedication and care as they guide our children day by day.

For our families: Grant us unity, understanding, and grace at home so we can support one another through a busy season. 

Help us to treat each other with kindness, respect, and love in all that we do. 

In Your name, we pray.

Amen.

Term 4! 

Welcome back to everyone for Term 4! We are excited to hit the ground running for another busy and fun-filled term at St Mary’s.

As the year moves forward, I think it is important to remind everyone that our focus on learning, high expectations and making every day count continues right through until the end of the school year. While Term 4 brings plenty of exciting events, celebrations and opportunities to come together as a community, there is also a great deal of important learning still to take place.

Our teachers have carefully planned learning programs for the term, and we expect all students to continue arriving at school ready to learn, participate and give their best.

 Maintaining strong routines around attendance, punctuality, uniform and behaviour is just as important in Term 4 as it was at the beginning of the year.

We are incredibly proud of the positive shift we have seen across the school this year through our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) approach. Our shared expectations of being Safe, Respectful and Responsible continue to guide the way we learn, play and interact with one another. Consistency between school and home makes an enormous difference, and we thank our families for continuing to reinforce these expectations with their children.

Term 4 is also a wonderful time to reflect on just how much our students have grown throughout the year. For some, particularly our Year 6 students, it marks the final chapter of their primary school journey, while our Mini Mary’s children continue preparing for the exciting beginning of theirs.

There is plenty ahead of us before we reach the end of 2026, and we look forward to another term filled with learning, growth, celebration and connection.

Welcome back, everyone — let’s make Term 4 a fantastic one!

Hats  On & Summer Uniform 

With the warmer weather returning, a reminder that Term 4 means hats are back on! Students are required to wear their St Mary’s school hat when outside during recess, lunch and outdoor activities. By the start of Week 2, ALL students must have a hat to play outside. 

Term 4 also marks the return to summer uniform. We ask families to please ensure students are wearing the correct school uniform each day and that all items are clearly named. Please ensure this is ready by the start of Week 2. 

Thank you for helping our students start Term 4 looking smart, sun-safe and ready to learn!

Community Use of Our Basketball Court 🏀⛹🏻‍♀️⛹🏼‍♂️

We have recently received a few enquiries from local basketball teams interested in using our school court for training. We are very happy to support our local community by making our facilities available where possible.

To help us coordinate bookings and avoid any double ups, we ask that all requests to use the basketball court are made through the school office at office@smhastings.catholic.edu.au.

Celebrating Our Learning

At the end of Term 3, we were delighted to welcome our families into St Mary’s for our Term 3 Learning Celebration.

It was wonderful to see our classrooms filled with parents, carers and special people as our students proudly shared the learning they had been working on throughout the term. From completed projects and displays to books, activities and conversations about their learning, our students loved having the opportunity to show just how much they had achieved.

These celebrations are an important opportunity for our students to develop confidence and pride in their learning, while also giving families a glimpse into the wonderful work happening in our classrooms every day.

Thank you to all of our families who joined us and, most importantly, congratulations to our students for the enthusiasm and pride they showed when sharing their achievements. A big thank you also goes to our teachers and staff for the work they put into creating engaging learning experiences throughout the term.

We are already looking forward to seeing where our learning takes us in Term 4!