From the Principal 

Dear Families 

A warm welcome back to Term 4. All the children seemed to have grown taller over the break and everyone looks relaxed, rested and ready to go for an action packed last Term of the Year! Congratulations to our Brisbane supporters and commiserations to our Cat fans!

Mr Millane and I did a great deal of work around the school and planning in preparation for this Term and next Year. We have many exciting initiatives that we are exploring! Our gardens continue to look stunning and make a positive difference to each day. Spring is so invigorating after Winter and hopefully we can enjoy more days, like today and yesterday.  Please take a moment to enjoy them at drop off or pick up.    

Last Sunday, we thank Holly and Louisa and the team that supported them for working at our first Bunnings BBQ in Port Melbourne. Thank you to Paula for securing a date. The team had an especially early morning start with the commencement of Daylight Savings!  It was a huge effort and raised funds will go towards the much needed upgrade of Interactive Panels in our classrooms. Now that we have our beautiful bright learning spaces the projectors need updating. All funds raised on Sunday, at our St Mary’s Family Day on Saturday 15th November and next Year will go towards upgrading each classroom. 

Prep 2026 

This evening we welcome our Prep 2026 families, as they begin their Orientation to commence school next Year. Thank you to Father Jerome, Jacqui (Chair of the School Advisory Council), Jeremy, Holly, Mel (P & F Executive) James Millane, Ms Erica and of course Daniela Borgese and Rosemary Perri for supporting this evening. We know our new families will experience our amazing St Mary’s family first hand. When I pop in and out of Prep, our students look very grown up and to see their independence with their learning and as they move about the school is wonderful.

Italian Day - Monday 13th October 

Please refer to the Deputy Principal page for a detailed outline of the day. Please join us for our special assembly on Monday morning at 9:05am - 10:00am upstairs in the Flexi-space, where the students will share some special presentations with us. We will all be transported to Italia! Thank you for all the work and organisation that Signora Vozzo has put into Italian Day 2025. Thank you also to our P & F members for helping with the pizzas and gelatos! Our soccer players are going to have the best day! 

P & F Updates 

Our hard working team met on Tuesday afternoon to organise our upcoming events for this Term. As always their hard work and enthusiasm, led by Jez is contagious. Please mark Saturday 15th November 'St Mary’s Family Day', in your diary. There will be loads of fun filled activities for the family! Whilst we are having fun, we will be raising funds for the Interactive Panel for our classroom. Personally I can't wait for the Children’s Art Auction,  St Mary’s Got Talent, the St Mary’s Dog Show and lots more! If you are able to donate items for the raffle, that would be much appreciated or give an hour to help at a stall. If we could have all donations by the end of this month that would be wonderful. They can be dropped into Ms Erica in the office. If you have some connections to businesses that may donate to this day, please pick up a donation letter from the office. We are really excited about this day, that will be a grown up and kids day and next year we will have an evening parent function as our major fundraiser. 

Next Thursday is our School Disco from 5:30-7:30pm in the Specialist Campus. This is always a great night. Prep families are welcome to drop in and have a look, however unless you are working at the Disco we encourage families from Year 1 to Year 6 to drop their children off at the back gate. Mr Millane and I will mark them off, before they enter the Shiny, Glitter and  Sparkle themed Disco. 

In regards to parking, could we ask parents to drop off at the roundabout near the Presbytery and then drive through the driveway. Parking is no longer permissible on the Basketball Courts due to their disrepair. The council is upgrading the courts over January and I will share further information about this later this Term. 

Again please read the P & F page for further information.

Dr Ange Rogers - Number Fluency Program 

This year we have been working with Dr Ange Rogers, which our Mathematics Leader, Mrs Catherine Le Hunt has facilitated. The Number Fluency Program (NFP) is designed to be short, sharp and systematically focus on those skills critical in Number. Through this program our students are building their fluency, accuracy and efficiency. Yesterday we had a film crew observe and interview our teachers and some of our students in the delivery of this new program. Ange’s passion for mathematics and building the foundational skills for each child, ensures the engagement and success of NFP. We look forward to growing each student and seeing this growth in our mathematics data. NFP offers the students many opportunities for rehearsal and retrieval which aligns with our MACS Vision for Instruction.

Uniform 

In Week 3, we move across to the full summer uniform. Please ensure that your child/children have their hat at school and runners are to be worn with the sports uniform only. Please check the hem lines on the dresses and shorts as many of the children have grown over winter. We thank you for your understanding in regards to this. 

Beachside Athletics: 

We congratulate the following students who have moved from the HOLT athletics competition to the Beachside Division Athletics Carnival, at Duncan McKinnon Athletics Track tomorrow.

Pearl - 9/10 YO 800m & 1500m

Samuel -11 YO 1500m

Amelia - 9/10 YO Long Jump

Rory - 9/10 YO Triple Jump

George - 11YO Shot Put

Sacrament of Reconciliation 

Our prayers are with our Year 3 students as they learn about and begin their preparation for this sacrament. We look forward to working in partnership with our families next Wednesday evening 15th October for the Family Faith Night. We acknowledge and thank Father Jerome, Mr Millane and Miss Tovey for their Faith leadership within our community. 

Congratulations Olivia and Siena 

Congratulations to Siena and Olivia, who play soccer for Brighton SC U12 Girls, on a terrific achievement! Their team won the Premier Invitational Champions on the Gold Coast over the holidays.

The girls and their teammates showed outstanding skill and determination, winning 8 of their 9 matches over three huge days of competition. What an amazing effort girls!

Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you. 

Mrs Cathy Ferrari