From the Principal...

Don’t forget to follow St Mary's on our social media platforms to keep up to date with the wonderful things happening across our school community. Our socials are a great way to see highlights of student learning, special events, celebrations, and the many achievements of our students.

🌈 Colour Run Fun! 🌈

What a fantastic way to finish the term! After a week of wondering what the weather might bring, we were lucky to be greeted with a beautiful sunny day for our Colour Run at Penders Park yesterday! ☀️

Our students had an absolute ball, running, laughing, getting covered in colour and cheering each other on. There were plenty of big smiles throughout the day, and everyone enjoyed a well-earned sausage sizzle for lunch! 🌭🎉

A huge thank you to our wonderful P&F and all of the parents who volunteered and helped out on the day. From setting up and running activities to cooking sausages and supporting our students, your time and generosity helped make the day such a success. We couldn’t have done it without you!

It was such a fun, colourful and exciting way to wrap up Term 3. What a great day and what a great way to finish the term! 🌈💛

🏀 HoopTime Fun!

This week, our Year 5–6 students hit the court for HoopTime, and what a fantastic day it was! Whether students regularly play basketball or were giving it a go for the very first time, everyone showed great enthusiasm, teamwork and sportsmanship. It was wonderful to see so many smiles and students enjoying themselves throughout the day.

A huge congratulations to our Future Stars mixed team, who were amazing, winning all of their games and progressing through to the next round! We can’t wait to see how our St Mary’s Storm go in their next competition.

A big thank you also goes to the wonderful parents who coached, scored and came along to support our teams. Your help made such a difference!

Well done to all of our Year 5–6 students — we are very proud of you all! 

🛍️ Middles End of Term Market

What a wonderful way to finish the term! Our Middles End of Term Market last Friday was filled with lots of buzz, excitement and, most importantly, a wonderful sense of community.

There were plenty of delicious homemade treats, sizzling sausages and beautiful decorative pots made by our students available for sale. The children had a fantastic time getting involved and enjoying the market with their friends and families.

We are thrilled to share that the market raised an amazing $730! 🎉 This money will go back into supporting and providing opportunities for our students at school.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed, donated, purchased, helped out or simply came along to support the event. Your generosity and involvement helped make the market such a successful and enjoyable community event.

Well done, Middles! We’re so proud of what you achieved together! 💛

🏉 Footy Day Fun!

We had a fantastic time celebrating Footy Day last week! Students were invited to come dressed in their favourite team colours, and we certainly saw plenty of footy pride around the school.

The day kicked off with a Footy Parade, where students proudly showed off their colours while we listened to some of our favourite team theme songs. There was plenty of excitement, cheering and team spirit!

A big thank you to our wonderful P&F for organising delicious hot food for the students to enjoy throughout the day. 🌭

We hope everyone had a fantastic time celebrating their team and sharing in the footy fun. Good luck to all the teams still in the finals — may the best team win! 🏆🏉

💛 R U OK? Day

Last week, we celebrated R U OK? Day with a lovely focus on kindness, connection and showing care for one another.

Students were invited to wear a touch of yellow to brighten up the school and help mark the day. Throughout the day, classes took part in activities that encouraged students to think about the importance of checking in with others, listening and showing kindness and care. Students also enjoyed decorating and creating their very own smiley-face biscuits with yellow icing. 🍪💛

There were also a range of optional activities available in the hall at recess, giving students the opportunity to come together, connect and have some fun.

It was wonderful to see such a warm and friendly spirit throughout our school community as we reminded ourselves that a simple question, a kind word or taking the time to listen can make a real difference.

R U OK? 💛

🎾 Gala Day Fun!

Last week, our senior students headed off to Gala Day, where they competed in Tennis and Newcomb against students from other schools.

It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to get out there, have a go and enjoy some friendly competition. We were so proud of the way our students represented St Mary’s, showing great sportsmanship, teamwork and encouragement throughout the day.

It was wonderful to see everyone having fun, giving their best and enjoying the chance to play alongside and against students from other schools. Well done to all of our senior students — you represented St Mary’s so proudly! 🎾👏

🎨 Art Club

This term, we launched our Art Club at playtime, and it has been wonderful to see so many students getting involved and letting their creativity shine!

A big thank you to Will and Ollie, who have done a fantastic job helping to organise and support the Art Club. We also extend a huge thank you to Miss Sharen for preparing such fun and creative activities for our students to enjoy.

It has been fantastic to see students experimenting, creating and sharing their ideas with one another. We’re looking forward to continuing Art Club next term and seeing what wonderful creations our budding artists come up with next! 🎨✨

🧮 Maths Olympiad

This term, our Senior students and some of our Year 4 students completed the final Maths Olympiad challenge for the year. We are thrilled with their results, which showed a 40% mark up on last year’s results — a fantastic achievement!

The Maths Olympiad provides students with the opportunity to challenge themselves, develop their problem-solving skills and extend their mathematical thinking beyond the classroom. We are incredibly proud of the persistence, curiosity and enthusiasm our students have shown throughout the program.

Well done to our Maths Olympians! 🧮👏

🍝 Italian Day – Thursday 8 October! 🍝

We’re kicking off Term 4 with one of our favourite celebrations — Italian Day!  On Thursday 8 October, our school will come alive with Italian language, culture, food and plenty of divertimento! Students are encouraged to dress in an Italian-themed costume or wear the colours of the Italian flag — red, white and green. Students are also welcome to wear their sports uniform.

Our day will begin at 9am on the basketball court with our Italian Day Costume Parade, and families are warmly invited to join us. There will be prizes for the most creative costumes!

At 10am, we’ll head to the hall for a live magician show featuring The Great Armando. We’re sure there will be plenty of magia! ✨

Lunchtime will be a special Italian-style celebration, with students gathering around il tavolo (the table) in the hall. Our wonderful P&F will be preparing a delicious pasta lunch, with a choice of Napoli (plain tomato sauce) or burro (butter), parmesan cheese and a small piece of focaccia. And, of course, no Italian celebration would be complete without gelato, which will be served at 2.30pm! 🍦

Pasta lunch payments can be made via CDF Pay. Students who choose not to order pasta are welcome to bring their lunch from home and will still join in the communal lunch in the hall.

To help us celebrate sustainably, students are asked to bring a plastic bowl and fork, along with a small plastic bag to take them home for washing. We can’t wait to see everyone dressed up, joining in the fun and celebrating all things Italian!

Ci vediamo on Italian Day! 🍝✨ 

🏕️ Year 5–6 Camp – Sovereign Hill

Our Year 5–6 students have an exciting adventure coming up next term, with camp at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat from Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 October!

Students will have the opportunity to step back in time, discover what life was like on the goldfields and take part in a range of fun and engaging activities. It will be a wonderful chance for students to learn outside the classroom, try new things, build their independence and enjoy some special time together with their classmates.

We are looking forward to three fantastic days of learning, adventure, laughter and making memories together! 🏕️✨

🌸 Parish Spring Picnic 🌸

You’re warmly invited to join us for our Combined Parish Spring Picnic on Sunday 11 October at St Anthony’s Primary School.

Come along and enjoy a relaxed afternoon of food, friendship, fellowship and fun as our parish community comes together to celebrate the gift of our parish family. Whether you’re new to the parish or have been part of our community for many years, everyone is welcome!

The picnic will begin from 11.30am onwards, with plenty of opportunities to catch up, meet new people and enjoy a wonderful afternoon together.

RSVPs are required by Friday 2 October. Please see the flyer under Parish News section for registration details and further information.

We look forward to seeing many of our St Mary’s families there and sharing a lovely afternoon together! 🌸

St Mary's Parent Calendar

To ensure that all families have access to the most up to date information about school events, we have now linked the “St Mary’s Parent” Calendar to the “nForma Connect” app and website.

To view the calendar, please log into the app or website and select the “calendar” tile.

If you are having any issues logging into nForma, please contact Louise - lalonso@smthornbury.catholic.edu.au

Alos, a friendly reminder that permission needs to be provided for students to attend school excursions and activities. If you have any trouble accessing or submitting permission, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Louise, who will be happy to help with this as well.

💛 Thank You, St Mary’s Community

As we come to the end of another wonderful term, I’d like to take a moment to say a very heartfelt thank you to our amazing St Mary’s community.

Thank you to our families for your ongoing support, encouragement and partnership. Your involvement, enthusiasm and care make such a difference to our students and help create the wonderful environment in which they can learn, grow and flourish.

It is such a privilege to be part of a community that is so caring, supportive and welcoming. The way our families, staff and students come together to celebrate, support one another and make opportunities happen for our children is something truly special.

There have been so many wonderful moments this term — moments of learning, laughter, achievement, connection and community — and we are so proud of everything our students have accomplished.

Thank you for being such an important part of our St Mary’s family. We are very lucky to have you! 💛

Wishing all of our families a safe, happy and relaxing break. Take some time to slow down, enjoy one another and recharge. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for another wonderful term together.

Have a fantastic holiday! 🌟