Latest news

Colours of culture: Student diversity artwork 

During Term 3, students from Kindergarten to Year 12 were invited to contribute to a collaborative art display celebrating our students' diverse cultural backgrounds.

We received an impressive array of entries showcasing diverse styles, cultural representations and age groups. The selected artworks now form a vibrant mural titled 'All Are Welcome', adorning the wall outside the Student Resource Centre.

The original artworks are also on display inside the library for students and staff to enjoy.

Our Cultural Diversity Artwork promotes diversity, equity, inclusion and a strong sense of belonging among our students. It represents the rich tapestry of our College community and symbolising our multicultural student body. 

Congratulations to the following students who displayed their creativity in this project: 

Layla Barbari (Year 10)

Hal Cormack (Year 10)

Feona Jobi Cheri (Year 9)

Zahra Heidari (Year 9)

Milki Dima (Year 8) 

Annabel Barnard (Year 6) 

Jessica Bean (Year 6) 

Nina Canning (Year 6) 

Anna Duharte (Year 6)

Charlotte McLaren (Year 6)

Alexis Archibald (Year 5)

Alexis Barnard (Year 5)

Madeleine Canning (Year 5)

Maya El-Khoury (Year 5)

Giselle Knaj (Year 5) 

Varya Lusupova (Year 5) 

Nia Anna Sojan (Year 5) 

Molly Southam (Year 5)

Mia Wanandy (Year 5)

Emily Yan (Year 5) 

Elsie Snare (Year 3) 

Ivy Bailey (Year 1)

Mila Goodwin (Year 1)

Isla Szczerba (Year 1)

Celebrating excellence: Highlights from the Chinese Speaking Competition Award Ceremony

On Friday 18 October, four of our Junior School students – Mylah Krelle, Adrianna Rajpal, Sophie Johns and Alexis Barnard – participated in the 2024 Tasmania Chinese Speaking Competition Award Ceremony. They received certificates and prizes for their outstanding performances and also presented Chinese poetry recitations during the event. 

Mylah (Year 3) and Adrianna (Year 4) performed Five Squirrels, while Sophie and Alexis recited Song of the Mountain Village, both of which earned them thunderous applause from the audience.

This year’s Tasmania Chinese Speaking Competition, as in previous years, attracted over 300 participants from schools across the state. Our students embraced the challenge with courage, and their dedication and hard work were evident in their performances.

We hope these four students continue to excel on their journey of learning Chinese, and their passion and perseverance will take them far. We also hope their achievements will inspire others to commit to learning a second language, a gift that will enrich their lives for years to come.

Enjoy a snippet of their performance in the video shared here.

Results: 

Mylah Krelle - Third place - Grade 3 and 4 Poetry/Speech 

Adrianna Rajpal - Highly Commended - Grade 3 and 4 Poetry Speech

Sophie Johns - Third place - Grade 5 Poetry and Speech 

Alexis Barnard - Highly Commended - Grade 5 Poetry and Speech 

Ruby Lan

Chinese Teacher

Student art steals the show 

St Mary's College is thrilled to announce that we have eight prize winners in this year's Royal Hobart Show 'Art on Show' exhibition.

Our Art staff hand-selected a small collection of exceptional student artwork to represent our College, which will be on display at the Hobart City Hall during the October Hobart Show period. This is a fantastic opportunity for our senior students to showcase their work and gain some well-deserved recognition in the public arena. 

With such a limited number of entries, having eight prize winners is an amazing achievement and a true testament to the creative talent of our Visual Arts students. 

All 19 student artworks from the Hobart Show will also be featured in a special display at the St Mary's College Art and Design Exhibition, which promises to be a wonderful celebration of our students' artistic achievements. The exhibition will open in the Mary Morgan Wing on Friday 15 November at 6.30pm. 

Congratulations to our award recipients: 

Isabella Harman – 1st place (Year 9-10 section): 'Little Lutruwita' 

Ruby Brown – 2nd place (Year 7-8 section): 'Swifties'

Orlaithe Dhue – 3rd place (Year 7-8 section): 'Fragmented Face' collage 

Kate Holmes – Highly Commended (Year 7-8 section): Famous portrait drawing 

Ellie Richardson – Highly Commended (Year 7-8 section): Hybrid Creature drawing 

Jean Beerworth – Highly Commended (Year 7-8 section): 'Conflict' monoprint 

Abbie Fidanza – Highly Commended (Year 7-8 section): 'Uncertainty' monoprint 

Sofia Palermo – Highly Commended (Year 7-8 section): Floral painting 

The eight prize-winning artworks are pictured here for you to admire (images match the names listed above and can be read top-bottom, left-right).

Honouring Sr Ona's creative legacy 

The SMC Visual Arts department has recently unveiled a striking large-scale artwork in the Senior School, created in 2006 by the late Sister Ona Kaukenas, a member of the Presentation Sisters and former teacher at the College. 

This piece, pictured above, was featured in Sister Ona’s Master of Fine Art Examination Exhibition titled Design Emergence: Beyond Modernist Orthodoxies in Colour-Form Painting at UTAS Plimsoll Gallery, where she showcased a total of nine captivating artworks. The work was gifted to the College by past Principal, Tom Dorey.

Sister Ona’s work explores formalist abstraction, focusing on how it communicates meaning through visual aesthetics. Using colour and form painting on shaped MDF boards, she examines the relationship between herself as the artist and her creations. She starts with a geometric shape she calls the base module, which she then mass-produces and assembles into various designs. This process allows the visual qualities of the base module to evolve.

Sister Ona references modernist ideas like flatness and materiality while reinterpreting them in a contemporary context. Key aspects of her work include the concept of design emergence and how the artwork interacts with the viewer, creating a sense of immediacy. The gallery space plays a crucial role, facilitating a connection between the artwork's self-referential qualities and the viewer's experience. Ultimately, her aim is to demonstrate how these elements come together to form a rich, engaging visual dialogue.

We are immensely proud and excited to display this contemporary work by Sister Ona. Her artistic vision exemplifies the modern and forward-thinking spirit that the Presentation Sisters embodied during their time. This piece not only highlights their innovative qualities but also serves as an inspiring testament to their commitment to pushing boundaries and exploring new ideas. We celebrate their legacy and the profound impact they continue to have on our community.

Emma Havard

Learning Leader of Visual Arts

Year 7 butterflies take flight 

A new art installation is turning heads in our Year 7 space! 

Well done to all students involved in bringing the Year 7 butterfly wall to life. This project marked the beginning of their transition to Senior School and has had a special impact on the students. 

During their Pillars lessons at the start of the year, each Year 7 student created a butterfly symbolising growth and wrote a message on it – something kind for themselves or for someone else. 

This activity not only fostered creativity but also encouraged self-reflection and kindness, helping students to start their Senior School journey with a positive mindset. 

St Mary’s fairies make school a magical place! 

Today was Fairy Day for our Kinder students, and it was absolutely enchanting! The Kinder classroom was filled with sparkles, wings and flower petals as students dove into imaginative play. From brewing magical potions to fluttering around with fairy wings, the day was a whimsical adventure. 

The sensory play activities sparked the children’s imagination and creativity, making learning a truly magical experience. The celebrations ended on a sweet note, with students icing their own fairy biscuits, which they enjoyed for afternoon tea. 

Seeing double at SMC! 

No, you’re not seeing double! To complement their unit on the nature versus nurture debate, our Year 9/10 Introduction to Sociology students recently enjoyed a special visit from six sets of SMC twins, making their lesson twice as fun! 

We have seven sets of twins enrolled at St Mary’s College, six of which are in the Senior School: Mykala and Kyra Mastrocola (Year 12), Mia and Madeleine Reid (Year 11), Abbie and Mackenzie Graves (Year 10), Bree and Abbey Salter (Year 8), Sophia and Annaliese Carter (Year 7) and Lucy and Emily Kearney (Year 7). In the Junior School, Year 4 students Wareesha and Anaya Rana are, in fact, triplets (their brother attends St Virgil's College). 

Our twin sets were the perfect case studies for our aspiring sociologists, offering fascinating insights into what it is like being a twin. 

They shared their perspectives on their similarities and differences, their likes and dislikes, their history of dressing alike, and their unique bond, including their uncanny ability to pick up on each other’s emotions and finish each other’s sentences. It’s a twin thing!

Careers corner

Sophie Nadler (Year 10) completed a week's work placement at Advanced Rehabilitation Tasmania.

Matilda Wise (Year 10) completed a week's work placement at Hustle St, where she assisted with customer service, observed fitness classes and supported trainers in helping clients with workout routines. 

Staff achievement

Congratulations to Mrs Debbie Claridge, pictured below at centre, who has been honoured with the Australian Geography Teachers Association's prestigious Don Biddle Award. This incredible recognition is a testament to Debbie's significant contribution to geography education over many years. 

Debbie retired from St Mary's in 2021 after dedicating more than 30 years to the College. In 2024, we were delighted to welcome Debbie back to the Senior School in a relief teaching capacity. 

Alumni success: Gold in the USA!

The College is thrilled to congratulate alumna Phoebe Teale (class of 2021) for winning gold in the USA's prestigious Head of the Charles rowing event as a member of the Women's Lightweight Eight. 

The event sees thousands of rowers from around the world converge on Boston, Massachusetts for the world's largest three-day regatta.