Principal's Panorama

Well, another year closes for our young people today... staff will finish tomorrow.  

This year, we have witnessed so much growth in our students—not just in their academic achievements but in their character, resilience, and care for one another. Every learning space has been a place of curiosity and discovery, as students embraced challenges and celebrated successes, big and small. 

From mastering new concepts in math to creatively exploring science, history, and the arts, our students have shown a commitment to learning that fills us with pride.

At St Mary of the Angels, we do not just value academic achievement. This year, our students have truly lived out the Gospel values that underpin our Catholic faith. They’ve shown us what it means to care for others, whether it was through acts of kindness in the playground, supporting a friend in need, or participating in initiatives that gave back to our school and wider community.

One of the greatest privileges of being part of a school like ours is seeing how our students take pride in one another’s successes. The spirit of encouragement and celebration among peers is something truly special. 

To our parents/carers and families, thank you for trusting us to be part of your child’s journey. Your support and partnership are the foundation of everything we do here. Thank you to those who trust that as authentic educators and Leaders in a catholic school, we relentlessly focus on  our role as facilitators of learning and mission to ensure that as a school we provide the best education aligned with the NSW Curriculum, the Catholic church teachings, our Armidale Catholic School system, what is best for our context and informed by current research, pedagogical practices and our data.  

To our dedicated skilled helpful adults, thank you for your tireless efforts to guide, nurture, and inspire our young people. Your passion and care make all the difference. I wanted to make a special mention here about Theresa Grills. Theresa is returning to the classroom in 2025.

I want to thank Theresa for her unflinching resolve to ensure that her work on the Leadership Team remained focused on our Annual Improvement Plan and supported our Catholic learning community as a whole.  Tesa has such a strong connection to Guyra and its surrounds that on the Leadership Team, she is our sounding board on community for any of our AIP strategies.  I know that she will continue to be committed to ensuring as Catholic Leaders, we give the best to our community and ourselves and thankfully Early Stage One is only a few metres away!

Thank you to Leisa and the Parents and Friends committee for your work to build community connections by offering a range of timings of events to suit our varied parent/carer community and by supporting our young people on their excursions and with raising funds for our memorial garden works and ICT.  To the School Advisory Council, thank you again for your consistent guidance and support and to Mitchell Hope and Claire Welsh who have finished their time on the SAC. Your advice has been invaluable in navigating uniform changes and of course putting together the criteria for the awards to ensure we have a transparent process for nominations and selection.  

As we close this year,  we celebrate not just about what we have done but about who we are becoming.  I look forward to seeing all of our young people and school community in 2025!

2024 Farewells

As a team we farewell Miss Casey Lennon, as she continues on her learning journey across the New England.  It has been an absolute pleasure to watch Casey grow as an educator over the past 3 years. This year Casey worked our Transition classroom and as a casual to gain experience over a wide range of year levels in a wide range of school contexts. We couldn't be prouder that she commenced that journey with St Mary of the Angels and we cannot wait to see what Casey's future holds. Thank you Casey!

Staffing 2025

I am pleased to announce our Skilled Helpful Adults for 2025 are:

Administration and Education Assistants:

Karen Faint

Cassandra Gaddes

Naomi Davidson ( Administration and ICT) 

Amber Ogilvie (Administration)

Nioka Levy (Aboriginal Education Assistant)

Cleaning, Grounds and Maintenance: 

Candace McCann and Tom Halfhide 

Teaching Staff:

Early Stage One (ES1): Theresa Grills and Miss Eleisha Outridge

Stage One (S1): Miss Natalia Mayes co-teaching with Miss Eleisha Outridge 

Stage Two (S2): Tiffany Ahumada co-teaching with Ms Carla Holmes and Mrs Claire Lawlor (previously Miss Archibald)

Stage Three (S3): Mrs Angela Hayes 

Library Exploring Literacy Learning: Ms Carla Holmes

Inclusion Support Teacher (IST): Mrs Bernadette Phelps

Mathematics Specialist Teacher (MaST): Miss Eleisha Outridge

Religious Education Coordinator (REC) : Mrs Zoe Nugent

Leader of Pedagogy and Assistant Principal: Ms Libby Lockwood

Principal: Mrs Zoe Nugent

We look forward to 2025 where we will continue in sharing strong partnerships and many more learning experiences with you all!

From all of the Skilled Helpful Adults at St Mary of the Angels, we hope you have a Holy, blessed and safe holiday season and we look forward to seeing all of our young people in 2025!!

Merry Christmas to you and your extended families.

Zoe