Principal's News

It has been another busy two weeks at St Mary's! 

We  are preparing to enter the season of Lent. Tuesday 4th March marks Shrove Tuesday- or Pancake Tuesday! All classes will be making pancakes to share in the importance of Lent beginning. In 'olden' times, this was the day families cooked up all the nice food they had in their house to prepare for a season of fasting and doing without. This is a very traditional part of preparing for Lent. 

On the 5th March we begin the Lenten season with Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time on the Church that lasts 40 days (not including Sundays) where we reflect and pray while preparing for Christ's death and resurrection at Easter. This can mean many things to different people. Everyone is invited to join us on Wednesday as we hold an Ash Wednesday Liturgy at 2:30pm in the Discovery Room. 

Womin Djeka Festival

We participated in the Womin Djeka festival over the weekend, on Saturday March 1st. It was such a wonderful day where the school had an opportunity to share their learning and work at this festival as part of their permaculture classes. It was wonderful to see staff, families and members of the Mornington Peninsula community engaging with our stall and contributing to Bundjil's nest by making promises to the Earth.  Thank you to all staff, but especially Natalie Dullard, Bernie Murray and Lucette Talbot, for all of the work they put in with students in preparation for our contribution to this event. Thank you to the families who came to see the stall on the day and helped out. It was a huge success and I was so proud to say "That's my school!" as I hope our staff and families were too! 

Prep Welcome Night

In the last weeks we have welcomed our new Prep families to St Mary's with a family evening. The students enjoyed a magical show while the parents had some information shared. We concluded the night with a light supper and chat! Thank you to all the Prep families who could make it, it was wonderful to see you! 

Bishop Tony Ireland 

We had Bishop Tony Ireland visit our school and meet with school staff and our student leaders while completing a Parish visit. Students and staff leaders from St Joseph's Crib Point and St Brendan's Somerville joined us at St Mary's, along with Fr Shymon. We spoke about the strengths of our schools and shared parish, as well as some of the challenges we face. The Year 6 students represented our school with pride and shared what makes St Mary's so wonderful! 

Breakfast Club

Each Monday, we hold a Breakfast club in the canteen and provide some delicious toast to start the day! The money for this program is donated by our very generous St Vincent De Paul and is run by Lucette. We have to say a huge thank you to two wonderful families who saw our toaster was very old and at the end of it's life, and donated two brand new toasters! Thank you to both Frayah and Ryder's families for their generosity - even more toast was enjoyed today than ever before! 

Enrolments for 2026

We have started showing our school to prospective students and their families for 2026! If you have a child who will start Prep in 2026, please see Nicole Fletcher at the office for an enrolment pack- we cannot wait to see some mini family members joining Mini Marys this year! 

Change to Before and After School Care

Please see the page regarding crucial information about the change to our school before and after school care program providers. This change will come into effect in Term 2. Further information will be shared as soon as it is available. 

School Closure and Public Holiday this weekend!

Just a reminder - there is no school on Friday as staff have a professional learning day. There is also no school on Monday as it is the Labour Day Public Holiday! Enjoy your extra long weekend, we are half way through the term so it has come at a good time as students, staff and families all start to get tired!

I wish you all a wonderful week ahead!

Kind regards

Nicole Black