A message from Denis

Dear Parents and Carers,

A warm welcome back to St Mary’s for term 2.  I hope you all had a beautiful Easter break with your families and you come back refreshed.  In the Johnstone house, we took the break as a time to rest and recharge, spend time together and just generally chill out.  We tried to stay off screens - besides watching the Minecraft movie of course (did everyone notice the wolf Denis? haha) and got out and about as much as possible.  The kids took up skating and scooting down at the local skate park and I got to jiu jitsu training as much as I possibly could.

It was a welcome break after an unusually long term 1 and I hope you and your families all got to have a great rest and were able to spend some quality time together.

Passing of Pope Francis

Over the holidays, Pope Francis passed away.  He was a much loved leader of our Catholic faith tradition, known for his humble spirit and admired for his willingness to move long standing practices in line with modern times.  For twelve years, the pontiff lobbied for compassion and peace in the world, cultivating a spirit of Gospel-centred reform, of shared and collaborative leadership.

His brave leadership will be missed and I invite you to offer a prayer for the Pope and the cardinals who will be charged with finding his successor.  

Build Update

The administration wing continues to take great shape.  We now have timber framing and roughed in services to the spaces, great progress has been made.  I am particularly looking forward to our new entrance where we will highlight features of our Marian tradition at St Mary’s, bringing in the charism of our patron saint.  The area will be a warm and inviting space for our community to enter our school and provide great functionality for our office staff.

Grade 6 Camp

You may have noticed that I was missing last week, I was away on camp with the grade 6s to Canberra.  The camp was a terrific learning experience for our students in the nation’s capital.  They had hands-on learning experiences of our country’s history, political structures and procedures and culture.  Highlights included the solemn and thought provoking War Memorial, the inspiring National Art Gallery, the impressive and informative Parliament House visit and the super fun night visit to Questacon.  This camp continue to be a highlight of our students’ experience at St Mary’s.

The students were excellently behaved throughout the trip, gaining many points of positive feedback from staff at the places we visited.  I was very pleased with this, as it was a challenge I threw out to them before we left St Mary’s.

If you need any tips about voting on Saturday, tap one of the grade 6s on the shoulder.

ANZAC Day

Last week we celebrated ANZAC day, a solemn day for our country as we remember those who have given their lives for and served our country.  We commemorated the day with a special service at St Mary’s.  Thank you to all those who have served Australia in the armed forces and work to keep our country safe.

Mother’s Day

On Sunday week we celebrate Mother’s Day.  Mother’s play a central role in our families, without them we would not exist.  I am very grateful for my mum, wife and mother in law and the amazing support, love, guidance and wisdom they bring to our family.  

Look after your mums and mother figures and make sure you show them how grateful you are for all they do for you and their love.

Be The Light

My example of Be the Light comes from the team at Flight BJJ, my jiu jitsu gym.  Last Sunday, one of our members had his first amateur kickboxing fight.  It was an intra club competition and he was scheduled to compete at 10:30 am.  Quite a number of teammates came down to support him, ensuring they were on time.  If you have ever been to a martial arts competition, they rarely run on time.  His fight was delayed, and delayed, and pushed back and further delayed.  He ended up competing at 3 pm.  By this time he was a bundle of nerves and completely over the wait.  But our team mates stayed on to support him, because that’s what good teammates and friends do.  They support each other, they light the way when nerves and anxiety are getting the better of us.  They are the light when the darkness of inexperience and worry creeps in.  They are there lighting the way, by your side.

Stay safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected,

Denis Johnstone

Principal