College Life | Latest News

Belling In: A tradition of belonging and new beginnings

Today was an especially exciting day for our new students who were officially welcomed into the St Mary's College community at our Belling In ceremony. The Belling In is steeped in tradition and is a wonderful example of our College living out one of our Presentation touchstones, Hospitality.

New students joining the SMC community in 2026, along with our newest staff members, received a warm reception as they made their way through a whole-school guard of honour, while the Convent bell tolled in the background  – one chime for every child.

It was particularly special to see our Year 12 students guiding our youngest students in Kinder through a corridor of high-fives, cheers and smiling faces, extending from the College gates on Harrington Street to the College Green.

Caritas Project Compassion 2026 | Unite Against Poverty

On Thursday 19 February, our College joined with Catholic schools across the state to mark the official launch of Caritas Australia's Project Compassion 2026. This significant annual initiative calls our communities to generosity and solidarity throughout Lent. 

Archbishop Tony Ireland presided over the liturgy, reminding us that Project Compassion "is not charity from a distance; it's solidarity," emphasising the call to walk alongside those experiencing hardship. 

Guest speaker, Tara Harvey from Caritas Australia introduced this year's theme, 'Unite Against Poverty,' encouraging students and parishioners to recognise that even the smallest acts of kindness can create meaningful change in the lives of others. 

We extend our congratulations to the Junior and Senior School students who accompanied our Director of Junior School to the launch. They represented our community with pride and embodied the spirit of compassion that this Lenten season invites us to embrace. 

Caritas Project Compassion brings hope to vulnerable communities by helping provide clean water, education and essential healthcare. To learn more, visit www.caritas.org.au 

Sustainability update

At St Mary’s, we continue to build a community that values and acts on sustainability – making a difference every day.

A reminder that we have a large recycling program at SMC to ensure as much of our waste as possible is diverted from landfill.

• Yellow bins are located in all classrooms for paper, cardboard and glass.
• FOGO/Compost bins are located in all Junior School classrooms, in the Senior Common Room, and at Murphy's 7Café for food scraps and kitchen waste. A friendly reminder to all students and parents that our amazing Café is very sustainable, using locally sourced goods, limited packaging and packaging that can all go into the FOGO bin.
• Soft plastic recycling is available for all soft plastics. Our motto is: “Can you scrunch it in your hand?” If you can, it can be recycled. For parents at home, soft plastics can be recycled at the Hobart Tip, the Mornington Tip and the Glebe Hill Shopping Centre. These plastics are used to make plastic-derived oil or asphalt additives.
• Pen and battery recycling is available through the SRC. Parents can also recycle pens at Officeworks, and various locations such as Hill Street accept unwanted batteries.

While it’s fantastic that we can recycle many of these products so they don’t end up in landfill, we also need to think about reducing the amount of rubbish we use. Plastic chip packets, biscuit wrappers and small yoghurt containers are a significant issue in our playground, with many ending up in landfill or blowing around the school grounds. As these items are made of plastic, they can take decades to break down – and they never truly disappear, instead breaking into microplastics that remain in our soil and water for hundreds of years.

Please consider making wise choices at the supermarket by refusing plastic where possible, choosing alternatives, buying in bulk, or supporting your child to bring a ‘nude food’ lunch box. Our Junior School Green Team will be out once a week in the playground collecting FOGO waste and looking out for nude food lunch boxes.

St Mary’s has also signed up as a donation partner with Recycle Rewards. If you are recycling your cans and bottles for 10c at one of the various locations around Hobart, you can select SMC as your chosen charity. All money raised goes directly back into supporting the school garden, which in turn helps our students with their gardening and cooking projects.

Mrs Karen Walter

Sustainability Officer