Dear St Mary's Families,

What a wonderful and action-packed fortnight we have had at St Mary’s! Our students have embraced Year 3/4 Camp, Book Week (including Book Fair and Parade), HOLT Athletics, Volleyball incursions, the Junior School excursion to Werribee Mansion and the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. We are now looking forward to Arts Week next week, along with T-Ball incursions with the St Kilda Baseball Club. We also have plenty to look forward to as we head towards the end of Term 3, including our Father’s and Special Friends Day Breakfast tomorrow and the Express Yourself Free Dress day next Friday and our Footy Colours Day on the final Friday of Term Three.

A reminder that Arts Week is just around the corner! From Monday 7 September, we’ll be celebrating the creativity, imagination and talents of our students through a wonderful week of art, music, performance and making. Mrs Perri is getting excited and so are we!

With the opening of our Student Art Exhibition, our Gala Arts Afternoon and a spectacular whole school concert featuring African Drumming (and live art response), there will be plenty for students and families to enjoy (see dedicated page on the newsletter).

A special highlight of our arts show will be the collaborative artwork created by each class. These unique pieces will be proudly displayed during Arts Week before being auctioned at our Parents’ Disco later in the year. It will be a wonderful opportunity to take home a very special piece of St Mary’s student artwork while supporting our school community.

Book Week is always a highlight at St Mary’s, and this year was another wonderful celebration of reading and storytelling. Under the theme ‘Symphony of Stories’, our students enjoyed a week of book-themed activities, explored the 2026 CBCA Shortlisted titles and worked with author and illustrator Sarah Speedy.

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our Book Week Parade, where students brought their favourite stories to life through costume - including our amazingly brave Kinder Visitors taking part in our Connect With Prep program!

A special thank you to Mrs Mason for leading our Book Week celebrations and to Miss Kat for once again organising our Book Fair, which has had a bumper year of sales and helped put even more great books into the hands of our students. It is wonderful to see our community getting behind the joy of reading.

I encourage families to make the most of Book Week by sharing a favourite story together and encouraging plenty of reading at home. There is nothing quite like seeing children excited about books and discovering the joy of a great story.

Our Year 3 and 4 students had a fantastic time at the YMCA Anglesea Camp, embracing the opportunity to challenge themselves, try new activities and build friendships and independence along the way. There was plenty of laughter, adventure and teamwork, and it was wonderful to see our students supporting and encouraging one another throughout the camp experience.

A huge thank you to Mrs Mason, Mrs McDonald, Miss Katt and Mr B for giving their time, energy and care to make the camp such a memorable experience for our students. We are very grateful for the enthusiasm and commitment of our staff in providing these opportunities beyond the classroom. Thank you to the beautiful St Mary's families who put together the amazing hampers for each attending staff member on their return!

Yesterday, our prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students stepped back in time at Werribee Mansion, taking part in an engaging educational experience exploring life in the Victorian era. Through interactive activities, students discovered what school and daily life were like in the 19th century, including the expectations and routines of a Victorian classroom. It was wonderful to see our youngest students learning through such a hands-on and memorable experience. Thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to come.

We were so excited to welcome a large number of kinder students to kick off our Connect with Prep Program last Thursday! How confident were they, and weren't their costumes amazing for Book Week!?

The Connect with Prep program is designed to give our 2027 preps, current siblings and local kinder students and their families a chance to experience the events and culture of St Mary’s!

Across the coming weeks, we continue to welcome our littlest friends to experience some of the fun, creativity and community that makes St Mary’s so special from Book Week and Arts Week to African Drumming, Live Art and Italian Day.

These relaxed and engaging activities are a wonderful opportunity for children to begin making connections, meet some of our students and teachers, and feel right at home in our school community. Come, explore and connect with St Mary’s — we can’t wait to meet you!

Register for any of the events here

P&F Leadership 2027 on beyond

After two fantastic years, Mel and Jez will be stepping down from their P&F leadership roles at the end of the year, and we’re looking for the next parents to join Bec and help lead our P&F into 2027. It’s a great way to connect with our school community, help shape events and fundraising, and make a real difference for our students. No special experience is required — just some enthusiasm and a willingness to get involved. If you’re interested in finding out more, please reach out to the P&F for a chat.

BOOK TICKETS FOR FATHER'S & SPECIAL FRIENDS DAY and RETRO VIBES

Last Monday, our Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 students represented St Mary’s with great enthusiasm at the HOLT Athletics Carnival at Duncan Mackinnon Reserve. Our athletes gave their best across the track and field events, while also demonstrating fantastic sportsmanship, encouragement and school pride throughout the day. A big thank you to Mrs Mason for organising our team and supporting students on the track, and to Miss Broderick, Mr Healy and Miss Kat for supporting the team throughout the day.

An continuing on the sporting theme, congratulations to Carter, our youngest-ever Aqua Star squad swimmer, who recently competed at the St Michael’s School Swim Meet against swimmers aged 10–14. In his first pure racing event, Carter took 1st in the 50m Freestyle, 2nd in the 25m Backstroke and 1st in the 25m Freestyle, setting a fantastic PB of 20.8 seconds. What an achievement, Carter — and we look forward to seeing you in action at our school swimming carnival later in the year!

Finally, we warmly congratulate our Confirmation candidates who recently celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was a beautiful occasion and an important milestone in their faith journey, shared with family, parish and our school community.

A special thank you to Fr Madry and Fr Jerome for celebrating with and supporting our students, and to Jes Mensen and our Year 5 & 6 teachers for their guidance and preparation of the students. We pray that the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to guide and strengthen our candidates as they grow in faith.

Take care, and may God’s blessings and peace be with each of you as we journey through the year together.

James Millane

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