Principal Announcements

Founders’ Day – Special Moments at St. Mary’s Mooroopna

Our Founders’ Day celebrations brought great joy as we reflected on the many special moments shared throughout the day.

It was wonderful to see our students so proudly representing their Houses, working collaboratively, and embracing the spirit of our school community. From enthusiastic House chants to shared laughter during activities, the day was filled with positive energy and connection.

As we celebrate 90 years of St. Mary’s, we are reminded that these occasions are about more than just marking a milestone — they are about strengthening relationships, honouring our story, and creating lasting memories for our students. The pride and sense of belonging evident across the school were a true reflection of our strong and supportive community.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making Founders’ Day such a meaningful and memorable celebration. Together, we continue to build the story of St. Mary’s for generations to come.

Good News

Prep Liturgy – A Beautiful Beginning

Our recent Prep Liturgy was a truly special celebration for our school community. It was wonderful to gather together in faith and mark this important milestone in the lives of our youngest students.

A heartfelt thank you to all parents and guardians who joined us. Your presence and support made the celebration even more meaningful for our Prep students as they begin their journey at St Mary’s.

We extend our sincere thanks to Kym Cox and Georgia Gattuso for their thoughtful preparation and organisation of the liturgy. Their care and dedication ensured the celebration was reverent, welcoming and a proud moment for our families and staff alike.

We are so grateful to share these special moments together as a faith community.

Digby Barnes

We would like to wish Digby all the very best as he competes in the AusCycling Australian MTB Interschools at Thredbo.

This is a fantastic achievement and a wonderful opportunity to represent his school and community at a national level. We are incredibly proud of the dedication, training and perseverance Digby has shown in reaching this event.

Good luck, Digby! We are cheering you on and can’t wait to hear all about your experience on the trails.

Parish and Community News

Grade 5 Animal Survival Excursion

Grade 5 Explore “Bees and Blossoms” at Cussen Park

Our Grade 5 students are to be congratulated on their enthusiastic participation in their recent excursion to Cussen Park in Tatura. The day provided a wonderful hands-on learning experience as part of the RiverConnect Bees and Blossoms environmental program.

Throughout the excursion, students explored the important role that bees and other pollinators play in maintaining healthy ecosystems. 

The program encouraged curiosity, teamwork and environmental responsibility. Our students represented St Mary’s with pride, demonstrating respectful behaviour, thoughtful questioning and a genuine interest in protecting God’s creation.

We thank the RiverConnect team for providing such an engaging and informative experience, and we commend our Grade 5 students for the maturity and enthusiasm they displayed throughout the day. Thanks to the grade 5 staff for their preparations for this wonderful learning opportunity.

Parent Support Group Meetings

We sincerely thank our parents and guardians who have attended recent Parent Support Group meetings with the classroom teacher and Mrs Malnati or Mrs Dyke.

These conversations are a very important part of our partnership with families. Taking the time to meet, share insights and discuss strategies ensures we are working together to support the best possible learning outcomes for your children.

We greatly value your collaboration, openness and commitment to your child’s growth and wellbeing. By maintaining strong communication between home and school, we continue to build a supportive environment where every child can flourish.

Special thanks to all of the staff involved.

Emergency Drill – Friday 6th March 12:50pm

This Friday at 12:50pm, we will be conducting a whole school Emergency Evacuation Drill to our local park.

Emergency drills are an important part of our school’s commitment to maintaining a safe environment for all students and staff. Practising our procedures ensures that everyone understands what to do and can respond calmly and safely should a real emergency ever occur.

Students will walk to the park under staff supervision and return to school once the drill has been completed.

Thank you for your support as we continue to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our school community.

Student Artwork Selected for Shepparton Arts Festival 

We are delighted to share that several of our talented students have had their portrait drawings selected for display at Riverlinks Shepparton as part of the Shepparton Arts Festival.

The exhibition will run from 23 March to 8 May 2026, showcasing a wonderful collection of community artworks.

Congratulations to our exhibiting students: 

Ella Hudson, Amelia Richardson Marslen, Mahli Crawford, Riya Donga, Roohani Singh, Ajooni Kaur and Juane Swart

We are incredibly proud of their creativity, effort and artistic skill. This is a fantastic achievement and a wonderful opportunity for our students to have their work celebrated within the wider community. We encourage families to visit the exhibition and support our young artists!

School Involvement Opportunity

Book Club Coordinator Needed!

A huge thank you to Simone Oliver for her wonderful dedication in coordinating Scholastic Book Club for our students in 2025. 

We truly appreciate all her hard work! 

As Simone steps down from this role, we are looking for a new volunteer to take over. This is a fantastic opportunity to get more involved in the school community and support our students’ love of reading. If you’re interested in helping with Book Club, please contact the school office—we’d love to hear from you and ensure a smooth transition for this program!

Goal Setting

In 2026, our whole-school learning focus at St Mary’s is Resilience. We are encouraging students to develop the confidence, persistence and positive mindset needed to face challenges, try new things, and keep going when learning feels difficult.

At our Week 2 assembly, students listened to the story Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr Seuss. This story helped us talk about what resilience looks like — taking opportunities, learning from mistakes, navigating setbacks, and continuing to move forward with courage and hope. These ideas are supporting students as they begin setting their Term 1 learning goals. Staff have also been engaging in similar goal setting, modelling the same resilient approaches to growth and improvement.

Ways families can help build resilience at home include:

• Encouraging children to have a go before stepping in to fix a problem
• Praising effort, persistence and improvement — not just results
• Talking about mistakes as a normal and valuable part of learning
• Helping children break big tasks into smaller, manageable steps
• Modelling calm problem-solving and positive self-talk
• Encouraging responsibility through age-appropriate jobs and routines
• Reminding children of times they have overcome challenges before

By working together, we can help our students grow into confident, capable and resilient learners

St. Mary’s Alumni

As part of our celebrations for this year, we would love to hear from St. Mary’s Alumni – past staff, community members and students. We would love to hear about your past experiences of St. Mary’s. If you are willing to be involved please contact the school office on 5825 2858 or email at office@smmooroopna.catholic.edu.au

Before School Supervision

Please note that all students that arrive at school prior to 8:30am must fill out an application via the link below. For new and casual before school arrivals, please complete prior to 4:00pm each day to enable student lists to be updated for the following morning. I appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation regarding this.

Before School Supervision

Principal’s Awards

 Monday 23rd February - No Awards due to Founders Day Celebrations.

2nd March - Noah Church

This week’s Principal’s Award goes to Noah Church, who continues  to strive, share, develop and enjoy his special drawing and book making skills.  The staff always look forward to seeing his creative skills and listening to his excellent descriptions. 

Well done to Noah!

Attendance matters!

Every minute matters. This is a simple statement, but a true one. For every minute a child is at school they learn. For every minute they are absent they not only miss out on they not only miss out on learning, but they also lose some previous learning.

Ms V’s Inspirations

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”— Norman Vincent Peale

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”— Nelson Mandela

“Let your light shine before others.” – Matthew 5:16