From the Principal 

Dear Families 

Welcome back to school and a very happy new year!  It's wonderful to see everyone returning refreshed and ready for a fantastic 2025.  A special welcome to our new families joining our St Mary’s family community and especially to our Prep families and their little Mary Bears!  Thank you to Glenice, Francesca's grandmother and her friends for knitting them for us!  We are so thrilled to have you all with us. A warm welcome to:

Prep: James, Pippa, Frances, Sarah, Archie, Louis, Ezra, Spencer, Mason, Hana-Rose, Jack, Xavier, Tia, Casper, Everleigh, Aleksander, Manuela, Zoe, Rocky

Year 1:  Mila

Year 2:  Emily

Year 3:  Margot, Madison

Year 4:  Noel

Year 5:  George

Year 6:  Ethan

New Staff 

We are thrilled to be working with Mr James Millane, our Deputy Principal, Education in Faith Leader, Learning and Teaching Leader and Physical Education teacher.  Miss Ariel Tovey, Year 3 and Miss Barbara Beciric, STEM/Digitech and Performing Arts. You have all fitted seamlessly into our community.  Thank you for your contributions at our staff Professional Development days last week. 

Start-Up Week has been a great success, filled with excitement and anticipation for the year ahead.  I've loved hearing all about the students' holiday adventures – thank you for sharing those wonderful stories!  It’s clear everyone is eager to learn and reconnect with friends.  Miss Erica, Mr Millane and l  have had some special visitors, as they learn about their school environment. 

A huge thank you to the families who so generously watered our school gardens over the holidays. Your care and dedication are much appreciated, and the gardens are looking beautiful!  Thank you to Archie, Francesca, Harrison and Isla.  We also send our warmest congratulations to Ezra in Prep on the arrival of his baby sister, Rosie! 

A reminder that it's important for students to be at school by 8:45am so we can begin learning promptly at 9:00 am. This ensures everyone has a smooth start to the day and doesn't miss out on valuable learning time.  We also encourage all students to bring a named water bottle each day to stay hydrated and energised.  We'll be incorporating Brain Food Breaks into our daily routine to help keep minds focused and ready for learning. Brain food must be in a small separate container and consists of a few slices of apple or a few carrot sticks etc. The purpose of this is for a quick three minute snack  around 10:00am to recharge the brain.  Whole apples, sandwiches and yoghurt can be eaten at recess or lunch time.  

Over the holidays, some fantastic work was completed around the school. Our Prep students are especially fortunate to have brand new classroom furniture!

We've also made some important maintenance updates around the grounds, including the exciting completion of our basketball court, with upgraded poles and patched astro turf.  The library has now moved into its beautiful new space and the old library will be transformed into a Multi Space – a huge thank you to Ms Kat for her hard work in making this happen!

We are already buzzing with excitement for our school production of "Imaginarium"! More details about this creative adventure will be coming soon. Our senior students will commence working with Mr Drew Lane, Monday morning. 

Drew is a professional actor, singer, songwriter and stage composer who has more than 30 years experience as a performing arts teacher.  His musicals have been performed around the world, and many Catholic schools use his songs in masses and classroom settings.  This year, Drew will be working with the students from Prep to Year Six, to put together their full school performance of "Imaginarium".  Over the next six months, Drew will visit and work with all the grades, along with the lead performers, to bring a spectacular show together.  His aim is to have every student "front and centre", and celebrate the wonderful talent that St Mary's has.  This coming Monday is Drew's first visit, and he will be auditioning the Year 5 and 6 students to cast in the lead roles.  

The wonderful staff of St Mary's will use the work Drew does with the students to do additional rehearsals and practices in class.

Thank you to our wonderful P & F for our fantastic sausage sizzle last Friday, the buzz of everyone catching up was wonderful. Our first meeting was held on Tuesday. Your support and involvement are invaluable to our school community. We look forward to seeing everyone at our Welcome Drinks at the Village Belle on Friday 21st February 7pm. 

Celebrating learning in Year 2

Exciting our Year 3 Chromebooks: more information in our next newsletter 

Year 6 Leadership in action: Our Wellbeing Leaders  and Sustainability Leaders 

Assembly each Friday 3:00-3:30pm upstairs in the Flexi Space. Everyone is most welcome and we have  a lift if required . Thank you to our hosts: Lavinia and Sienna for leading our first assembly for 2025.

I am so looking forward to a wonderful year of learning, growth, and community spirit here at St Mary's Primary School, where each of us form an integral part of our St Mary's family.

Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you. 

Mrs Cathy Ferrari