Principals Report

Dear Parents, Families and Friends, 

Harmony Day was a wonderful celebration at St Mary’s, with a fantastic turnout from our school community. I was incredibly impressed with the way our students showcased their learning through artwork, poetry, singing and dancing. It was a joyful reflection of inclusion, respect and diversity. A sincere thank you to Mrs Gleisner for her preparation and leadership in creating such a meaningful and engaging event.

NAPLAN has now been completed for 2026. Congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students for the way they approached these assessments. Later in the year, families will receive their child’s results. As a school, we value this data as an important tool to reinforce positive teaching and learning practices, while also helping guide our future planning and areas of focus.

Next week, we look forward to welcoming visitors through our Sandhurst Magnify Partnerships. On Monday, Classroom Mastery will be onsite to observe and review our classroom routines and approaches to maintaining calm, focused learning environments. It is always valuable to receive feedback and affirmation from their team. On Wednesday, we welcome back the MultiLit team. During their last visit, they were highly impressed with the work our staff have put into both our whole-class literacy programs and targeted intervention practices. Travelling from Queensland and Sydney, their team continues to be an outstanding resource for our school, and we look forward to further strengthening our approach to literacy with their support.

We also have several exciting events coming up. Our very first Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Monday, 30th March, and is open to the wider community. We hope to see many familiar and new faces join us for this fun event, and I have heard there may even be a special guest appearance from a certain furry white visitor! As part of our Holy Week observances, we will be holding a whole-school Way of the Cross. Students will lead a reenactment of the Stations of the Cross, reflecting on the final hours before Jesus’ death. We warmly invite all families and parishioners to join us for this special and reverent occasion.

If you are around IGA this Saturday between 10:00am and 12:00pm, please come and visit the St Mary’s table, where we will be selling raffle tickets for our Easter prizes. We are also gratefully accepting donations of Easter Eggs or baskets, which can be dropped off at the office or coordinated through Sandra.

If you have been following the news, families may be aware of planned industrial action in the Victorian government school sector on 24 March. Please be assured that this will have no impact on St Mary’s. Our school will be operating as normal, with all classes running as usual.

With just two weeks remaining in the term, there is much to celebrate and look forward to in our vibrant school community.

Kind Regards,