Principals Report

Dear Parents, Families and Friends,

A warm welcome back to all our students, families and staff for Term 4. I hope everyone enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyable holiday break, with opportunities to spend time with family and friends. It has been wonderful to see our students return with smiling faces, refreshed and ready for another term of learning. There has certainly been plenty of excitement as students have shared their holiday adventures.

As outlined in my letter to families over the school holidays, we have experienced some unexpected staffing challenges. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Tayla  Fenwick and her family as she focuses on her health and recovery. We send her our love and support during this difficult time. Cath Williams will also be taking the next fortnight off to support her family. We keep Cath and her loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.

We are incredibly fortunate to have Louise Murray working with our junior students. Louise has made a very positive start, providing a familiar and reassuring presence in the classroom. We are truly blessed to have her experience and support during this time. With our reduced staffing arrangements, Term 4 will require some flexibility and adjustments to our usual routines and programs. Staff responsibilities and timetables have been modified to ensure classroom learning and student wellbeing remain our priorities. I sincerely thank our families for their continued understanding and support.

While this final term at St Mary's will undoubtedly bring a mixture of emotions, there is still so much to look forward to. Our School Feast Day, camps, graduation and our Farewell and Thanksgiving Mass will provide wonderful opportunities to celebrate our students, our achievements and the rich history of our school.

Student Devices

On a separate topic, I also want to write to you today about something that comes up regularly in my conversations with teachers, parents, and students and that I suspect is a live issue in most households, including my own: how much time our young people are spending on screens, and what it is costing them.  As devices are part of your child’s learning, and they are part of modern life, there is a growing and consistent body of evidence that the way adolescents are currently using screens, particularly phones and personal devices, and particularly in the evenings and overnight, is affecting their sleep, their concentration, their emotional regulation, and their wellbeing in ways that matter. 

At St Mary's, we're changing how devices are used during the school day. But we know, and the evidence is clear, that what happens at home matters just as much, if not more. So, this term, we’re going to share a short series of notes across the weeks, each one brief, each one practical, and each one building on the last. We have called the series Screens, Space & Your Family. The first will be with you next week. The series will share what we know, suggest some things to try, and give you language and strategies for what, in our experience, can be genuinely difficult conversations at home. 

What’s coming across the term

Five short communications, each with one new idea to try:

1. First steps — simple changes to device location and access at home

2. The household curfew — one rule that makes everything else easier

3. The science — why this matters specifically for the teenage brain

4. When it gets hard — practical strategies for pushback and resistance 

5. Getting ready for 2027 — building habits across the summer that stick

St Mary’s Farewell and Thanksgiving Mass

As we look towards the end of the year, we are beginning preparations for a very significant occasion for our school community — the St Mary’s Farewell and Thanksgiving Mass.

The Mass will be held on Sunday, 22nd November at 10:30am, followed by lunch and refreshments.

This will be an opportunity for current and past students, families, staff, parishioners and friends of St Mary’s to come together to give thanks for the rich history of our school, celebrate the many people who have contributed to its story and recognise the lasting legacy St Mary’s has had within the Inglewood community.

We hope as many members of our current and past school community as possible will be able to join us for this important occasion. 

Please RSVP your attendance, using the QR code. 

Kind regards,