Dear Parents,

It has been another busy week at St Mary’s with the senior school swimming program, Grandparent’s Day, Book Fair and the senior Cluster day for Year 5 and 6 children. Yesterday’s Grandparents Day was a highlight for the year with a big turnout of grandparents and special friends. The children loved having their special people for the morning and I thank all our families for making this event a priority. I would like to thank Sam Sullivan for the wonderful job she did with the organisation of Grandparent’s Day. Sam was ably assisted by the staff who once again willingly gave up their time to make sure the day was a success.

The weeks are quickly disappearing with just over three weeks of school left for the children. We still have a few whole school events planned in these couple of weeks, as well as finalising staffing, Year 3 and Year 4 camps, student assessments, and reports. The following will be the class structure for 2025:

1 Prep class
1 Year One class
2 Year Two classes
1 Year Three class
2 Year Four classes
2 Year Five classes
1 Year Six class

The children will continue to also have specialist classes in Mandarin, Physical Education, Performing Arts and Visual Arts. Children will also be able to have instrumental lessons through ABC Music.

We are in the process of finalising the staffing for 2025 and we hope to communicate this with our school community later next week.

Lapathon

Last Friday we held our School Lapathon and I must congratulate the children for their wonderful attitude to this event. It was a perfect day for the children to run their laps down along the foreshore assisted by a number of parents and staff who kept the children safe and sound as they completed their laps. Thank you to the parents who assisted and to the staff and children for their wonderful attitude even as they began to tire. Could all money be collected and sent to the school so prizes can be finalised for the children completing the most laps and raising the most money.

Report Writing Week for Classroom Teachers

This week all the classroom teachers were released for a day to assist with the assessment of their students and the writing of the End of Year Reports. In most cases, one of the specialist teachers has covered the class for the day.

School Christmas Carols

This year we will be holding a whole school Christmas Carols on Monday 9th December at 6:00pm. All classes will be performing and all children are expected to attend. Parents and family members are invited to bring along a blanket or chair and enjoy some Christmas Spirit provided by the children. The children will be able to wear Christmas colours/accessories unless directed otherwise by their teacher. We are expecting the carols to run for an hour, concluding at approximately 7:00pm. Hopefully the weather Gods smile upon us and we are able to hold the carols on the oval area. Gates will open at 5:30pm, for pre-show entertainment, presented by a former St Mary’s student, Charlie Clarkson.

End Of Year and Graduation Liturgy

I would like to remind families that this year all children are expected to attend the End of Year and Graduation Liturgy on Friday 13th December at 6:00pm. All children will need to wear their school uniform to this event. This will be a chance to not only farewell our Class of 2024 but for the school community to come together to celebrate the wonderful year at St Mary’s in 2024. Many of the year levels will have important roles in the liturgy.

School Closure Day

I would like to remind parents that the school will be closed on Friday 29th November for the staff of 2025 to come together to plan for 2025.

Conclusion of School Year

The school year will conclude on Tuesday 17th December at 1:00pm.

TheirCare Summer Holiday Program