Mrs Ryan's Fortnightly Reflections

Catholic Education Week was such a huge success and I thank many of you who were able to attend and take part in any small way! Our Open Day, evening, and tours were well attended, and the teachers and leaders had to contain their pride and ability to overtalk! Dress-up day for ‘What we want to be when we grow up!’ saw creativity and aspirational potential! Our Seek Peace and Pursue initiatives were deeply thoughtful and age-appropriate. The sharing of these acts of kindness was celebrated at our Mass, where we also heard from one of our alumni, Cate Fraser. Cate shared her story of impact and continued connection to our school. A beautiful part of the homily at Mass! Mother’s Day was another sensational event; both in the activities and quality time with our learners, as well as the two hundred women who vibrantly filled the room, enjoyed high-tea, caught up, and connected! It is a big week on the calendar, but a joy at the same time! 

This week has been extremely fulfilling as the executive leadership team have met with over ninety families interested in our school. The joy of being able to build connections, celebrate what we do, and be supported by data that places St Mary’s on a confident upward trajectory—not only topping averages in our diocese but also in our local community as well. The commitment from our staff and families to the learning, teaching, and holistic growth of our children is evident now more than ever! It is such an enticing and easy conversation to facilitate with new families! We look forward to welcoming new families to our community in the very near future.  

This week I met with the learning leaders to discuss, update, and create new signage for our Child Safe standards. These standards are highly important within all schools, and our learning leaders contextualised them and artistically interpreted them for display in our school. These leaders are also supporting the administration team in serving and selling our party pies on a Tuesday and Thursday. 

A reminder, as it is starting to get cooler, that school uniform is expected at all times at St Mary’s. Our uniform is very flexible, comfortable, and open for learner choice; we simply expect that it is St Mary’s uniform. We are seeing many jumpers that are not school jumpers or fleece jackets. Please ensure our names are on all school uniform items so they can be easily returned. Also, all of our uniform supplies are provided by Hip Pocket, in Pakenham Street. A reminder that, additionally, our hair needs to be tied up if it is longer than shoulder length. I appreciate the family support on this. 

Next week, we start to see the camps begin on our school calendar. Our Year Six learners and teaching team will head off to Canberra early on Monday morning for five days of fun and learning! I will be the leading support for nights during this week. In my absence, Liz Chapman will be acting principal. 

In faith, trust and love 

Jasmine Ryan  

Principal