Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

This fortnight I’d like to start by acknowledging Miss Frost for her exceptional leadership of our school community over the past six weeks. We have a dedicated staff here at St Margaret Mary’s and everyone stepped up to ensure the students were safe, happy and learning. Instagram and facebook kept me informed and connected to school life while I was away and I loved sharing in the significant events and learning that happened in my absence.

Catching up with my eldest daughter April, visiting her home and the university where she is studying in Potsdam were definitely the highlights of our trip. Both of my girls were legends at navigating their way around Eastern Europe. They saved us time and money and pushed us out of our comfort zone at every opportunity. 

As we travelled through Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Czechia we learnt much from the local guides about the atrocities of World War II. What struck me most however, was the human spirit and the desire to rebuild lives and cities after the devastation of war. As I watch and pray for the current situation between Israel and Gaza to find a peaceful resolution, I can't help but wonder if we have learnt anything from the past.

Yesterday, I joined Year 3 - 6 in the Church to celebrate All Saints Day. During this celebration we took a few moments to reflect on the relationship between All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Halloween. We were all interested to hear how pagan traditions and rituals have been influenced by Christian traditions and vice versa. For example the Halloween tradition of trick or treating actually started as a Christian custom of knocking on doors to ask for a “soul cake,” on All Souls Day. If the door-knockers received a cake, they would offer prayers for the dead people in the household. In some places, the door-knockers would sing, tell a joke, recite a rhyme, or perform a kind of trick before receiving their treat. To conclude our liturgy we all took a moment to pray for the Saints and Martyrs that have died before us including St Margaret Mary, who shows us the importance of prayer in developing our relationship with Jesus.

The next six weeks will be busy, but like St Margaret Mary, I hope you can find some quiet time to reflect and pray as we enter the season of Advent and begin our preparations for Christmas. 

World Teachers Day

Although I was not present, I know our staff were treated to a beautiful lunch organised by Mrs Gravina and our parents. Thank you to everyone involved as I’m sure you can imagine teaching is truly vocational work. It is both a privilege and a challenge to spend our days shaping and guiding the young adults of the future. A heartfelt  ‘hats off to teachers’ as we celebrate World Teachers Day 2023.

Kindergarten Orientation

Next Thursday morning we will be welcoming our 2024 Kindergarten students into the school for their first orientation. This always generates much excitement in the school community. I know our Year 5 students are eagerly anticipating their first contact with their buddies for 2024 and I am grateful to our current Kindy parents who have volunteered to provide morning tea and a few words of wisdom to our new families.

Swimming Carnival 

Today we will be attending our school swimming carnival. We anticipate a terrific day of fun and competition. We extend a big thank you to Mr Simpson for organising this event and the parents and friends who are giving up their time to assist with the smooth running of the day. We wish our competitive swimmers the best of luck and look forward to seeing who will be representing St Margaret Mary’s at the zone meets early next year.

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