From the Principal 

Dear Families

Term 4 is always full of bitter sweet moments.  As we welcome our Preps for 2025 into our school for their orientation mornings, our Year 6 students are working hard on their reflective journeys as they prepare to graduate and say goodbye to our community and their primary school years.  At the end of this year we will be fare welling Mr Anthony Speranza as he takes up the position of Deputy Principal at St Patrick’s Mentone next year. Miss Aoife Mc Guinness is taking next year to teach abroad and travel, and Ms Denise is also planning to explore opportunities outside of teaching and to travel.  Mrs Mensen will be commencing her Maternity Leave in preparation for her exciting new arrival in March and Mrs Kylie Marks will be returning to Sydney with her family. We thank each of these staff members for all that they have done for our community and we will acknowledge this later in the Term. 

I am pleased to announce our staff for 2025: 

Parish Priest:  Jerome Santamaria

Principal:  Cathy Ferrari 

Deputy:  James Millane

Admin & Finance: Erica Nastopoulos 

Admin: Katherine Reade - Friday 

Library Technician: Katherine Reade - Tuesday 

Leadership 

Education in Faith:  James Millane

Learning & Teaching:  James Millane

eLearning:  James Millane

Wellbeing:  Catherine Le Hunt 

Maths:  Catherine Le Hunt 

Junior Literacy, Reporting and Assessment & Marketing:  Daniela Borgese 

Senior Literacy & Sports Co-ordinator:  Angela Mason

Specialist Teachers

Physical Education:  James Millane 

Performing Arts:  Barb Beciric - one semester

Visual Arts:  Rosemary Perri 

STEM: Barb Beciric - one semester 

Italian:  Carmela Vozzo 

Learning Diversity: Catherine Le Hunt 

Classroom Teachers 

Prep:  Daniela Borgese & Rosemary Perri on Thursday 

Year 1:  Naomi Raffaele & Marketing support - Instagram and school magazine

Year 2:  Jacquie Fleming 

Year 3:  Ariel Tovey 

Year 4:  Maureen McDonald - Rosemary Perri on Friday

Year 5/6L: Catherine Le Hunt (Mon - Wed), Anastasia Romios (Thurs - Friday)

Year 5/6M: Angela Mason - Carmela Vozzo on Thursday

Learning Support Officers 

Justin Buttigieg:   Monday to Wednesday - Year 4 

Sarah D’Mello:  Tuesday & Friday - Year 5/6

Huda Abiad:  Monday to Wednesday (Yrs Prep, 1 & 2) and Thursday and Friday (Year 4) 

Michelle Botwood:  Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday - Year 5/6

Katherine Reade:  Monday, Wednesday and Thursday - Year 5/6

We warmly welcome Mr James Millane, Miss Ariel Tovey and Miss Barb Beciric to our community and look forward to getting to know them, as they share their talents and expertise with us. 

Please see a brief introduction from each of them:

Hello to all of you in the St Mary's Primary School community,

I am very excited to be joining your wonderful school next year and looking forward to meeting each and every one of you in person. I am from Melbourne and grew up in Kew.  I have been teaching for thirteen years and love to get involved in lots of different areas of school life. From running clubs to gardening clubs and the school choir, I really enjoy supporting lots of opportunities for young people to have fun and learn at school. I have a big family of my own with children at primary and now secondary school. My hobbies are spending time with my family, gardening and walking our most needy family member - Barkley, our chocolate Labrador.  Have a great summer and I look forward to seeing you in 2025! Mr James Millane

Hi, I'm Ariel Tovey and I am 28 years old and have been teaching for two years within Year 1. Although I have loved this age group, I am very much looking forward to taking on Year 3 at St Mary's in 2025 and seeing what this age group brings in terms of personality, growth, development, and enthusiasm for learning. My interests include skiing and travel, and more recently, I've developed a passionate obsession with sewing. My deepest passion however, is guiding students as they learn and develop, empowering them to become the best versions of themselves. I can't wait to meet St Mary's wonderful students and the broader school community. Miss Ariel Tovey 

Hi Everyone, some of you might have seen me around at St Mary’s Primary School, and know me as Miss B (Miss Beciric). It has been a pleasure meeting you and getting to know this year. I look forward to learning more about St Mary’s.

A little about me…I live with my two dogs - Blitz and Sadie and two cats - Cleo and Bart. Can you guess which one might be the cheekiest? He is named after a Simpons character and he definitely gets up to mischief!  Although, Sadie could also win that award!  Apart from the mischief, you could say I love animals. I also enjoy: reading, music, knitting, gardening and anything Italian. I had an AMAZING Italian teacher in secondary school, you might know her? Her name is Signora Vozzo! 

I have been teaching for several years and teaching continues to be fulfilling, as I am always learning and the students, parents and my colleagues make it rewarding. 

In 2025, I am excited to be part of our community in which we learn and grow together and make sure we have fun along the way. If you see me, please feel free to introduce yourself. Wishing you a blessed and joyful Christmas and a happy and successful New Year. Can’t wait to see you in 2025! 😀 Miss Barbara Beciric

School Advisory Council 

In a fortnight we have our final School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting for the year. We thank Claude Lam for chairing the meetings and Father Jerome, Anthony Speranza, Hywell Sebastian, Ruth Trevaks, Jacqui Fischer and Craig Denehy for their guidance, wisdom and support throughout the year. Claude is stepping down from the SAC and his role of Chair. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Claude for his tireless work for our community, for his gentle and insightful wisdom and for his unwavering support for me over the last four years. We know Claude together with Marsha, Olivia, and Orison will continue to be active members of our community. We welcome Jacqui Fischer to the role of Chair of the SAC 2025- 2027 and look forward to the support she will bring to the role.  If you are interested in learning more about being a member of the SAC further information is in School Administration. 

Parents and Friends 

Tomorrow night we have our thank you drinks from 7 - 9pm in the Zen Zone. Everyone who has helped in any and every capacity this year is most welcome.  It is a casual night where we celebrate our achievements for the year and the fun that was had. It has been my privilege to work with Louisa Formica - Fiddy, as she has worked tirelessly in the role of P & F Leader over the last two years. Louisa’s energy, ideas and endless contacts have made our events the successes they have been. Louisa will continue to support our school, as she steps down from this role and takes some time out for her family. We are pleased to announce our 2025-2026 P & F Leader Jeremy Marsh who will be supported by Holly Nicolas as Secretary and Mel Treloar as Treasurer. We thank Holly for her work as Secretary this year and Jeremy for his work as the treasurer. 

We thank those people who have volunteered to be a class representative for next year. If you are interested in being a rep please email Anthony and/or myself. In particular we are on the lookout for reps for Year 1, 2 and Year 3. 

Year 2 Sleep over 

The Year 2 sleepover is this evening, to say the children are excited is an understatement! It is also understandable that with feelings of excitement can also come feelings of nerves.  We are very proud of our camp program and our Year 2s together with Miss Jaquie, Mrs Borgese and Miss Raffaele for their participation. Mr Speranza and myself will be there in the evening and early in the morning. 

Christmas Appeal 

In previous years we have been asked for monetary donations for ST Vincent De Paul. Recently one of our past parents Leah, who volunteers with the parish for the Asylum Seeker Support Group invited our school community to donate non-perishables that the ASSG could help with getting these to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

This centre is currently in great need because they were recently broken into.

https://asrc.org.au/ways-to-give/donate-food/#NeededItems

We will place  a tub in the foyer if you would like to donate. Please see the list from Leah below. 

Essential food items are our priority, and sticking to the list ensures that our community’s needs are met, and we make the most out of your donation.  We would love your donations of:

Tuna in oil, of any size

Tinned vegetables (tomatoes, peas, carrots, corn kernels)

Dried/tinned legumes (beans, chickpeas, red or yellow lentils)

Coconut cream or milk

Pasta

Basmati rice

Vegetable or olive oil (750ml – 1L)

Tomato paste

Asian sauces (soy sauce, chilli sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce)

Spices (cumin, turmeric, chilli flakes, coriander, garam masala etc.)

Honey, peanut butter, jam or tahini

Instant coffee / black tea bags

Sweet / savoury biscuits

Dried fruit and nuts

Dishwashing liquid

Laundry liquid/powder (1L/1kg)

Deodorant/razors

Shampoo

Toothbrush/Toothpaste

To respect the dignity of the people accessing the ASRC Foodbank and also to comply with Victorian health regulations, we cannot accept items that are past their use-by date or have damaged or open packaging.

Due to the food preferences of the communities we are supporting at the ASRC Foodbank, some foods are not needed, including:

   – Baked beans

   – Tinned spaghetti

   – Powdered mashed potatoes

School Closure Day - Friday 29th November 

Reminding all families that next Friday 29th November is a school closure day. On this day we will  have all our 2024 and 2025 staff members in to plan for next year. In this way we are able to deliver an explicit teaching model across the school, ensuring that the curriculum is enacted and that each child is taught at their point of need. 

Celebrating Learning in Prep

Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you. 

Mrs Cathy Ferrari