First Nations Incursion: Song Dance & Storytelling [Didgeridoo Australia]

Last week we had an amazing incursion from Didgeridoo Australia where we learned about Aboriginal culture. We were immersed in the Wurundjeri language and discovered the names of native animals such as wombats, emus, possums, kangaroos and frogs.

We also explored the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and found out what the colours mean and why they are so important.

One of our favourite parts was singing and dancing along to the yidaki (didgeridoo). We also listened to the Dreaming story of Tiddalick the Frog, which reminded us about the importance of sharing and caring for others.

We feel very lucky to be learning about the world’s oldest living culture.

I wonder what Wurundjeri words you can remember…

I wonder what other Dreaming we know..

Sandra, Louise, Patricia and Catherine

Foundation Teachers

SMCM Athletics Team Brings Home 2nd Place!

On Wednesday 13th August, under a bright blue sky, our SMCM Interschool Athletics Team headed to Meadowglen Athletics Track to compete in the Bridge Inn district carnival.

Our students represented SMCM with enthusiasm, determination, and great sportsmanship across a wide range of track and field events. Every team member gave their best effort and supported one another throughout the day. We’re incredibly proud to share that SMCM finished 2nd overall — an amazing achievement!

A huge thank you to the staff and families who came along to support and cheer from the sidelines — your encouragement made the day even more special. A very big thank you to our parent helpers on the day Lauren and Elli and to Melissa, Lisa H and Yolanda for helping to train the team in the lead up to the event. Congratulations to the following athletes who finished top two in their event and progress through to the division carnival later this term.

Lisa

Sport Teacher

lisa.palmer@smcmeppingnth.catholic.edu.au

Book Week Parade

This week's article has been written by two of our Year 6 students, Odyssey and Danikka.

This week we are celebrating Book Week. The SMCM students are participating in a wide variety of activities.

On Monday, our students had the Book Week Parade, where all the students got to dress up as their favourite book characters, and also enjoy a book read to them at lunch time everyday.

How was the Book Week Parade?

Preps

“Walking around the oval showing my costume” -Alyssa (dressed up as Belle)

“When I was walking” -Liam

“Fine. I was a little worried, but I found it fun” -Natalie (dressed up as the naughtiest unicorn)

“Everyone high-fived me”- Taylan (dressed up as Pikachu)

“Exciting” -Tyler (dressed up as Iron Man)

“Someone was dressed the same as me” -Marla (dressed up as a witch from ‘Room on the Broom’)

“When the teachers chose who did the best” -Natalia and Noah (dressed up as Lilo (Natalia) and Captain America (Noah))

How was the Book Week Parade?

Year 1

“The dress up, and when I walked around” -Belle

“When we were walking around, and when I was high-fiving people” -Luca

“Probably everything” -Ariana

“Running around” -Noah

Books being read aloud everyday

Year 2

“I liked it, it’s pretty interesting to me” -Kiara

“I liked the pictures. I loved the book. It was really fun. I was keeping my eyes open.” -Stella

“I liked how they read a book to us. They were interesting.” -Amelia L

“I like how they change the voices.” -Amelia G

On Tuesday, Australian author, Adrian Beck, visited our Year 3 to 6 students. Adrian Beck gave students tips on coming up with book ideas, also giving the children a drawing lesson and a prize for a lucky student. Learn more about Adrian Beck at adrianbeck.com.au.

How was the Adrian Beck visit?

Year 3

“Kinda fun. I liked learning how to draw” -Michael

“Good. I liked all the information” -Sienna

“The drawings were great” -Lucas

“His inspirations were interesting” -Harper

Year 4

“It was interesting. I liked how they told us to come up with books. I liked learning to draw.” -Dom

“It was very humorous. I liked all the jokes. His tips were helpful.” -Charlotte

“It was very interesting” -Gia

“I really like reading, so meeting one of my favourite authors was exciting” -Xavier

Year 5

“Very good. It was very interesting” -Sienna

“He gave us a lot of information. He was very nice and he listened to the questions and we were engaged. He was amazing.” -Audrey

Year 6

“It was really informative and he was very funny” -Odyssey

“I liked drawing the cute cat called Furball. Adrian, himself, was really funny” -Danikka

“I loved the detail. I loved the pictures. It was funny.” -Amara

Next week, the Prep - Year 2 students will be experiencing a Book Week Performance. This links to the theme for this year's Book Week, which is Book an Adventure! This will be a very exciting time for the students in SMCM.

Written by Danikka and Odyssey (Glowrey Homegroup)

Biljana

Literacy Leader

biljana.stavreski@smcmeppingnth.catholic.edu.au

Rafael

Learning and Teaching & Digital Technologies Leader

Rafael.Fernandez@smcmeppingnth.catholic.edu.au

SMCM Results for Matific Maths Olympiad 2025

We are thrilled to share the results of the 2025 Matific Olympiad, which took place from Monday, August 11th to Friday, August 15th. The Matific Maths Olympiad is a global competition involving millions of students from over 20 countries, and this year, 294 of our young mathematicians from Foundation to Year 6 completed activities during this competition period. We are excited to announce that SMCM was ranked 44th overall, which is a fantastic achievement. Well done, SMCM!

An outstanding 73 students achieved the highest level of recognition, earning the ‘Ruby’ award with 150 stars. Throughout the week, we have been presenting certificates to all 294 participating students during our Afternoon Gatherings. An extra congratulations goes to some of our homegroup and students for their efforts and achievements!

SMCM Homegroup Leaders for Matific Maths Olympiad 2025

Rank	Homegroup	Year Level	Stars Earned Total
1	Respect	Year 4	1791
2	Marran	Foundation	1533
3	Optimism	Year 4	1302
4	Inspire	Year 4	1211
5	Balam-Balam	Foundation	1150

SMCM Student Leaders for Matific Maths Olympiad 2025

Rank	Mathematicians	Homegroup	Accuracy
1	Hriday	Eucalyptus	99.35%
2	Christian	Jacaranda	98.33%
3	Ivreen	Respect	96.36%
4	Leon	Optimism	95.65%
5	Joshua	Respect	95.56%

Happy Maths learning, everyone!

Sawako

Maths Coach Years 3 - 6 & Mathematics Intervention Specialist

Sawako.gannon@smcmeppingnth.catholic.edu.au

Golden Children

Another Golden Four - Congratulations Charlie and Adam from Year 3 Trust, and Shevin and Albert from Year 6 Dalton.

It is Albert's first time being a Golden Child. Having only started at SMCM in Year 5, he really worked hard and showed perseverance and determination to share his knowledge in all Stem Masters.

Charlie, Adam and Shevin all continued to impress and with flawless recitation of their 118 of the Periodic Table. Adam and Shevin also earned their Golden Child in 2023, 2024 and now again in 2025. Whereas Charlie did so last year in 2024 and again this year in 2025.

Well done, boys, on such a wonderful achievement!

(To earn the title of Golden Child, students must earn masters in and be able to name facts about: The planets, rainbows, bones, the solar system, clouds, the mouth, birds, towers, lightning and thunder and all 118 elements of the Periodic Table)

A huge achievement!

Michael

STEM Teacher

michael.caruana@smcmeppingnth.catholic.edu.au

Parish News

Parish Newsheet