Principal's message

As we come to the end of Term 2, I want to take a moment to thank you for your ongoing support and partnership throughout the term. It has been a busy and rewarding few months filled with learning, growth, and memorable moments for our students.

From classroom achievements and sporting events to liturgical celebrations and excursions, our students have embraced every opportunity with enthusiasm and resilience. We are incredibly proud of their efforts and the way they continue to grow as learners and as people.

A special thank you to our dedicated staff for the time, care and energy they bring to every aspect of school life. Their commitment makes all the difference.

PLEASE NOTE: NO ASSEMBLY NEXT WEEK

We wish all families a safe and restful holiday break, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for an exciting Term 3.

Ochre @ St Monica's 

At St Monica’s, we believe strong relationships and consistent, high-impact teaching are key to student success. Last week, we welcomed Reid and Caroline, developers of the OCHRE initiative, which supports a low-variability curriculum approach across Sandhurst schools. At St Monica’s, OCHRE ensures all students experience consistent teaching and assessment across year levels, while allowing teachers to meet individual needs. A low-variability curriculum builds clarity, confidence and reduces unnecessary complexity—helping all learners engage deeply with core content. We’re proud to partner with families and lead learning in ways that truly support every student, every teacher, every school, every day.

Student Reports

Our Semester 1 student reports will be released at the end of the term via your PAM account.

This year, families will notice a change in the formatting of the reports. Each report includes a general comment as well as specific comments on your child’s progress in English and Mathematics. These changes are designed to provide clearer, more focused insights into your child’s learning and development across core areas.

We encourage all families to take the time to read through the report with your child, celebrate their efforts and achievements, and discuss goals for the semester ahead.

If you have any questions after reading the report, please feel free to contact your child’s classroom teacher.

Congratulations to Bishop Shane

We begin this week’s newsletter with exciting news from our wider Church community.

Last Wednesday, Pope Francis announced the appointment of the Most Reverend Shane Mackinlay as the new Archbishop of Brisbane. Bishop Shane will step into this significant role following the retirement of Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who has faithfully served the Church as Archbishop for 13 years and as a priest for 51 years.

Many in our school and parish community have come to know Bishop Shane with great fondness. Most recently, he joined us to celebrate the sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist with our students — a moment we will long remember and cherish. Over the past six years as Bishop of Sandhurst, he has led with warmth, wisdom, and genuine care.

We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Bishop Shane and hold him in our prayers as he prepares to begin this new chapter of leadership in the Church.

Staff Updates 

Today we welcomed Kellie Scott to our school community. Kellie spent the morning with Grade 2JS, the class she will be teaching next term. The students were very excited to meet her, and it was a special opportunity to spend some time together and get to know her before the holidays. We hope Kellie enjoys a restful break, and we look forward to her being part of the St Monica’s community in the second half of the year.

We also extend our best wishes to Zoe Sheean, who begins parental leave at the conclusion of Term 2. Meg West will also finish up at St Monica’s at the end of this term—we thank Meg for her contributions and wish her well.

This week we also welcomed back Kate Brooks from parental leave. From the beginning of next term, Kate will be conducting intervention and wellbeing programs across the school.

School Uniform Accessories

As we prepare for a strong start to Term 3, we remind families of our school expectations around uniform accessories.

• Jewellery is not permitted as part of the school uniform (e.g. rings / bracelets / non religious necklaces).
• Hair (longer than shoulder length) should be tied back with ties.
• Nail polish is not be worn to school.
• Earrings may be worn in the ear lobe/s only (studs or sleepers only).  Long dangling earrings are a safety concern and not permitted.