From the Principal 

Dear Families

As we finish Semester One we have so much to be proud of and to reflect upon. Thank you for working in partnership with us as you met with the teachers at the Parent Teacher Interviews to celebrate your child/children’s growth and discussed where to next for their learning. Please take time to read your child’s report with them before the start of next term to help set their learning goals for the next semester and celebrate their achievements. We congratulate our Prep families for their first semester at school and celebrate the amazing learning they have done. We hope you can enjoy a few sleep ins and at the very least a break from making school lunches and preparing the school uniforms. 

 How good does the sideway look with our new garden? 

An enormous thank you to everyone who has helped with our landscaping project, a labour of love!  Last Sunday more soil was dug into the garden bed and then following the plans closely our plants found their new home. Each morning I have such pleasure in looking at the garden and knowing the community hours that have come to fruition for its creation. We have one more section to finish and the sideway is completed. Our next step is the creepers, planter boxes and seats in the Zen Zone. We missed Mr Speranza on Sunday as he has overseen the whole project in conjunction with Heinz and Louisa. Unfortunately he is recovering from COVID and we look forward to seeing him well and rested next Term. 

How good does our signage look ? 

Mrs Borgese in her marketing role has been working on our signage this semester. We are thrilled with the result.  The trees will have a little haircut in the holidays and then the signs will be seen far and wide. 

Our St Mary's Rock Stars

Last Thursday marked the Winter solstice and it was fitting to celebrate this with our annual School Disco. Thank you to the many people that helped to ensure that the children had the best night ever! The excitement on Thursday was palpable and there were many weary little and big people on Friday. It is always a pleasure to see how our community loves an event and to see all our students from our first attendee Prep students to our nostalgic Year 6 students, getting onto the dance floor, belting out the songs with the DJ and enjoying their hot dog and ice cream. Some of the parents were hard to recognise with their costumes, in particular Bon Jovi who joined us for the evening!  Everyone was a rock star that night! 

Expos

Our Expos continue to be well attended and are very popular with families providing a welcome audience for our students to share and explain their amazing learning this term. We look forward to continuing this celebration of learning. It is always exciting to  see the continuum of learning from Prep to Year 6. 

We thank Miss Anastasia Romios for working with our Year 3 students for the last three weeks of this Term, whilst Miss McGuinness is overseas and look forward to having her in Year 4 for the first four weeks of next Term, allowing Mrs McDonald to celebrate her son’s wedding in Greece.  We are fortunate to have Anastasia working with us as she knows each student, is a highly experienced teacher and ensures that the planned program is enacted.   

It was fantastic watching Olivia on Hard Quiz last Saturday night. We are so proud of her and loved hearing about her experience of being on the show. It sounded exciting and nerve racking at the same time. 

Senior Basketball Players 

The Year 5’s St Mary’s Slammers boys basketball team competed in the finals at MSAC last Wednesday.  We were against our toughest rivals. We had played  against them two times before, both being tight matches. The finals was just as challenging. The scores were neck and neck throughout the game. In the last two minutes it was thrilling with fouls and free shots. We just won by a whisker, scoring two more hoops with a few seconds to spare. Because it was so close, we exploded with joy when we won. There were tears and cheers everywhere. A thrilling final to the end of season.  From Karen and Willem 

The Year 6's St Mary's Showtime basketball team also competed in the finals at MSAC. Their team has been playing together since the girls were in Year One, with a few joining on the way. It was a very close grand final match and came down to the wire, with the girls winning by a point. From the team

Footy Star 

Congratulations to Braxson for receiving a medal from the coach for the best player of the round.  Braxson plays for the Brunswick Dragons.

Our prayers and thoughts are with the Farrell family; Trinity, Andrew, Rivi and Zelie. We were sad to hear of  the loss of Trinity's mum Elizabeth, whom many in the community knew. 

We wish everyone a well deserved holiday and hope everyone stays warm, including our hard working staff.  We look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready to go on Monday 15th July, for what promises to be an exciting Term 3. Thank you for your support, positive attitude and enthusiasm for all that we do in our beautiful St Mary's Primary School community. 

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

Mrs Cathy Ferrari