Principal Announcements

Welcome to 2026

Congratulations to all students for such a positive and settled start to the new year.

As we begin another exciting year at St. Mary’s Mooroopna, I extend a warm welcome to all our students, families, and staff. A special welcome to our new Prep students who are starting their school journey, as well as to the new students joining us in other grades—we are delighted to have you as part of our school community. To all new families, we hope you quickly feel at home and experience the warmth and support that makes St. Mary’s such a special place. May this year be filled with learning, friendship, and many wonderful memories. We look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Good News!

New Staff

We are delighted to welcome several staff members to St Mary’s this term and to also welcome back a familiar face from leave.

A warm welcome to Tilly Male, who joins our teaching team as a new Grade 5 teacher, and to Angus Cole, who has commenced with us as a new Learning Support Officer. We are also pleased to welcome Lincoln Taylor, who will begin next week in the role of Maintenance Manager, supporting the ongoing care and development of our school environment.

We are equally pleased to welcome back Maddi Deane, who has returned from leave and will be working with our Prep students on Thursdays and Fridays.

Please join us in making all of these staff members feel welcome as part of our St Mary’s community

Parish and Community News

We are proud to share that on Monday, our very own Monsignor Peter Jeffrey was recognised at the Australia Day celebrations as Mooroopna Citizen of the Year. This is wonderful recognition of a lifetime of faithful service to the Church, the wider community, and the many parishes he has supported over the years. Monsignor Peter also served as the inaugural Chair of the Sandhurst School Education Board, where he provided outstanding leadership and guidance to Catholic Education across the diocese for many years.

Congratulations, Monsignor Peter —this honour is richly deserved. Article attached here. 

School Involvement Opportunity

Book Club Coordinator Needed!

A huge thank you to Simone Oliver for her wonderful dedication in coordinating Scholastic Book Club for our students in 2025. 

We truly appreciate all her hard work! 

As Simone steps down from this role, we are looking for a new volunteer to take over. This is a fantastic opportunity to get more involved in the school community and support our students’ love of reading. If you’re interested in helping with Book Club, please contact the school office—we’d love to hear from you and ensure a smooth transition for this program!

Advisory Council

We are pleased to welcome Naomi Sutton and Sara Robin to the St Mary’s Advisory Council. Their expertise, insight, and commitment to our school community will be invaluable as we continue to grow and strengthen learning opportunities for our students. We look forward to working with Naomi and Sara and benefiting from their guidance and support.

Maintenance

Over the holidays, several maintenance projects were completed, with planning underway for further improvements throughout the year. 

A huge thank you to Phil Crowe who finished on the 23/1/26 and Wes Stanley for coordinating the cleaning and maintenance work - our school looks wonderful! 

We appreciate the ongoing efforts to enhance our facilities and look forward to sharing more updates as the year progresses.

Magnify Sandhurst

As we move into 2026, we look forward to continuing our work with Magnify Sandhurst. 

These initiatives support personalised learning for our students, helping them to discover and develop their unique gifts, grow in faith, and build strong, meaningful connections within our school and parish community.

Goal Setting

In 2026, our whole-school learning focus at St Mary’s is Resilience. We are encouraging students to develop the confidence, persistence and positive mindset needed to face challenges, try new things, and keep going when learning feels difficult.

At our Week 2 assembly, students listened to the story Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr Seuss. This story helped us talk about what resilience looks like — taking opportunities, learning from mistakes, navigating setbacks, and continuing to move forward with courage and hope. These ideas are supporting students as they begin setting their Term 1 learning goals. Staff have also been engaging in similar goal setting, modelling the same resilient approaches to growth and improvement.

Ways families can help build resilience at home include:

• Encouraging children to have a go before stepping in to fix a problem
• Praising effort, persistence and improvement — not just results
• Talking about mistakes as a normal and valuable part of learning
• Helping children break big tasks into smaller, manageable steps
• Modelling calm problem-solving and positive self-talk
• Encouraging responsibility through age-appropriate jobs and routines
• Reminding children of times they have overcome challenges before

By working together, we can help our students grow into confident, capable and resilient learners

Founders’ Day – Monday 23 February 2026

St Mary’s will celebrate Founders’ Day on Monday 23 February, honouring the founding of our school, our Catholic identity, and our rich history. This day will also mark the beginning of our 90-year celebrations as a school community.

Students will take part in prayer, reflection and House-based activities that promote connection, gratitude and school spirit.

Families are warmly invited to join us for a Founders’ Day Family BBQ and picnic from 1:35–2:15pm on the school oval. BBQ food and drinks will be available for purchase (provided by Azem), and families are also welcome to bring their own food. Students and staff will picnic in their House groups as we celebrate together as one community.

St. Mary’s Alumni

As part of our celebrations for this year, we would love to hear from St. Mary’s Alumni – past staff, community members and students. We would love to hear about your past experiences of St. Mary’s. If you are willing to be involved please contact the school office on 5825 2858 or email at office@smmooroopna.catholic.edu.au

School Access Arrangements

Here are the key details of the new arrangements:

• School Gates: Gates will open by 8:00am and 3:15pm each day.
• Early Arrivals: Students arriving before 8:30am must enter via the front entrance, Toolamba Rd gate or the carpark entrance and will be directed to the library, where they can engage in quiet activities under supervision.
• Breakfast Club: Breakfast Club will continue to operate from 8:30am in the Marian Centre.
• Yard Supervision: All students will be actively supervised on the yard from 8:20am.
• Classrooms: Classrooms will open at 8:45am.
• During inclement weather: classes are open for earlier access

We continue to support the wellbeing of our students while also respecting the professional commitments of our teaching staff. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we implement these updates.

Thank you for your continued support of our school community. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the school office.

Before School Supervision

Please note that all students that arrive at school prior to 8:30am must fill out an application via the link below. For new and casual before school arrivals, please complete prior to 4:00pm each day to enable student lists to be updated for the following morning. I appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation regarding this.

Before School Supervision

Principal’s Awards

No awards this week as we had a welcome assembly only.

Attendance matters!

Every minute matters. This is a simple statement, but a true one. For every minute a child is at school they learn. For every minute they are absent they not only miss out on they not only miss out on learning, but they also lose some previous learning.

Ms V’s Inspirations

“Behold, I am making all things new.” – Revelation 21:5

As we begin this new school year, may we embrace fresh opportunities to learn, grow, and share God’s love with one another.

“Let your light shine before others.” – Matthew 5:16

May this year be filled with kindness, courage, and a commitment to making a difference in our school and community, keeping all safe, happy and successful.