From the Principal 

Dear St Mary Families,

It was wonderful to see an array of green across our school today. Thank you for the way in which you all embraced St Patrick's Day 2022. As we enter our third and fourth week of Lent, we are reminded of reflecting upon our Lenten journey, deepening our relationship with God and those around us. Last Sunday was the beginning of Catholic Education Week 2022; The way of the Gospel. This theme challenges us to find the Living Christ in our midst. 

Today is also National Close the Gap Day. It is a day to focus on the action needed to address the gaps in opportunity and outcomes between First Nations peoples and non First Nations peopIe. It is a day to acknowledge injustice and advocate for equity. Thank you to our parents  for sharing their passion and knowledge with us. We look forward to making meaningful action to advance reconciliation as a community. 

We hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and the lovely weather that came with it.  To all our ardent AFL footy fans, it was great having the first match of the 2022 season with Melbourne playing the Bulldogs last night. Regardless of the outcome, the match was an exciting one. 

After several false starts I was finally able to meet many of the St Mary's parishioners as Fr Jerome introduced me to the Parish, a fortnight ago.  I enjoyed chatting with the 9:00am and 10:30am parishioners.  We hope to open up the school one Sunday morning for the parishioners to walk through our new learning space.  Please see a brief version of my introduction of myself, for those who are getting to know me. 

A brief introduction of  myself:

• Have worked at several schools in various roles in both primary and secondary settings. 
• My study has mainly centred around student agency  and student voice is a passion of mine.
• Whilst I am a Principal and  teacher, I am most proud of being a mother. 
• Together with my husband Chris we have  3 sons, 1 daughter,  2 dogs; Frankie (5 month golden retriever) & Ralph (4 year old groodle.)  
• Last year was quite the year: Refurbishment, Review, ICON, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) change of Governance, COVID and Remote Learning. 

At SMPS we strive to grow the whole child - spiritually, physically, emotionally and academically.

We do this with hope and optimism as we negotiate our challenging times.

A highlight of mine is visiting the classes in the morning and assembly where we share our School Prayer. At the moment we are living our prayer where we pray for peace in our hearts, peace in our school and  peace in our world. This prayer was created by the SMPS community several years ago. 

As a Leader of the school in partnership with Fr Jerome, Bernadette and the Parish of St Mary’s I am acutely aware of the importance of and privilege of my role.  Yet I am also cognitive of the fragility of it as within the context of the history of the school my time here is but a drop in the ocean, but I intend on making it the best drop it can be. 

The St Mary’s family of school and Parish is a unique partnership and especially in our current times, we work together with Fr Jerome to further embed our inclusivity of all with God at our centre. At the core of this is our faith and giving each family the opportunity to develop and grow in relationship with God and experience our faith traditions. 

I thank Fr Jerome for his support of our school community and on a personal level his support of me. We both look forward to what the future holds with enthusiasm and optimism as our community navigates 2022 and beyond. 

Professional Development Thursday 10th and Friday 11th March 2022

Thursday and Friday were highly productive days for our whole staff and we thank families for supporting this. The focus for Thursday was to ensure consistent understanding and build staff capacity in regards to Wellbeing and Positive Behaviour Learning (PBL) and School Wide Positive Behaviour & Intervention Supports (SWPBIS).  We thank Anthony Speranza, our Deputy for his expertise and professionalism when presenting and facilitating these sessions with the staff. We look forward to having a Parent Information Night next Term, as we work towards shared understandings of this positive behaviour whole school approach.  

We finished Thursday with an amazing mindfulness chair yoga session. Emma and Sorayya (yoga instructors) from Happy Melon in Armadale led us through the most relaxing 45 minute session, which felt like 5 minutes. We are hoping that Sorayya can visit our students and lead them in some mindful yoga sessions next Term. 

The staff then shared a great meal and many laughs at the Balaclava Hotel rooftop garden in Carlisle Street. We thank Matt and his team for looking after us so well. Moments such as these are appreciated all the more after the previous two years. 

On Friday we had the privilege of working with Fr Jerome. The focus of our day was The Eucharist: Ritual and Life. Jerome is passionate about the Eucharist as evidenced by his doctorate! In his informative and engaging manner, we explored the place of worship and ritual in modern life. In the second session the structure of the Mass was the focus. We thank him for leading and empowering us to design rich and dynamic  Religious Education experiences for our students.  

Sacrament of Reconciliation 2022 

Our Year 3 and 4 students and their families are invited to an online  Family Faith Night on Wednesday 30th March 6-7pm . More information in regards to this will be emailed to the cohorts involved. As we move forward in 2023, the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be in Year 3, the Sacrament of First Eucharist will be offered in Year 4 and the Sacrament of Confirmation will be Year 6. 

We welcome Carmela Vozzo, who in addition to her teaching Italian will be our Faith Leader. This role incorporates the organisation of Masses, Sacraments, Liturgical events and prayer. We congratulate her and know that she will bring her expertise and outstanding organisation to the position. 

Leading Improvement for Learning 

Our Leadership Team, along with several other schools has been selected to be a part of a Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Southern Region initiative;  Leading Improvement for Learning. The focus of this course is the analysis of data to inform student learning outcomes. We look forward to sharing our journey with the community. 

2023 Enrolments 

Could we ask our current families who wish to enrol their child for Prep next year to contact school in the next few weeks. There is an application form on the school website which can be completed and emailed to Erica on admin@smstkildaeast.catholic.edu.au 

Next week promises to be an action packed one at SMPS

I look forward to attending the VACPSP Principal Conference next week. The school will be in the capable hands of our Deputy Mr Anthony Speranza supported by the Leadership Team of Anna Heta, Catherine Le Hunt and Daniela Borgese. I am most grateful to be supported by this team and thank them for next week. 

The inspiration for the conference is “I have said these things to you, that in my heart you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the World” John 16:33.  As school communities begin to emerge from the shadow of COVID-19 there have been huge consequences for educators around the globe and more specifically in our Victorian Catholic Primary Schools. And as the world is placed on “code red for humanity” by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) new report, it is time for school leaders to come together to hear from amazing world class experts on the importance of creating and developing hope in our students and our school communities, that  can in turn help change the world!

One of the core principles of an emerging new time is the resurgence of HOPE. Hope being the expectation of positive outcomes, the cherishing of a desire for the future and celebrating each other.

Now is the greatest time in the world’s history where hope and positive change will be the ONLY way forward.

More than ever, as leaders in our Catholic Primary Schools we are charged with working together in humanity to develop hope in our students, optimism in our communities and the understanding that together we can create a solution driven future for all. Learning how to make a positive difference in the world is how children can develop confidence, optimism and hope. 

Friday 18th March 

National Day of Action against Bullying 

Monday 21st March 

National Harmony Day 

Friday 25th March 

Ride2School Day 

Wednesday 30th March 

Reconciliation Family Faith Night online 6-7pm - Year 3 & 4 

Thursday 31st March 

Sports Carnival  Prep - Year 6 at  Alma Park 12:00-2:30pm - parents welcome 

Friday 1st April 

Welcome Drinks 

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

Mrs Cathy Ferrari