Opening Mass and Leaders' Commissioning

On Wednesday 12 February our Senior School and Junior School leaders were commissioned in their leadership roles during a special ceremony held in the Cathedral.

The Year 12s, as a leadership group, were also formally acknowledged and presented with a Nano Nagle badge.

Depicting a Celtic heart, the badges will serve to inspire our Year 12 girls to 'lead with the heart of Nano' (the founder of the Presentation Sisters whose particular ethos and charism guide our school today).

Following the ceremony, our young leaders, together with parents, staff and invited guests, continued the celebrations over morning tea.

Thank you to members of the College Board, Governing Council and the congregation for their attendance and to Archbishop Julian Porteous, together with concelebrants Fr Shammi Perera and Fr Peter Addicoat, for leading us in prayer.

Announcement of 2020 student leadership

We are delighted to share our St Mary's College Prefects for 2020.

The group will be led by Head Prefect, Amy Prokopiec and Deputy Head Prefects, Lucy Eade and Hannah O’Connell.

Congratulations to our Prefects for 2020:

Amy Prokopiec – Head Prefect)
Hannah O’Connell (Deputy) – Senior School
Lucy Eade (Deputy) – Communications
Ruby Banks – Nagle House
Gabriella Colavecchio – Culture
Ruby Dean – Wellbeing
Anya Grimmett – Sustainability
Maddison Lamb – Identity and Mission
Florence Mann – College House
Hannah Manning – Manresa House
Brianna McVilly – Junior School
Matilda Noonan – Arts
Kate Oliver – Health and Sport
Claire Riley – Presentation House
Laura Scott – Wellbeing
Selamwit Woldeabzghi – Academic

We wish these 16 young ladies the very best in their new roles and know they will lead and guide their fellow students with respect, resilience, spirit and pride.

We also congratulate our Junior School leaders for 2020:

Head Girl – Lucy Hofler
Deputy – Isobel Geard, Sarah Thomas
College Captain – Ruby Berry
College Deputy – Ava Baker
Manresa Captain – Phoebe Green
Manresa Deputy – Abbie Graves
Nagle Captain – Ellie Smith
Nagle Deputy – Mia Smith
Presentation Captain – Piper Spotswood
Presentation Deputy – Ruby Wighton
Councillors – Mackenzie Graves, Layla Lukianenko, Holly Richardson, Lyanne Olesco

Belling-in tradition

Wednesday 12 February was an especially exciting day for our new students who were officially welcomed into the St Mary's College community with a traditional Belling-in ceremony.

Dating back to July 2015, this ritual is the prequel to the Belling-out, where the College farewells its graduands at the end of the school year.

Newly commencing students and all Year 12 students received a warm reception, with many cheers, rounds of applause and high-fives exchanged as they made their way through a guard of honour, while the Convent bell tolled in the background.

Catholic Education Commission Tasmania Recognition Awards

The College wishes to congratulate the following staff members for their outstanding contribution to Catholic education in Tasmania.

Jenny Noble, Extension Program Teacher (Junior School) – Outstanding Service as an Employee within Catholic Education
Deearne Spaulding, Learning Support Coordinator (Senior School) and Year 11–12 English Applied Teacher – Outstanding Service as an Employee within Catholic Education

Jenny and Deearne will both be formally acknowledged and presented with their awards at a special function to be held in Hobart during Catholic Education Week (22–28 March 2020).

Year 7 adventure camp

Year 7 camp last week at Blue Lagoon was such an adventure! Students took on team building challenges with resilience, respect, responsibility and formed fantastic relationships to take forward into their first year in the Senior School.

Activities including rock climbing, archery, team games, the 'milk crate climb', sandcastle challenge, scavenger hunt and movie night saw the girls go beyond their comfort zone and try new and different things with a 'have a go' approach.

Art exhibition sparks wonder

St Mary's College is excited to announce that a body of work by Senior School Art Teacher, Anna Berger is being showcased at an exhibition currently running in Hobart.

The exhibition, which features 17 hand-coloured collagraph prints, explores the 'Collection' of Creatures of Wonder in 'Cabinets of Curiosities'.

The College's Learning Area Coordinator – Visual Arts, Sarah Adams recently attended the exhibition and shares her experience below.

Last Thursday night I had the privilege of attending the opening of Vandemonian Naturalia at Wild Island Gallery in Salamanca. This massive collection of works is the creation of our very own, immensely talented, Anna Berger. It’s an almost overwhelming but immensely satisfying journey through her mind.

Mrs Berger’s work explores the boundaries between the natural and the man-made with subtlety and delicate precision. Each work reveals how our local environment has been shaped by human economic 'needs'. I am still budding with different thoughts the works have triggered over a week after — you simply must see them!

Vandemonian Naturalia is open until 2 March and entry is free. Give yourself at least half an hour for this exhibition — trust me, each work just keeps giving.

Coronavirus update

Families can keep up-to-date with the latest medical advice and official reports relating to the novel (new) coronavirus (COVID–19) by visiting the Australian Government Department of Health website.

Student achievements

Congratulations to the following students: