St Mary's College Connect

Principal's Message

Wayne Wood

Principal

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

To our St Mary’s Community,

 

I don’t think anyone could have predicted the year that we have had so far. There has been so much change to our daily lives and we have had to be resilient in many ways to get through all the interesting scenarios that the COVID – 19 virus has raised. Yet, here we are, at the half-way point of the year. I must admit, it has been one of the more challenging years I have experienced as an educator. 

 

As we come to the end of Term 2, I wish to say a very sincere “thank you” to our St Mary’s community. I wish to especially thank our parent community who have had to work so much harder this year in supporting your child’s learning. Your support has been noticed and so too has your engagement in the learning process. 

 

Our staff have performed extremely well under trying circumstances. I have been amazed at how well they have shifted gears, learnt new ways of doing things and supported each other. All the while, their focus has been on doing their absolute best to engage students in their learning. I am very proud of our St Mary’s staff. 

 

Our students have been great too! I have been amazed at how well they have coped, given the many changes that have come their way. There is clear research around the factors that predispose children to positive outcomes in the face of adversity. Two of particular importance are that of a caring and supportive child-adult relationship and the support of a faith, hope and cultural tradition to ground them when challenged by a disruptive event. To this end, I wish to thank everyone in our St Mary’s community for your support.

 

I hope that the coming Semester vacation period is a real blessing for the whole community. In looking ahead to next Term, I share the following information:

 

Term 3 Start

Monday 13th of July

Student Free Days for Term 3: 

  • Friday 14th August (Week 5)
  • Friday 4th September (Week 8) (Please note: Year 11 Sport &Recreation students will complete their hiking assessment on this day)

Reminder: Cairns Show Public Holiday is Friday 17th of July

Stay home if unwell

Please continue to keep your child home if they are displaying flu-like symptoms. This is for everyone’s safety. If students present to school unwell, parents will continue to be contacted and asked to collect their child immediately.

 

School Fees

I sincerely thank those families who have made instalment payments against their annual school fees. This is important to the College and its ability to provide the quality education it does. Families are reminded that if you are experiencing financial hardship due to the present economic climate, and/or hold a Pensioner or Health Care Card, you may be eligible to apply for a concession. Please contact the office for further information.

 

Timetable for Term 3 

Our current timetable model will continue into Term 3. The key feature of this timetable is a 5-minute transition phase, allowing students and staff to travel to the next lesson via restricted foot traffic rules. As you know, we have controlled the direction of stairways in order to reduce face-to-face contact and congestion when moving around our buildings.

 

Wednesday Sport

With restrictions beginning to ease for Term 3, we will return to a near full sports program. Additional health and safety protocols have been established for bus travel and external venue use. Please note that in order to accommodate bus travel times, students will be dismissed at 3pm every Wednesday.

 

Year 11 and 12 students will no longer to have the option to go home at 1:30pm.

Assemblies

We have now received notification from government and health authorities that from Term 3 schools can hold assemblies in open and ventilated venues. This permits the College to return to whole-school assemblies in the Nazareth Pavilion. Procedures for parent attendance at assemblies will be communicated prior to each assembly. We are currently planning for a whole-school Mass as part of our St Mary’s Day celebrations on the 12th of August.

Athletics Carnival – 14th September

This is unusually late for this event, however, we felt it was best to delay it to coincide with the easing of restrictions.  Our aim was to give our students every opportunity to participate in a full-scale Athletics Carnival. Whilst we know things can change, at this time, we have been informed that we can proceed with a “regular” carnival.

Semester 1 Report

As previously communicated, the Federal Government has provided direction to schools regarding minimum reporting requirements. Naturally, the need for flexibility in reporting has been acknowledged in these instructions.

 

As a College, we have decided to go beyond the minimum requirements and have made the decision to report the following way:

 

  • Every child will receive an A-E overall academic result for each subject.
  • Every child will receive an effort rating for each subject.
  • Every child will receive a comment from their Pastoral Mentor.
  • We will not provide comments for individual subjects.

Parent Student Teacher Interviews

Whilst we are not hosting PST Interviews in Term 3, parents are always encouraged to contact teachers to discuss their child’s progress.

 

Parent access to school grounds

Please observe usual ‘Drop-off and Pick-up’ protocols. Only parents with essential College business should be entering our grounds. Parents are not to drop-off and pick-up students inside College grounds.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I once again congratulate our St Mary’s community on a wonderfully successful Term.  I hope the up-coming holidays give families a chance to rest and enjoy your time together. 

 

Through FAITH, HOPE and LOVE, we make a difference in our world.

 

 God Bless