From the Principal
Update from the States
I am writing this article from Boston in the United States, where I am attending the National Coalition of Girls' Schools – 2022 Global Forum on Girls' Education. The major purpose of my participation at this forum is to support the promotion of the Asia Pacific Summit on Girls' Education, to be held in Hobart on 4 June to 5 June 2023. This conference will be hosted by the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia of which St Mary's College is a member.
Whilst in the US, I will also take the opportunity to connect with the international Presentation Sisters to discuss the congress that will be held in 2025 around the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Presentation Sisters. This will hopefully provide a significant opportunity for St Mary's College as one of the heritage foundation schools of the Nagle Alliance.
Following my US trip, I will be taking some long service leave from Monday 4 July, returning to the College on Monday 1 August.
Deputy Principal, Caroline Wilson-Haffenden will be appointed to the position of Acting Principal during my leave of absence. To support Caroline, our Director of Senior School, Andrew Clarke, will be appointed to Acting Deputy Principal. I ask that you join me in congratulating both Caroline and Andrew on their appointments and throw your full support behind them in my absence.
It is hard to believe we are almost at the end of Term 2; we have achieved so much during the term as our students continue their education journey. The senior students are currently preparing or sitting their mid-year exams, while the rest of the students are busily finishing off assessments in readiness for the mid-year reports.
I take this opportunity to wish the whole St Mary's College community a wonderful break and thank the staff who will continue to work during the holiday period to improve the College ahead of our students' return in Term 3.
Parent/student/teacher conferences – Monday 25 July
Just a reminder that the first day of Term 3 (Monday 25 July) will be an opportunity for our staff to engage with you and your son and/or daughter in our parent/student/teacher conferences from 9.00am–7.00pm.
These learning conferences will give light to discussions around the successes of the first semester and will provide a chance to plan for what can be achieved in the second half of the year.
A link to the bookings for these conferences will be available in the report email that will be sent out to families in the coming week.
Presentation Families event – Mini Winter Feast
What a wonderful night we had at our Mini Winter Feast, with so many people coming along to support this event. I would like to thank all involved in what was a great show of community at SMC. For a full recap and more photos, see Latest News.
Co-curricular
Our co-curricular teams continue to compete with success, and I am constantly impressed by the support that the teams receive from their coaches, managers and families.
From netball, hockey and badminton to soccer, water polo and debating, our teams have had fun and represented the College with great pride. A big thank you to all involved.
Our cross country runners successfully competed in the 2022 Primary All Schools Cross Country State Championships, held recently at Symmons Plains. Well done to all students.
KFC submission
I recently attended the Hobart City Council Planning Sub-Committee and spoke as a representative on behalf of the combined Colleges and the Archdiocese on the proposed development of 213 Harrington Street, Hobart. There were a number of other representors that spoke at that meeting.
The meeting concluded with the sub-committee voting 3–1 to not allow the application to proceed, which was then ratified and formally refused at the subsequent Council meeting. Our main concern was for safety and traffic, which were significant points in terms of the refusal.
I would like to thank all those community members who also put submissions in and helped secure the successful result.
I have linked the ‘Refusal to Grant a Planning Permit’ here should you wish to read it.
Meet the Principal Tours
The next ‘Meet the Principal Tour’ will be held on Friday 5 August at 9.30am.
The session commences with a meeting and presentation by me, followed by a College tour led by student leaders, giving parent and carers the opportunity to speak to students and staff, and see what we do during a day at St Mary’s College.
Further tour dates are available on our website.
Closing dates for enrolments are listed below:
- Junior School 2023 enrolments due 30 June 2022
- Year 11/12 2023 enrolments due 30 June 2022
- Year 7 2024 enrolments due 9 September 2022
COVID-19 update
All COVID-19 related information is available on the College website here.
Damian Messer
Principal