Principal's Message
Ian Margetts
Acting Principal
Dear St Mary’s Community
It’s certainly my pleasure to be Acting Principal here for the remainder of the year. In just the small amount of time I have spent in this role, I’ve certainly felt the family spirit that is inspired by Mary. It definitely has been a welcoming, trusting, willing, caring and generous community and I thank everybody for their support in the first three weeks.
It has been a busy start to the term! This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week and how Catholic schools encourage people in each community to live out the message of Jesus. At St Mary’s we do this through the inspiration we draw from Mary’s example as well as from our school values of Faith, Hope and Love. We encourage each member of the community, staff and students, to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.
During Catholic Education week, staff involvements are acknowledged through the Spirit of Catholic Education and Docemus Awards. ‘Docemus’ means ‘to teach’ and the awards acknowledge and celebrate the exceptional commitment, achievement and contribution to Catholic Education by staff, volunteers and supporters of Catholic Education. St Mary’s is proud to have our Pastoral Leader of Year 7, Leah McBryde, nominated for her “dedication, gratitude and compassion with which she encourages and supports students and staff”. Congratulations Leah!
This week, we also held our annual Immersion Day where College Board and Family Connect members are invited into the school to experience the actual operations of a day at St Mary’s. Throughout the day, we looked at the concept of school improvement and the fact that it does not mean that something is ‘wrong’, but is a deliberate and purposeful focus on continuous review and development that identifies and supports growth opportunities. Members looked at the work the College is doing in the ‘writing space’, visited classrooms during student lesson times, gained a greater understanding of the School Improvement Framework and had the opportunity to provide feedback on how St Mary’s engages with families and the community. I strongly encourage families to engage with the College and in their children’s education as this is a critical factor for improving student attendance as well as student engagement in learning and learning achievement.
Our Student/Parent/Teacher Evening last Thursday was another opportunity for parents and carers to engage with the College in the interest of each student’s education. Thank you to the many people who attended as well as the St Mary’s staff who gave up their time to be available.
Well done to the Year 11 students who have nominated for leadership positions in 2022. It was certainly a pleasure to hear the nominating Captains’ speeches last week. All students demonstrated their affinity for, and their desire to give back to, the College. I would like to congratulate again Nicholas Adriaans and Hannah Sawyer as elected College Captains for 2022. Thank you to Ms Headridge and Mrs Redgwell who are continuing to work through the processes for House and Prefect positions in 2022.
Student leadership is just one of the myriad of opportunities that are provided to students of the College and we encourage all people in our community toward personal excellence. With this in mind we pray;
Lord God, you call us to life in all its fullness,
help us to follow the path set out by Jesus your Son.
As we reflect on the opportunities we are offered,
we ask you to deepen our desire to imitate his example.
May our exercise of the gifts you have given us,
be a faithful reflection of his presence at work in our lives.
Amen
God bless