From the Principal 

Dear Families

We welcome everyone back and look forward to a productive Term 2 ahead, full of learning and  shared community events. It was a joy greeting all of the children on Monday morning and hearing about their holidays and being asked about mine. I am always so proud of our students as they greet our staff and politely converse with them, in an authentic and engaging manner. These skills are so important when interacting with peers outside of our St Mary’s community, for secondary schooling and job interviews down the track. We regularly receive positive feedback about our student Open Morning tours to this effect about how articulate, engaging and informative our students are! 

The Easter break gave us the opportunity to relax and reinvigorate ourselves and I hope that your Easter celebrations were full of joy. Dr Edward Simons, our new  Executive Director of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, in his Easter message reminded us that as Christians we celebrate our belief that beyond all expectations ‘The Lord has risen indeed’ (Lk 24: 34). 

Anzac Day 2023 

On Monday we gathered as a school community for an Anzac Day reflection led by some of our Year 6 Leaders. Our liturgy focused on the need to turn away from war and hatred and become peace making people. We also acknowledged those men and women who sacrificed  so much for our country and future generations. We also prayed for the people of Ukraine, for all those suffering or afraid, that our God of compassion will be close to them and protect them.  

On Tuesday, we mark Anzac Day, one of our most important national days of commemoration. On this day, we remember and honour all those who have served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world, including the first Anzacs who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

As a community of faith, we also have the chance to pause and remember the heroic actions of young Catholics in the field of battle, as well as the role our Archdiocese played in the life-saving stand against conscription in this country, under the leadership of Archbishop Mannix.

My thanks go to our many principals, staff and students who will participate in Anzac Day services, both at the school level and within their local communities.

Lest we forget.

Dr Edward Simons 

Executive Director

Our Prep students shared the picture story book 'Anzac Ted'.  They then drew and wrote about why they thought he was a hero. Our Year 1 students made beautiful poppies and proudly wore them to the reflection. Each year level experienced Anzac Day 2023 at their developmental level, ensuring that our Anzac tradition lives on. 

Junior Mass: Sunday 30th May 5:30pm 

We look forward to our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 families joining us at a special Junior Mass this Sunday 30th April at 5:30pm. Families are welcome to chat after Mass, have a play at the park or picnic with other families. All family members of varying ages are very welcome. 

Uniform

Due to our unpredictable Autumnal weather students are welcome to wear their summer uniform, including their summer hat for the next few weeks, if it is warm. Full winter uniform will start in Week 5 - Monday 22nd May. 

Enrolments & Open Mornings 

Sharing all that St Mary’s Primary School has to offer with our 3 & 4 year old kindergarten aged students and their families is an important part of our enrolment process. We have had two successful Open Mornings, with our next sessions on the 10th May, 31st May and 21st June. Please let your friends know about them, and we can organise a tour outside of these sessions as well. 

Our Year 6 Leaders are important advocates for our school community, as they share their lived experience with prospective families. Next Wednesday evening our Community Leaders; Anthony, Chris, Josie and Matilda are joining myself and Daniela Borgese to meet prospective families at Renown kindergarten. Chris is very excited to be visiting his old kinder! We know that they will make our community proud. 

Building Update 

Our Prep and  Year 1 classrooms, and Shade Sail area continue to be repaired after the water damage that occurred last Term. We are hoping to be returning to our spaces in the next month. The external staircase has been adjusted by our builders Hadarco,  to ensure that water does not pool on the top steps. Over the holidays Steve, our Maintenance Officer has fixed a leaking cistern in the boys toilet block on the main playground. The regular maintenance of our buildings is important to ensure an effective learning and play environment for our students. 

Term 2 Staff update 

It is great to be having Miss Paula working in Year 5, whilst Mrs Angela Mason travels through Europe for her Long Service Leave. It is always a pleasure to be working with Paula. 

We also welcome back Mrs Stephanie Schultz from Maternity Leave. Mrs Schultz will support students in Years 2, 3 and 4 with Literacy Intervention, as part of the State government COVID  Tutoring funding program. We are fortunate to have Steph’s wisdom and experience, in addition to our hard working staff member.

HOLT Soccer Friday 28th April Caulfield Park & Cross Country Friday 5th May 

We wish our Year 5 and 6 soccer players all the best for the HOLT Soccer Lightning Premiership at Caulfield Park tomorrow. We thank Mrs Mason, Mr Addicoat, Miss Denise,  Miss Paula and Kat Reade for supporting the students to participate. We also wish our long distance runners all the best for next Friday. We thank Aoife McGuinness for stepping into Sports Co-ordinating in Mrs Mason's absence. Our parent body led by Lynn and Claudette have supported the training for this event and fitness in general, for which we are most appreciative. 

Communication 

Could I please ask each family to read the newsletter carefully each fortnight and note the upcoming dates in the calendar. A great deal of time and effort goes into ensuring the newsletter is our main form of community communication with accurate dates and news. 

St Mary’s College 

At the end of last Term Mr Terry Blizzard finished his Principalship at St Mary’s College. I would like to thank Terry for his support of myself, Anthony and our school community. Terry is a highly experienced Principal and was always a wise and insightful sounding board to me as I began my Principal journey.  Terry, Jerome and I would meet regularly to share our vision of a St Mary’s Parish Community, with shared resources, offering co-educational schooling to our families. On a personal level I thank Terry for his collegiality, patience, calm demeanor and cheeky sense of humour.  He always sent a text wishing our Preps the best for the start of the year and numerous other well wishes. I wish him and his family all the best and look forward to catching up with him in the near future. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Michael Lee, another highly experienced Principal as he leads St Mary’s College, as they search for their new Leader. I look forward to working with Michael, as we share our vision of our St Mary’s Community. St Mary’s College offers us so many opportunities and resources which directly benefits our students. Currently we use their Science Labs, Home Economic Kitchens, Performing Arts Hall, Year 11 Social Justice students read with our students and support our students one lunch time with Basketball or other games. We look forward to continuing our partnership. 

There will be a St Mary’s College Talk and Tour for our families on Thursday 11th May 3:45pm. For further information and to register please see this week's Deputy page or Community page.

Finally over the holidays a new family member arrived in the Dudek-Reddy family. We warmly welcome Nathaniel Dudek-Reddy!  Kasia, Colm, Sebastian and Henry are over the moon. We can’t wait to meet him. 

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

Mrs Cathy Ferrari