Marking the start of the Lenten season

St Mary's College celebrated Ash Wednesday on 22 February with a series of liturgies, each designed for different aged students.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Church's season of Lent. The drawing of the ashes on our foreheads on this day is a public expression of our faith and humility. It also encourages us to reflect on how we can make Lent a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as we prepare for Easter.

Through prayer, we come closer to God so that we are better able to realise the promises made for us at our baptism, to live justly as Jesus teaches us.
Fasting joins us in solidarity with people experiencing poverty who often have no choice but to go without the basic human needs.
Sharing what we have, or ‘almsgiving’, is a sign of our commitment to justice and our thanks for all that God has given us.

Project Compassion for all future generations

Lent is also a time to focus on the work of Caritas through its Project Compassion appeal.

This year’s Project Compassion will focus on inspiring stories from Nepal, Australia, Vietnam and Zimbabwe, which will be shared in the College over the coming weeks. These stories highlight the way Caritas works hand in hand with communities around the world.

For more information about Project Compassion or to donate to this year’s appeal, please go to www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion

Pictured below, student representatives from St Mary's College attending a liturgy in the Cathedral on Tuesday 21 February to mark the launch of Project Compassion 2023 in Catholic Education Tasmania schools.

Each school was gifted a Caritas candle and donations box, which will be placed in classrooms and offices throughout the state.

Following the liturgy, students were invited to participate in a Q&A session with Caritas Australia's Richard Landels to help build their understanding of the important work that Caritas does in Australian and across the world.

Sharon Lawler

Director of Identity and Mission

Students revisit school's past

The Year 7 Life and Faith classes are currently learning about the charism and history of Nano Nagle, the Presentation Sisters and St Mary’s College, and how this continues to influence our school spirit and sense of belonging in 2023.

On Tuesday this week, 7D worked on an activity centered on our Nano Nagle mural, on the wall situated near the main office. The students discovered many interesting images in the mural and imagined the sights and sounds of the bustling city of Cork and the brave and generous work of Nano for the children and poor families of the area.

St Mary's College Heritage Officer, Margaret Rootes took the students over to Fermoy Cottage, where they explored the beautiful rooms and saw the wonderful collection of artefacts and memorabilia that captures the story of the 155 years of the College.

Fiona Chambers

Learning Leader of Religious Education

Guest engineers create a buzz

This term, the Year 9/10 STEM elective has been studying structural engineering, exploring the shapes, forces and materials involved in building strong structures.

We were lucky to have two local young female engineers, Claudia and Courtney from GHD, visit the College last week to talk to students about why they pursued a career in engineering, what they love about their jobs and some of the recent projects they have been working on.

This discussion generated a lot of buzz about study pathways, travel, work environments and other fields of engineering that the students would like to explore.

We will continue to build on this excitement in STEM when our students start exploring truss structures in preparation for designing and building their very own strong bridges.

Dr Diana Nahodil

Learning Leader of Science

Environmental Science tests the waters

The Year 12 Environmental Science class recently ventured out to Ralph's Bay Conservation Area and South Arm rock pools.

With a focus on conservation issues in the area, students spent the day collecting biotic data from the salt marsh flats and rockpools on Blessington Beach.

Using quadrats and line transects, they were able to take environmental samples of species living in these aquatic environments.

The students also enjoyed a recent outing to the Hobart Rivulet, where they conducted water quality tests of the area.

Water samples were assessed for phosphate levels, chlorine levels and aquatic life, with findings then compared to samples taken earlier in Fern Tree.

A place to meet, eat and create

It is with great pride that we unveil our 'new and improved' Meeting Place, which provides a meaningful location for our First Nations students to gather, learn, create and share stories.

The space is furnished with comfortable couches and cushions, a range of reading material and a music speaker. There's even a cosy dining nook for students to prepare and eat lunch together.

All students are welcome to visit the Meeting Place, which is open every day at lunchtime, except Wednesdays.

From the Year 6 classes

Live streaming to Antarctica

Students in Year 6 were very excited to recently participate in an informative video call with scientists on board the CSIRO Antarctic research vessel, Investigator.

Students listened attentively and asked probing questions as the scientists explained the objectives of the seven-week voyage, where they collected and analysed sediment from the sea bed to reveal information about global ocean circulation and climate change.

Using specialised sonar technology, they mapped parts of the ocean floor which were previously unmapped.

Students then enjoyed a video tour of the research vessel, which has seven levels and more than 60 staff on board, including engineers, marine biologists and scientific researchers.

We would like to extend a big thank you to Francisco (Marisol’s Dad) for this amazing learning opportunity and send our best wishes for the remainder of the voyage.

Kelly Webster

Year 6 Huon Pine Class Teacher

Leaders get a GRIP

The following summary was written by Year 6 Wattle students, Matilda Cunningham and Millie Locke.

On Wednesday 15 February, the Year 6 leaders went to The GRIP Student Leadership Conference at the MyState Bank Arena. We went there to become better leaders.

At the conference, we learnt how to be an 'others' first leader' by focusing on the four H’s: hearing others’ opinions, helping with the little things, happiness, and humility. We also learnt about who a leader can impact most, which can be summarised as the three L's: people who look up to you, people who are left out by others and people who are like-minded.

The program also involved watching parts of movies to decide which of the four H's the characters demonstrated. We wrote acrostic poems about leadership and played games, including a trivia game and a dance party. It was an amazing day!

Matilda and Millie (Year 6)

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