From the Principal

Welcome Families BBQ 

The Welcome Families BBQ on Wednesday 1 March, organised by the College and Presentation Families, was a great success! 

It was wonderful to see connections being made and a warm welcome genuinely extended - a real living out of our Presentation value of hospitality. 

Thanks to the parents and carers who volunteered their time, as well as the many staff who assisted and were on hand to welcome guests onto the College Green. 

Visit our online gallery for more photos from the night. 

The Presentation Families is a great way to get involved in the St Mary’s Community. If you are interested in learning more, please contact our Community Relations department on communications@smc.tas.edu.au or see our website here. 

International Women's Day | Embrace Equity 

We celebrated International Women's Day (IWD) at the College on Wednesday 8 March with many events to mark the importance of the day. 

To coincide with our IWD celebrations, we welcomed special guest, Michelle Menzies to the College to speak with our Year 9 Pillars program students. Michelle is an educator and life coach who works with individuals to help them achieve their goals and live their best life. You can find further details on this event in the Deputy Principal’s report. 

On Tuesday 7 March, I had the pleasure of attending a Tasmanian Alliance of Girls' Schools breakfast together with our College Prefects and Deputy Principal, Caroline Wilson-Haffenden. 

The event was hosted by St Michael's Collegiate, with students and staff from fellow Alliance schools, Fahan and Mount Carmel College, also in attendance. 

College Leadership Team - Strategic Planning 

The College Leadership Team recently held its annual strategic planning day on Monday 6 March where we developed plans for 2023 and onwards. I thank the Leadership Team for their productive input into forward planning for St Mary’s College.

Building Master Plan Committee 

The Building Master Plan Committee met on Friday 9 March and toured the site of the Murphy's  Café extension build. The works will commence shortly. If you would like to see the plan, a copy is available on the window of the Student Resource Centre, just near Murphy’s Café. 

Open Day and Principal’s Tours

Enrolments

A reminder that we will be holding our Kinder to Year 12 Open Morning on Tuesday, 28 March from 9.00am to 11.00am. We warmly invite all prospective families to tour our classrooms and learning facilities, speak with students and staff, and see what we do at St Mary’s College. 

If you have friends or relatives interested in enrolling their children at the College, please let them know they will need to contact our Enrolment Officer, Nicole Wighton, enrol@smc.tas.edu.au, as soon as possible to progress an enrolment application. This is also a requirement if you already have a child attending but need to enrol a sibling. 

I have listed below all upcoming enrolment dates for your information. 

• 2023-2024 Year 11/12 enrolments - open
• 2024 Kinder enrolments - applications due by Friday 5 May 2023
• 2024 primary enrolments - open
• 2025 Year 7 enrolments - applications due by September 2023 

The first ‘Meet the Principal Tour’ for 2023 will be held on Friday 31 March at 9.00am for a 9.15am start. The session commences with a meeting and presentation by me, followed by a College tour conducted by student leaders, providing parents and carers with the opportunity to speak to students and staff, and see what we do during a day at St Mary’s College. 

The upcoming Meet the Principal Tour dates are as follows: 

• Friday 2 June at 9.00am for 9.15am start
• Friday 28 July at 9.00am for 9.15am start
• Friday 15 September at 9.00am for 9.15am start
• Friday 3 November at 9.00am for 9.15am start

Past and upcoming events

Year 7-12 Athletics Carnival 

The Senior School Athletics Carnival was held on Friday 3 March and was full of energy, colour and fun. My thanks to the students and staff for a very successful event. 

View more photos on our website. 

Sporting teams

The summer sports roster commenced on Monday 20 February. I have been lucky to attend a few sports game and have been impressed by the level of enthusiasm the students have shown and their determination to get involved. If you have the opportunity to do so, I encourage you all to head along to a game and support our teams. 

A taste of victory and good vibes all around: Principal Damian Messer pictured with our Year 3/4 soccer team following their latest match win (3-0).