St. Mary's eNews

Term 4 Week 11


Principal's Message ~ 16th December

Dear families,

We have officially made it to the end of the school year!

Congratulations to you all for the amazing effort you have put into this strange year.

The students re-entered school in the most wonderfully settled way this term.

Yesterday, students had the opportunity to spend some time in their 2021 classes. I know there were a few anxious moments for some of them. Change is hard, I know, but I also know how much time and effort was placed into trying to obtain the perfect blend of classes. This year, students were also asked to nominate 5 learning buddies they’d like to be with. Each student was given at least one of these buddies. 

I also know that there is often talk around this time of year regarding straight vs multi age classes. I am a firm believer in the benefits of multi age for many reasons. The main reason being that the multi age philosophy forces us as educators to teach the child, not the curriculum. We all know that age has very little bearing on ability or need. The multiage way of teaching believes that we should be looking at a child’s abilities and teaching what they need next, regardless of the year level they are in. As a leader, I am passionate about supporting teachers to challenge their students. Every student deserves to not only experience success, but to also learn the ability to work through struggles and manage difficulties, so that their successes are even more worthy of celebration.

I am looking forward to an exciting year of learning alongside this wonderful community.

I’d like to thank the many parents and guardians who have made me feel so welcome in my short time here. I have enjoyed my time here so far, despite the circumstances we faced.

I wish each of you a wonderfully blessed Christmas and pray that the celebration of the birth of Jesus fills you all with hope and great joy.

Until next year,

Sonia



Graduation and Final Assembly

In case you missed them...

On Tuesday night we celebrated our Grade 6 Graduation. You can watch the ceremony
here.

Today we held our end of year assembly during which, amongst other things, we announced our school leaders for 2021. Here is the live stream link.

 



2021 Year 6 Award Winners

Congratulations to our Year 6 award winners for 2020. 

 

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE ~ Dhriti Amin

SPORTS AND VALUES ~ Keely Williams

ACADEMIC PERSISTENCE ~ Isabel Rodriguez-Canache

VISUAL ARTS ~ Stella Ligudzinski

PERFORMING ARTS ~ Isabelle Nelson

MARY OF THE CROSS MACKILLOP ~ Lila Boyd

 



Announcing our ... 2021 Staff

We are pleased to announce out staff for 2021. Prep HT: Carol Hicks & Rowena Talbot
Prep S: 
Kathleen Smith
Year 1/2B: 
Melanie Bubevich
Year 1/2G: 
Caitlyn Gallagher
Year 1/2N: 
Niamh (Neve) Bannon (New)
Year 3/4A: 
Randa Assaad
Year 3/4B: 
Nicole Barnes
Year 3/4S & Maths Leader: 
Lisa Said
Year 4/5L & Literacy Leader:
Brenda Lycke
Year 5/6C: Tim Creak (New)
Year 5/6F: Tony Freeman (New)
Year 5/6KC: Olive Chodowski & Corina Kapusta
Education in Faith and Learning & Teaching Leader: Matt Taylor
Digital Technology Leader: Veronica Tucker
Visual Arts: Anthea Zimmerman
Performing Arts: Angela Hamilton
Physical Education: Alessandra Sottile (New)
Italian: Signor John
Release Teacher: Loretta Balfoort
Learning Support Officers: Maree Ryan, Nicole Singleton, Jane Sammut, Marg Jones, Milly Siebring, Frances Fazio, Stella Solarino and Adriana Everett (New)
Learning Diversity Leader: Cathy Sims
Intervention: Corina Kapusta
Deputy Principal And Wellbeing Leader: Marg Masseni
Principal: Sonia Riccardi

Student Leaders for 2021

Congratulations to our Student Leaders for 2021 ~ we know they will do a wonderful job in leading our school next year. School Captains ~ Zara Reis, Aidan Krishna, Finian Mercer and Charlotte LeFaucheur.

Wellbeing Leaders ~ Zali Howell and Jack Bennett
  
Social Justice Leaders ~ Ruby Ramsay and Gisella DeLuca
  
Choir Leaders ~ Isabelle Cassar and Jade McGill
  

House Captains ~
RED: Lexi Robertson and Isaiah Holland
  
BLUE: Mia Jesaulenko and Astin Kirk
    
GREEN: Oscar Fischer and Sarah Cassar
    
YELLOW: Maggie London and Jai LeRoux
    

Education In Faith: A Christmas Wish

What a final week of school it has been and what a year! With all the events of 2020 it almost feels as if Christmas has come and while we are so grateful that we find ourselves in a better place than five or six weeks ago,

 we are also not ready for all that Christmas usually entails as we are all already exhausted! 

 So this Christmas, we at St Mary’s wish you hope, hope for a brighter 2021, we wish you peace,  time to wind down and be at peace this holiday season, we wish you joy, all the joy that erupts from the faces of our children during this season and love, we wish you all the the opportunity to spend Christmas with the ones you love this year, finally.

 

Yours in Faith

 

 

Matthew Taylor

Religious Education Leader

 



Uniform Shop ~ Open 27th January

Our uniform shop will be open on Wednesday 27th January from 9 - 11.30am for any last minute purchases.  Please check in with the office before heading to the uniform shop as there may still be restrictions on how many people we can have in there at one time. Please ensure that all uniform is clearly labelled with your child's name as we often have many items in Lost Property which cannot be returned.