Dear families,

As we commence the official silly season, it has been a productive fortnight since my return from leave last week.

Our colour run was another resounding success. The children had a wonderful time getting pelted with coloured powder and water. This event will remain a staple of our fundraising efforts for the foreseeable future. Thank you to families and their extended circles for contributing to our fundraising efforts. We managed to raise nearly $11,500 towards our ninja course! Adding this fantastic result to our other fundraising efforts over the past 18 months means we have less than $10,000 left to hit our ninja course target. Installation will continue as planned, with the course being installed early in term 1 next year.

Prize orders have been placed and are set to arrive before the end of the school year.

John and I met with our architects this afternoon and they have commenced planning out the new senior and STEM hub that will replace the existing old building. Whilst building is not set to commence until later next year, I look forward to sharing designs with the community early in the new year. The architects will meet with a group of teachers and Ms Pelar in the coming weeks to gather suggestions for interiors, to ensure our classrooms become both beautiful and functional spaces. The wider community will also have the opportunity to provide feedback in the new year. 

Staffing update

Our 2026 preps had their first classroom experience over the last 2 days. It was lovely to see them so engaged and happy. 

I am pleased to share that Mrs Tucker and Mrs Leone will be the main prep teachers for 2026. 

Final staffing arrangements will be shared in the last week of term.

I am sad to announce that Mrs Said will be leaving us at the conclusion of this year. With a heavy heart, as we know how much she loves St Mary’s, Mrs Said will bid us farewell as she accepts a position closer to home after over 20 years here. 

Mrs Murdoch recently announced she has accepted a Learning Diversity role at Emmanuel College. Her extensive expertise and passion for special needs will be an asset to the college.

Ms Carla has also decided to take up a position closer to home. While with us for only a short time, Ms Carla has had a real impact on our students and community.

Finally, I can officially announce that Mrs Masseni will be retiring at the end of this year. Mrs Masseni’s affiliation with St Mary’s commenced nearly 30 years ago as a parent, before accepting a PE position once her sons left. She was then offered the role of Deputy Principal and Wellbeing leader, which she held until 2023, after which she took on the single role of Wellbeing and Mental Health in Primary Schools leadership role this year.

You will be able to pass on your well wishes to our departing staff at our end of year Thanksgiving afternoon tea, where, as well as acknowledging our parent volunteers this year, this tea will also be a way to celebrate our exiting staff.

The exiting of staff also means the opportunity to welcome new teachers into our fold. 

I am happy to announce that Ms Bernie Farrow, currently of St Mary of the Cross, will join us in 2026 as our new Arts teacher. 

I am also pleased to introduce Ms Roisin Gleich, currently of St James the Apostle, as a part-time classroom teacher.

We are currently interviewing for other classroom positions, but are confident we will be able to make more announcements in the coming week.

You most likely have also heard about Mrs Krstevski’s recent pregnancy. We offer our congratulations to Mrs K and her husband and look forward to sharing the eventual news of the arrival of their newborn, expected around mid Term 2. Mrs K will continue teaching up until the commencement of parental leave.

Phew! What a mammoth article full of huge news.

We look forward to sharing the next fortnight (and a bit) with you all as we begin the important season of Advent in our Catholic calendar later this week. 


See you around,

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Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

 

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Church Bulletin

Williamstown Community News

Christmas in the West 2025

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Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

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Just a reminder to  families that we have a School closure day on Friday 5th December.
Students will not be at school for the day.

Staff will be doing Staff Professional Day

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Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

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The end of the year is near and with that may come some nervousness about what the new year will bring in terms of new classes and classmates and new teachers.
Rishika, our School Counsellor, recently passed these two You Tube videos which give great strategies for building healthy habits for good mental health and also strategies for building resilience. They are 5 minutes in length and are engaging in their presentation.


Remember, next Monday 1st Dec, 6:30 - 7:30pm, we also have our final Parent Workshop for 2025 titled 'Thriving through change, surviving school transitions' and presented by Elaine O'Connor (parent and Occupational Therapist).
Please respond via Operoo if you haven't already done so. We'd love to see you there.




Regards
Marg Masseni
Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader

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Please return ticket stubs, money & unsold tickets in an envelope to the school office by TUESDAY, 2ND DECEMBER. Please write Name, Class & Mobile on each ticket stub. Additional bundles are available at the School Office.

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE. Tickets $10 each $90 FOR 10
The Prizes are:

• 1st prize - Free 2026 Family Fee
• 2nd prize - 11.5" Lenovo Tablet
• 3rd Prize - Garmin Vivofit Jr 3 Activity Tracker

RAFFLE DRAWN Thurs, 4th of DEC at School Carols evening. Winners do not need to be in attendance to win. If a grade 6 family wins, they will be refunded 1 child’s school fees for 2025.

 

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Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

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Staying on top of digital changes can be challenging, especially for busy parents and carers. We came across these videos, produced by the eSafety commission, that may help.

Social Media Age Restriction Video Series: a short, voice-led resource designed to help you understand what’s changing, why it matters, and how to support your family through it. 

This four-topic series covers: 

• A delay, not a ban: What the changes mean for your child’s access to social media 
• Why delay social media accounts? Hear directly from a young person on the benefits of waiting 
• How will the age restrictions be implemented? What to expect and how it will work 
• Support, resources and tips to prepare: Practical advice to help your family adjust 

Whether you're watching at home or listening on the go, this flexible format makes it easy to stay informed and confident in your digital parenting journey. 

You can even watch it with your child to start the conversation together! 

Regards
Marg Masseni
Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader

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Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

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This year we are again supoporting our local St Vincent De Paul society in preparing to support families in the area who may not be able to celebrate Christmas well, without their support. The first week saw a greeat response with 232 items.

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Term 4 has kicked off brilliantly, and as the weather begins to warm up, students can look forward to cooling down with a refreshing icy pole. Our senior student leaders will be selling icy poles for $1 each lunchtime from Monday to Thursday. 

 

All proceeds will go towards supporting the development of our exciting new ninja playground.

Please note our canteen will operate as usual on Fridays.

Thank you for your support in helping us make this fundraiser a success and for giving our students a fun way to stay cool this term!

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Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

 

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Dear Families,

As outlined in previous communications, we have now transferred over to nForma Parent Portal. This requires parents to ensure that they have access to the nForma parent Portal.

There are several items that parents will need to attend to

• Ensure that you have access to the nForma platform (downloaded the App on your phone or accessed it on a computer)
• Update the Medical information for your children in the nForma portal

In order to provide families with as much information as possible in the one platform, nForma will now be used for 

• Event Permission 
• Notices (replacing Operoo and UpdatEd), 
• Student Medical Information, 
• Absentee notification and 
• First Aid. 

We are also able to embed our community event calendar into the nForma Calendar.

As staff use nForma for marking attendance, parents will be able to mark their child absent using the app, which will feed directly into classroom attendance rolls. Therefore, the absentee form on the website will be decommissioned on the 5th December, replaced with a link to the nForma Parent Portal.

We are aware that there may be other teething problems and are able to offer assistance as required. 

Please see Kristy Talty or Tony Freeman if you require assistance accessing nForma.

Regards

Sonia Riccardi

Principal

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Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

 

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