Friday 16th May 2025 ~ Issue 13

Child Safety Statement

School Values

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Respect Our School - Hormati Sekolah Kita

Do Your Best - Lakukan Yang Terbaik

Help Others to Succeed - Bantu Teman Untuk Berhasil

Important Dates

TERM 2

Monday 26th - Friday 30th May - Catholic Education Week

Wednesday 28th May - Friday 30th May - Gr 5/6 Camp - Warrnambool

Friday 30th May - Assembly

Wednesday 4th June - School Photos

Friday 13th June - Assembly

Friday 27th June - Assembly

Friday 4th July - Last day of Term 2

PUPIL FREE DAYS IN 2025

Friday 19th September - Structured Literacy

Wednesday 17th December - Last day of the school year for students

ADVANCE NOTICE

Wednesday 17th September - St Mary's School Concert at Hamilton PAC

From the Principal

Dear Families,

It was wonderful to have so many mums, grandmothers and special visitors here on Monday to celebrate Mother's Day. The children were very excited and enjoyed spending this special time together. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

We have watched with great interest the appointing of the new Pope, Pope Leo XIV. We pray that Pope Leo will lead with wisdom, care and humility.

On Friday it is Education Support Day, where we celebrate our administration and Learning Support Officer staff. They are invaluable to the running of our school and do an outstanding job in supporting our students and teaching staff.

Congratulations to student Rebecca Shelly who is representing the Wannon Zone at the State Eventing Championships on both her ponies this coming weekend! We are so proud of her and wish her well.

Have a wonderful weekend, shared with those you love,

Terrielynn

Catholic School Culture

MASS TIMES – 2025                                                 

Hamilton: Saturday 6pm and Sunday 10.30am                                  

Dunkeld: Sunday 8.30am                  

Glenthompson:  Sunday 8.30am

Penshurst: Sunday 8.30am

Sacramental Program

Our Saturday evening Mass gatherings are well underway. During these sessions, the candidates work with a member of staff, learning more about the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Prayers

We have some families who are experiencing ill health at the moment. We wrap our arms around them all. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. One of those families, the Perkins', wanted me to extend their thanks to our community for the overwhelming kindness that has been shown to them since Ted's pancreatic cancer diagnosis and surgery. Ted is at home now and is getting stronger each day.

Dear brothers and sisters,

these are the first words spoken by the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for God’s flock.  

I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world.  

Peace be with you.

Pope Leo XIV

Learning and Teaching

School Wide Positive Behaviours

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is:  A multi-tiered framework for establishing the social culture and behavioural supports needed for a school to achieve behavioural and academic outcomes for all students.

For the next two weeks at St Mary’s, we are working with our students on the following:

RESPECT - treat others with kindness

SAFETY - follow the rules of games

RESPONSIBILITY - be the boss of your learning

Assembly Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received an award last Friday for our value, Do Your Best.  We are so proud of you!  Congratulations go to Cade Hicks, Amelia Hadden, Isla Richardson, Adilyn Hopkins, Bailey Farquharson, Savannah Saunders, Harry Gordon, Kieran Ferguson, Ellie Hutchins, Chelsea Uebergang, Alaska Bremner, Selena Brown, Bentley Jacobson and Charlie Farquharson.

Staffing

At the end of Term 2, Teagan Wishart will be taking Maternity Leave until the beginning of 2026. Leroy Perez will move into her role and we are very grateful to him for providing continuity of learning for the 5/6s. We are now advertising for a part time teacher to join Chris Minney.

Staff PD

Our whole staff attended PD in Horsham on Wednesday to learn about the 10 Year Diocesan Strategy. On this day, we learnt more about what has led to this plan being developed and what it means for our Diocese and school going forward. We will share information each week in our newsletter.

Sports Catch Up

District Cross Country

We had 41 students participate in the District Cross Country last week. These students represented St Mary’s incredibly well. Mrs Groves was blown away by the students' behaviour at this event, which is wonderful to hear. We thank Latham Wishart, Terrielynn Groves, Deb Sutherland and Tracy Keen for supporting these students. 

I was blown away by our results, they are simply outstanding!! I am just continually amazed by the St Mary’s students at the moment, well done kids! You are all champions!!

To qualify for Division Cross Country students must finish in the Top 8. Please note the 9/10 age group is combined at the Division level. 

Please see the Top 20 results below. We are thrilled to have 16 students who have qualified for Division Cross Country today in Warrnambool. What an amazing effort!! Thank you to Latham Wishart who is representing the HDSA at this event. 

Regional Cross Country is held on Monday 26th May at Warrnambool again.

Top 20 finishes

9 Year Boys

Jed Rook 1st (6th combined)

Kieran Ferguson 3rd (9th combined)

Jimmy Hadden 4th (10th combined)

George Richards 7th  (17th combined)

Jonty McKenzie 20th

9 Year Girls

Denni Sherlock 2nd (8th combined)

Chilli Thomas 3rd (11th combined)

Ashlyn Joseph 7th (19th combined)

Ruby Dunn 8th

10 Year Boys 

Sean Nedziwe 1st (1st combined)

Jed Picken 8th (11th combined)

Kai Turnbull 11th (20th combined)

Jaxon Wilson-Watt 18th

Patrick Kearney 19th

10 Year Girls

Claire Mandiringana 3rd (3rd combined)

Sienna Gordon 7th (9th combined)

Lucy Outtram 9th

Chelsea Uebergang 17th

Indi Perriman 19th

11 Year Boys

James Nankivell 2nd

Xavier Logan 4th

Owen Lynch 6th

Michael Taylor 7th

Dylan Ferguson 8th

11 Year Girls

Alaska Bremner 1st

Libby Richards 4th

12 Year Boys

Marcus McRae 8th

Ollie Porter 16th

12 Year Girls

Bella Templeton 1st

Johannah Winnell 2nd

Sophie Uebergang 3rd

Nina Roll 8th

Hana Churchill 9th

Meki Churchill 10th

Charlie Moyle 11th

SSV Team Vic Trials

We had Meki and Nina attend their second level of trials for SSV Team Vic for Basketball this week. Well done girls!

Grade 1/2 Swimming Programs

The Grade 1/2s have their swimming program from Monday 26th May - Friday 30th May from 12.00-1.30pm. 

Dates for your Diary

May

Monday 26th May - Regional Cross Country @ Warrnambool

Monday 26th May-Friday 30th May - Grade 1/2 Swimming Program

Elise Gordon

egordon@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au 

Wellbeing

Child Safety ~ Child Safe Standards

The new Child Safe Standards (eleven in total) came into effect in July 2022 and are a
vital part of what we do here at St Mary’s. But, what do these standards look like in practice? Each week, we will look at a standard in closer detail.

STANDARD 5 ~ Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.

At St Mary’s we can see this standard in action in a variety of ways. We have a Wellbeing team that meets fortnightly and we have staff members from all areas of the school on this team. We use these meetings to discuss any wellbeing issues that arise and how we can best support the children and staff. We keep in close contact with the families of students who may need extra support. We hold termly meetings for students who have a personal learning plan to discuss their progress and goals. We celebrate cultural diversity and we actively nurture and promote a culture where everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

More information can be found on the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) website - the link to this website is below.

Each term, the eSafety Commissioner runs free Parent Webinars on a variety of topics around internet safety and the online world. The topics are listed on the flyer below.  If your would like to find out more information, including the dates available and to register, you can do so here.

Tania Stevens
tstevens@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au

Leadership and Stewardship

School Advisory Council AGM

Our School Advisory Council (SAC) AGM is on Wednesday 11th June. We are very pleased to know that Joyce Nedziwe and Rhassell Mhasho will take on their second term. We thank them for their generosity.

Term 2 Uniform

We usually take a week or two to swap into our full winter uniform but this year we might take a bit longer, given the weather! We are very happy for the summer uniform to continue for another week. Maybe we'll be in the winter uniform by June!

Community Engagement

Mother's Day

What a wonderful afternoon we had on Monday, celebrating Mother's Day with our mums, nans, aunties and other special people in our lives.  Here is a little montage of photos from the day.  Thank you for all that you do.

Assembly

Our next assembly will be on Friday 30th May at 2.55pm.

Community Events