Friday 7th November 2025 ~ Issue 34
PARISH PRIEST: Fr Patrick Mugavin PRINCIPAL: Mrs Terrielynn Groves
SAC CHAIRPERSON: Mrs Joyce Nedziwe CHILD SAFETY OFFICER: Ms Tania Stevens
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 4
Monday 10th November - 3/4 Swimming
Tuesday 11th November - Prep Transition morning
Tuesday 11th November - Remembrance Day
Friday 14th November - Assembly @ 2.55pm
Friday 21st November - 3-6 Swimming Carnival
Friday 28th November - Assembly @ 2.55pm
Friday 5th December - Christmas Parade
Tuesday 9th December - Orientation Day
Thursday 11th December - Junior Sports Day
Friday 12th December - P/1/2 Excursion
Sunday 14th December - End of Year Mass & Gr 6 Graduation
ADVANCE NOTICE
Thursday 18th December - Last day of the school year for students
2026 Dates!
Wednesday 28th January - First day for students in Gr 1-6
Thursday 29th January - First day for Preps
From the Principal
Dear Families,
Yesterday, we had the great pleasure to attend a ceremony at the new Sinclair Wilson office - the old St Mary's admin building - to receive an incredibly generous donation of $5000 for our Kitchen Garden Program. I am continually overwhelmed by the kindness of businesses in our community who are so happy to support our beautiful school.
On Wednesday we were delighted to welcome our 2026 Preps to school. We shared a wonderful morning together and look forward to having them back at school next Tuesday.
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
Prayers
Please keep a number of our families in your prayers who are experiencing illness at this time. We send our best wishes to them all.
St Vinnies
We have been approached by St Vinnies to once again donate Christmas desserts to their Christmas Appeal. Tubs are set up in the office area for your kind donations. Thanks for your support!
St Mary's Video
A few weeks ago, we had Kevin Cummins from DOBCEL come to St Mary's to create a promotional video of our school. Here it is - we are sure you'll agree that it showcases our wonderful school beautifully.
Learning and Teaching
Sports Catch Up
State Athletics
Alaska B and Charlie M represented St Mary’s at the State Athletics yesterday, in Melbourne. This incredible achievement is a testament to their hard work, dedication, and perseverance.
We will outline the girls’ achievements in next week’s newsletter.
Saturday Morning Netball
If your child is playing Saturday Morning Netball, please check the SeeSaw message group for updated information regarding player safety and umpires.
Grade 3/4 Swimming Program
The Grade 3/4s will swim from Monday 10th November - Friday 14th November from 12.00-2.00pm.
School Swimming Carnival
We can confirm our School Swimming Carnival for Grades 3-6 will be on Friday 21st November at the Monivae Pool. Information, a sign up sheet and a blue permission note was sent home this week. Please contact the school if your child’s copy hasn’t made it home yet.
Dates for your Diary
TERM FOUR
November
Monday 10th - Friday 14th November - Grade 3/4 Swimming Program
Friday 21st November - School Swimming Carnival Grades 3-6 @ Monivae
December
Thursday 11th December - Junior Athletics Carnival
Victorian Government’s Get Active Kids Voucher Program is now open! Eligible families can receive up to $200 per child to help cover the cost of sport and active recreation, including swimming lessons.Why apply?
- Up to $200 off registration or lesson fees (plus included uniforms or equipment).
- Swimming lessons are eligible under the program.
- HILAC is a registered provider, so you can redeem your voucher directly with us for your child’s swimming lessons.
- Current round: open from 15 October 2025 to 13 November 2025 (or until funds are exhausted). Vouchers must be used by 31 December 2025.
Who can apply?
Children aged 0–18 years who are listed on a valid Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card (and Medicare card). Some special-consideration categories also apply.How to apply:
- Visit the Get Active Victoria – Voucher Program page.Apply For Vouchers | Get Active Victoria
- Complete the online application form.
- Once approved, you’ll receive a voucher code.
- Bring or email your voucher to HILAC, and we’ll redeem it directly for your child’s swimming lessons.
If you need help applying or redeeming your voucher, please get in touch — we’re happy to assist.
Let’s get our kids active, confident, and safe in the water while saving on lesson costs!
Elise Gordon
egordon@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au
Book Fair
Wow! What a successful Book Fair! Huge thanks to everyone for coming along and supporting our Book Fair. We have earned some great rewards and will be able to share what we have received, due to your generous support, soon.
A huge thank you Casey Rook as well, for her hard work and organisation for the Book Fair.
Tania Stevens
Wellbeing
Child Safety
From 10 December 2025, many social media platforms won’t be allowed to let Australians under 16 create or keep an account. The information from the eSafety Commissioner, accessed via the link below, will help you understand why, and how you can help your under-16 through the change.
You’ll find answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), tools to help you work through it together, and links to helpful resources you can explore.
Tania Stevens
Cybersafety Sessions
Leading Senior Constable, Keleigh Flavel who works as a Youth Resources Officer with the Victorian Police, has offered to run two cybersafety sessions with our 3/4s and 5/6s. She will be at school to run these sessions on Tuesday 11th November. We look forward to hearing what she has to say.
Leadership and Stewardship
SIMON and PAM
Last week we informed you that the SIMON service, including access to the Parent Access Module (PAM) were taken offline after some unusual login attempts were detected. These platforms remain offline for the time being. This precaution is being taken to ensure the safety and security of all users while we work to further understand this unusual activity and resolve the situation.
St Mary's and SIMONSchools take cyber security very seriously. External experts have been engaged to help ensure we take all appropriate action in response to this activity. From our investigation to date, we do not have any evidence to suggest that any user information held on the platform has been affected, or that any other systems are involved. Should this position change, we will notify relevant parties as required.
We understand this may cause some inconvenience and appreciate your patience and support as we work to restore full service. We will be in touch with a further update regarding access to PAM as soon as we can.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Kitchen Garden
Another busy week in the kitchen! Our Grade 1/2 students made delicious carrot cakes on Monday, using carrots that they had harvested from our garden! See all the photos below.
Our Grade 3/4 group today created gluten free waffles and fried rice. Yum! We will have photos of their cook next week.
Thanks again to Lyn and Nola. We are also thrilled with the generous donation from Sinclair Wilson to assist in our Kitchen Garden program. We are very blessed.
Catherine Egan
Kitchen Garden Week 5
Icy Poles
Student Councillors are selling icy poles for $1 each on Fridays, during lunch time. This will continue each Friday, until the end of the year.
Community Engagement
Visit to The Birches
On Thursday afternoon, a group of Gr 6s visited The Birches. We were warmly welcomed and enjoyed a great singalong with Peter Cook and Peter Milburn. Our students represented us so well, happily joining in the activities and chatting to the residents. We look forward to our next visit in two weeks.
Assembly
Our next assembly will be on Friday 14th November at 2.55pm.
School Country Bus Travellers
The School Bus Program will process the school bus applications towards the end of Term 4, 2025. This includes renewals of current applications and offers for new 2026 applications which will be emailed to applicants then.
