Final Assembly

Our community gathered for the last time with our Year 12s today to acknowledge that they are approaching the culmination of their secondary schooling and to celebrate their contribution to St Mary’s College. As our graduating class processed into Logue Hall, they were welcomed and applauded. Our College Captains, Matilda and Jude, addressed the school community for the last time and reflected on their time at St Mary’s. The last day of regular schooling is normally tinged with mixed emotions. While there is celebration that a new chapter of life is about to commence, with expectations of newfound freedom, it’s often accompanied with some trepidation that the familiar pattern of life that symbolises a school day is over. We hope our Year 12s have fond memories of their time at St Mary’s College and wish them every success in their upcoming exams. There will be time for reflection and thanksgiving at the Graduation Mass and Dinner on November 20th.

Year 7 Information Evening

Our Year 7 families of 2026 gathered on Tuesday evening to commence their orientation program in preparation for next year. Many of those in attendance have their oldest child commencing secondary school and it is important that we demystify the transition process as much as possible by explaining the structures of St Mary’s. You may recall the transition period from primary to secondary and the questions that you wanted answered as you helped prepare your young person to move to this next stage. Hosted skilfully by our 2026 College Captains, Stella and Hugo, in their maiden performance, pastoral and wellbeing leaders spoke to those in attendance. On the night a few commented on the volume of information that was presented and expressed gratitude that the opportunity was presented to gather. We still have a few places at Year 7 for 2026 and would appreciate if you could promote our school to friends or family who may be looking at secondary school options and are still undecided. Orientation Day for our new cohort occurs on December 9th.

VCE Exams

I want to share just how impressed I was by the application of our students to their trial exams during the holidays. It hasn’t always been my experience that students take these as seriously as we would hope, yet last holidays I saw our young people keen to put in effort and make the best use of the opportunity.

The official exam period for our VCE Unit 3 & 4 students commences next week, and we wish everyone who is undertaking these assessments every success. It is important to note that many of our graduating class will be seeking an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank), but others will be pursuing other pathways. The ATAR is an important measure for those who desire to undertake tertiary studies that require this rank, and it is the culmination of many hours of work. There will also be graduates who proceed to apprenticeships, or work, and we celebrate with these young people on having exciting post-school pathways and a clear sense of purpose as well.

Senior Staff Replacement

Mr Shaun Lancashire returns from pilgrimage with EREA next week and I wish to express my thanks to Mr Paul Quinn, Ms Annie Driver, Mr Brendan Tollit and Mr Daniel Di Lisio who have each taken on additional responsibility in Mr Lancashire’s and Ms Howard’s absence. We look forward to the return of Ms Howard in a couple of weeks.

P&F at Bunnings

Our P&F is conducting the sausage sizzle on Sunday 26^th October at Bunnings in Port Melbourne as a fund raiser. Last year it proved to be an excellent fundraiser, and I know that the P&F would appreciate your support. Thank you to the P&F co-ordinators of this event and those who can volunteer their time to ensure the success of this fundraiser.

School Closure Day

Advance notice that Monday 3^rd November is a school closure day ahead of the Melbourne Cup public holiday for all except students scheduled to sit VCE exams on this date. School resumes on Wednesday 5^th November. I also offer notice of a Student Free Day on Friday, 21st November for teachers to complete assessment and reporting duties. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Darren Atkinson 
Principal 

Celebrating our Year 12 Musicians

Term 4 kicked off on a high note as our Year 12 VCE Music students delivered their final recital for the year. Performing their full programs to an appreciative audience of family and friends, the evening was both a celebration of their hard work and a powerful showcase of their musical development.

The evening was not only a performance milestone, but also a learning experience, discovering firsthand the level of stamina and focus required to present a complete recital program; an important insight as they prepare for their final assessments. A special thank you to Darren Atkinson for attending the recital and showing his ongoing support.

This week marks another significant moment, as we prepare to farewell our Year 12 cohort in a final assembly. The VCE Band will take the stage one last time with performances of Take 5 and Caravan, as well as a special performance from our singer Maddy Gournas.

2026 Preparations - a year of Rock!

Looking ahead, the music department is already setting the stage for 2026. Auditions are now underway for our new ensembles, including the prestigious Big Band, St Mary’s College’s top ensemble. In addition, preparations have begun for our 2026 musical production of Rock of Ages.

To help promote and support this exciting production, we’re proud to announce two brand new ensembles: the Rock Choir and the Massed Rock Drum Ensemble. These groups will play a key role by celebrating and promoting the musical to the school and community.

With next year’s theme clearly set to Rock, there's plenty of momentum, music, and excitement ahead. Get in touch if you want to get involved - 2026 is going to be big!

Katie Thomas 
Director of Music 

This week we celebrated the end of year 12 and having completed our VCE VM Program. My take on VM has been an interesting two years having to overcome different issues and having to each deal with our own work placement and VET courses. The best part of VM was having the privilege to go outside and try and do new things for our enrichment days. Overall, I think VM in my point of view was great and it was one step towards a new take on life and our futures.

As a part of our celebrations last Thursday the VM year 12 group went out for the day and played a bit of golf at Albert Park driving range, we had a BBQ at the lakeside picnic grounds. We all cooked the food and when it was ready it was gone in a flash due to us all being a group of hungry boys. Once we finished at the BBQ area, we wandered over to the driving range and got pretty competitive, trying target practice and seeing who could hit the furthest drive. As a group we have all come a long way, understanding one another, personally developing and growing to be young adults that are proud St Mary’s graduates, and I know I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

Cody Rowan
Year 12 VM Student 

The exam period can affect the whole family.

Many of our VCE students may be feeling stressed about the uncertainty of the upcoming exams.

Exam time can impact on the family, and it’s important as parents that you Look after yourself during this period too. This is a big deal, and it can be stressful.

It might help to remember that you’ve done an amazing job so far!

Exams tend to be stressful.

Tempers may get short; theirs and yours. Their bedrooms may be (more) messy, they may answer back, be upset with you, siblings, others, and they may not seem themselves.

Try to support your child by talking to them and encouraging them to focus on what they can control – day to day routines, organization and planning.

Remind them to Plan, Prepare, have Perspective then afterwards you can all Play.

Plan:	Plan and create a study routine together or in discussion with your child. Include a work, study, sleep, social balance. Monitoring how late they are staying up studying and discuss the benefits of getting 8-9 hours of sleep a night. Encouraging a regular sleep routine is especially important right now to enable rest, recuperation, and to allow your child to be in the best frame of mind to take on the challenges of exams. Encourage and plan time to exercise. Natural endorphins will lift mood and the break away from the books will rejuvenate the brain. Plan a study routine with breaks from study. Your child needs a healthy balance of study as well as down time. Plan for alternatives. Have a plan B.
Prepare:	Preparing healthy & regular snacks to ensure they are fueling their bodies enough. Balancing social connectedness with study. Studying with a friend can be helpful Reduce casual work hours over the exam period to free up time to prepare for exams Households can be very busy but try to have a quieter home in the lead up and during the exams Prepare and set up a study space Some students like realistic boundaries to be set for them as self -directed study is too flexible. Discuss and prepare these together.
Perspective:	Encourage them to limit worrying about the “what if’s” that are outside their control Encourage your child to not think too far into the future Discourage conversations that focus on ‘What if I fail?’ or ‘What if my mark isn’t good enough Use positive self-talk “I can do this” “I will get through it” Talk about effort, realistic expectations, and alternatives.  Tell your child its Ok to feel disappointed if you need to. Create new goals and pathways.
Play:	Celebrate effort NOT just outcomes. It’s over, you all got through it. PLAY.

For more information about managing study stress, tips & advice, visit:
https://headspace.org.au/young-people/how-to-reduce-stress-and-prepare-for-exams/

Trish Maguire
College Counsellor

Reminder: Finalising 2025 Accounts

As we come to the end of the 2025 school year, we ask all families to ensure their 2025 accounts are finalised by Thursday 31 October.

Families who have a direct debit payment plan in place do not need to take any action — your payments will continue as scheduled.

We truly appreciate your attention to this matter and thank you for your continued support throughout the year. If you have any questions or require assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact fees@stmaryscollege.vic.edu.au

Tristan McGlade
College Business Manager

Support Our P&F at the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle!

Our wonderful Parents & Friends (P&F) are firing up the barbecue for a sausage sizzle at Bunnings Port Melbourne, and they’d love your support!

Come along on Sunday 26 October to grab a snag, enjoy a friendly chat, and help raise funds that directly benefit our students and the wider St Mary’s College community. Every purchase makes a difference!

It’s a great way to show support for our P&F, meet other parents, and enjoy a classic Bunnings tradition. We hope to see you there!

David Formosa
Director of Development

Update: Canteen Payment System Transition to CDF Pay

Over the holiday period, our College canteen — which is operated by an external provider — transitioned from Quick Click to CDF Pay as its new payment platform. We apologise that this change occurred without prior notice to families and appreciate your understanding as the provider moved to align with the College’s preferred system.

CDF Pay, powered by Flexischools, is a secure and convenient platform that allows parents to manage a range of College-related payments, including:

• Canteen orders

• School fee payments

• Ticketing for special events

The CDF Pay App also provides flexible payment options such as credit/debit cards and PayPal.

Please note:

• School fees may still be paid via Direct Debit or BPAY,

• But canteen orders and event ticketing will now only be available through CDF Pay.

For families whose children participate in extra-curricular activities such as our Academies, instrumental music lessons, or similar programs, these will now be issued on a separate invoice and are required to be paid within 14 days of receipt of the invoice. You will still be able to pay these invoices via Direct Debit, BPAY and will now be available through CDF Pay.

Download the CDF Pay App:

App Store (iOS / Apple) — see CDFpay on the App Store 

Google Play (Android) — see CDFpay on Google Play 

or visit

CDFpay

We thank all families for their patience during this transition and encourage you to download the app to ensure uninterrupted access to canteen and event services.

David Formosa
Director of Development