Welcome to Semester Two
Welcome back to school for Semester 2 and I hope that you had an enjoyable break as a family, and that Semester Two has started positively.
A special welcome to students joining the St Mary’s College community to commence Term 3. We trust that you will find a home at St Mary’s where you feel like you belong and can flourish.
Japanese Student Visitors
We welcomed seven students from Taisei University High School in Osaka Japan over the last weekend. The students will spend their mornings developing their English language skills and each afternoon will participate in an activity that introduces them to some of the sights of Melbourne and surrounds. Our Japanese students are here for two weeks, and I extend a huge thank you to the host families who have agreed to accept our visitors into their home. We also welcome Mr Toshi Kitano, Principal, and Ms Yoko Shimada who are accompanying the students on this visit.
Staff Professional Learning Program
In a very full program on Monday July 13, our staff participated in a workshop on the "Seeking Understanding" phase of RAISE. It was great to see the diversity of learning experiences created in explicitly teaching literacy/numeracy skills, but particularly the common threads in how understanding was built and checked across such different subject areas.
The afternoon ended with discussion around a proposal to renew our Year 9 program. More information will be provided about this proposal over the coming weeks.
Thank you for your support of these important workshops to focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning.
Whole School Assembly
Our first assembly for this term is on next Tuesday morning and we are gathering with the theme “Brilliance – Inspiring One Another”. We look forward to reporting back on the assembly in the next edition of Lumina.
EREA VSL CEO Announcement
We received news recently of the appointment of Mr Patrick Murphy as CEO of EREA (VSL) Ltd. This is how he was introduced by Chair, Professor Todd Walker:
Pat brings a distinguished career in education. He has served as Principal and Executive Principal across several schools, developing deep expertise in school leadership, student wellbeing, and the formation of young people grounded in Gospel values. Most recently, Pat has served as the President of the Queensland Association of State School Principals.
Mr Murphy will commence on July 27 and is visiting St Mary’s on July 31 for a tour.
Athletics Carnival
Our College Athletics Carnival is to be held at Newport Park Athletics Track tomorrow with students expected to arrive by 8.35am. Students travelling by train should disembark at Newport Station. Students will be dismissed at approximately 3pm from Newport Athletics Track.
P&F Meeting
The Parents and Friends Committee met for its regular meeting last Monday. It was pleasing to welcome several new members as the Committee discussed upcoming events and opportunities to further support College life.
A highlight of the meeting was a presentation from Ms Sandi Saundry, Food Technology Assistant, who provided an update on the development of the College's kitchen gardens and the recent achievement of receiving Gold Medallist honours at the ACC Culinary Competition. The Committee congratulated Ms Saundry on her outstanding contribution to the growth of Food Studies at St Mary's and encouraged her to continue creating opportunities for students to engage with the wider community through food.
The Committee was also delighted to learn that the College prepares almost 1,500 meals each year in support of Reaching Out in the Inner West and requested that this important service initiative be highlighted in Lumina.