Dear Parents and Carers 

‘Do not be afraid. Let love guide you in all your life’.

St Mary of the Cross Mackillop

Our school was founded by the Sisters of St Joseph, as such we have a rich history of strong women of great faith and love. The founder of the Sisters of St Joseph was Australia’s first saint, Mary of the Cross Mackillop whose feast day will be celebrated this Friday. Feast days are traditionally celebrated in Catholic schools and churches to remember the significant lives and values that the saints championed during their lives. For Mary MacKillop, she was passionate and committed to ensuring all children in the early days of Australia were given an opportunity to be educated. Mary travelled extensively throughout Australia and New Zealand serving the needy including; the homeless, the poor, the sick and orphans. Mary Mackillop was a revolutionary of her time and was excommunicated several times for standing up for the vulnerable, she was a person of faith, love and compassion.It is these values that we hope to instill in our students at St Mary’s inspired by such a courageous woman and saint. 

On Friday, we will be celebrating another significant Mary in our community who has let love guide her.  At Mass at 9:30 am we will be farewelling Mary Hazell who for many years has devoted herself to supporting the Literacy development of many St Mary’s students. Mary’s skill and passion for early literacy have been a blessing to our school community, Mary infused her work with challenge and great joy. I have heard many stories about the influence Mary has had on staff and students, also that her favourite way of celebrating a successful reading was for the child in question with great fanfare, to ride a hobby horse all the way to the Principal’s office. Joy and love being the crucial ingredients to mary’s success with struggling readers and writers. Mary, you will be greatly missed but I know the school community has the utmost gratitude to you for your passion and devotion to our students.   We wish you a long and happy retirement.

Our Stage 2 students travelled to Nowra on Friday to compete in the Gala Soccer Day, from all accounts it was a wonderful day that was enjoyed by all. The students’ represented our school with great sportsmanship, teamwork and exemplary behaviour. A big thank you to our parents and carers who attended to cheer the teams on as well as Mr Simon Kinch and Mrs Ursula Porter who accompanied the students on the day. 

Last week many of our Year 6 students travelled to St Peter & Paul Catholic Church and  School to celebrate Mass with the Bishop Brian. Again I congratulate our students for representing our school and making the trip to experience such a special event with the Year 6 students from a number of other Catholic Schools. An enormous thank you to Mr Simon Kinch , Mr Brent Harding and Mrs Lisa Kobold for accompanying the students. 

Our school uniform is an important part of a sense of belonging to our school community. A gentle reminder that as the weather has been cold and the wind whistling through our playground to ensure that all students have a jacket or jumper and a school hat to wear in the playground. 

We ask that all students wear their hair tied back if at collar length and all ribbons to be red. Thank you for your support in this area. 

Tonight we will be holding our monthly P and F Meeting in the staff room at 6pm. We have an amazing and energetic committee who are friendly and welcoming, so please join us if you can. Mrs valentini and I are always at these meetings and there is always great discussion about the direction of the school and an opportunity for parents to have a voice within the school community. On Friday the 16th August we will be hosting our first disco of the year. Our wonderful P and F are looking for volunteers to help on the night. Please support these events and your children as all funds raised return to the school in resources. 

I look forward to seeing you around our school this week. 

Yours in partnership

Mrs Laurinda Nelson