Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we have welcomed our 2025 Kindergarten cohort for their first Orientation Day, it is such a privilege to support both children and their families through this significant milestone. We pray that the learning journey for these children will fully reflect our school vision and mission:

Vision: St Mary's Star of the Sea, Milton is a supportive community of learners, living Christ’s love through faith in action. 

Mission: By nurturing the head, the heart, and the hands of every student we:

•  ensure quality learning

•  create a sense of joy and belonging 

•  contribute to a just and sustainable world

This week we launch our Head, Heart, and Hands Award, this award celebrates the goals of our vision statement by acknowledging our Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 students who have displayed exemplary behaviour over the previous year. These awards will be presented in Term 4 over several weeks and parents will be notified via Compass so they can attend the presentation during assembly.

I thank the parents for their feedback regarding these roles in our St Mary’s community. After consultation with our community and students, the structure of our formal student leadership team will be altered in 2025 to ensure that leadership roles are more meaningful and reflect more closely the needs of our school. The formal student leadership positions in 2025 will be as follows:

• 2 School Captains (Girl and Boy) 
• 2 Vice Captains (Girl and Boy)
• 4  House Captains 

Year 5 students will nominate for leadership through the completion of Student Leadership Passports. Leaders for 2025 will be announced at our final school award presentation. 

Finally our wonderful and hardworking P&F are busily preparing for the St Mary's Colour Run on Friday 15 November. The entry fee is $10 per child, please support our school by sponsoring your child to have a great time getting messy! There will be a P&F Meeting on Monday night if you can join us in person or on zoom. P&F Meeting Link 

I look forward to seeing you in our school next week, 

Yours in partnership 
Laurinda Nelson