On the 12th August, we will witness the end of an era at St Mary’s Star of the Sea, as our Office Manager Mrs Karyn Faust retires. Karyn has supported the St Mary’s community for the past 21 years, I’m sure everyone in our school community has experienced Karyn’s unfailing kindness, witnessed her patience and benefited from her expertise in ensuring our school runs smoothly. Karyn embodies the spirit of the Josephite Sisters and St Mary of the Cross Mackillop in ‘Never seeing a need without doing something about it’, she has served our community with great heart especially the most needy. I am personally so grateful for Karyn’s loyalty and expertise from the moment I arrived at St Mary’s, I know many of you will share this sense of enormous gratitude for Karyn’s support. If you have any memories or notes of gratitude for Karyn please send them into the school care of the Principal as we are collating special items to present to Karyn at an assembly after Karyn has officially retired. Karyn will be sadly missed by all of us, we wish her every success in her next phase of life as she can now devote her time to her own family, husband Warrick and children Chloe, Alana and Ryan and her beautiful grandson Harry. 

Today our school was awash with colour as we saw a flurry of Souper Heroes descend upon the school to support of our Mini Vinnies Souper Hero day. It was lovely to see the variety of Heroes, including many parents represented and a teacher or two! Our school canteen was a hive of activity lead by Mrs Anneliese Robinson and her band of soup cooks; big pots of homemade pumpkin and chicken noodle soup were served at the Souper Hero Restaurant. Enormous thanks to local businesses that have donated goods for the day including Logom Bakery and Treehouse Cafe. Many cans of soup were brought in as well as money raised to help families in need. Thanks to our amazing Mini Vinnies team, Mrs Lisa Collins and Mrs Anneliese Robinson for their hard work coordinating and organising the team. I’m sure you will see many photos of the day in this Newsletter. 

Last Friday we held our Annual NAIDOC Celebration in the hall, the event was organised by Ms Hayley Bassett, our St Mary’s students supported by Ann-Marie Wilson, the St John the Evangelist Indigenous Culture Group and Aunty Chris Finney. It was both a significant and moving ceremony based on the theme of ‘Get Up, Stand Up and Show Up’, it was great to have so many community members, parents and friends joining us. 

At St Mary’s, we are proud to belong to such a special school community, wearing our uniform with pride speaks of belonging. With this in mind, please ensure your child is showing up to school each morning in their correct uniform including ties, hats and correct shoes. We will be focusing on the ‘Hats on to Play’ rule over the next few weeks, so every child must be wearing a hat to play on the playground. I understand the frustration of parents when items of uniform go missing, please label everything clearly. Please also be aware that long hair is tied up for all students, and avoid shapes, lines or rat’s tails hairstyles.  Thank you for your support in making our St Mary’s students develop a sense of team in their uniforms. 

I look forward to seeing you around the school,

Yours in partnership

Laurinda Nelson