Dear Parents and Carers

Today we celebrated the Official Opening of our ‘ReGROW, ReNEW, ReDISCOVER and ReUNITE’ playground. St Mary’s Catholic Primary School has been an integral part of the Milton/ Ulladulla community since 1913. The school was founded by the Sisters of St Joseph under the leadership of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, with a passion for providing education in regional areas of Australia. 

In 2019, St Mary’s was directly impacted by the devastating Black Summer Bushfires along with most of the South Coast. We were so fortunate that we were supported by the local community who came to our aid, saving our school from total destruction, amid such widespread devastation, losing much of our playground and the surroundings of our historical Parish Church. Our Parish and School communities responded to this challenge in the spirit of St Mary MacKillop, by providing food and facilities to the many stranded motorists on the highway. 

We are so grateful for the generous support of the Federal Government through the Black Summer BushFire Grant to make the redevelopment of our playground possible. We were fortunate that our St Mary’s P & F Association contributed substantially to this project, combined with generous donations from Treading Lightly, Landcare and our wider Catholic community in the aftermath of the fires. Today we have a beautiful space that incorporates a healing playspace, an Indigenous gathering space and storywalk, as well as our Kitchen Garden area. These aspects support our community to heal and bring about a just and sustainable world. 

St Mary’s Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School is situated on the lands of the Budawang People of the Yuin Nation. We are so grateful and blessed to have our school situated in this beautiful landscape, between the escarpment and the sea. The story of ‘Balgan’ or Pigeon House Mountain is special to the Budawang people and this story is the centrepiece of our ‘ReGROW, ReNEW, ReDISCOVER and ReUNITE’ playground. Uncle Phil Butler with Melissa Henry, a local Indigenous artist have painted this significant story as a story walk, the story has been recorded on video for future generations by James Lepre of Mane Collective. This video can be accessed from the indigenous garden, and for you through this QR code. 

So many hands have made this project possible, whether you fought the fire, made donations, gave us encouragement or helped us to rebuild our school. Thank you.  Together we are strong. 

Yours in partnership
Lindy Nelson