Dear Parents,

We have had a slight change of plans for our teacher allocations for next year. Mr John Aliotta will be teaching Year 3/4 full time and we have instead employed a Physical Education teacher for 2 days each week. We had interviews today and received several high quality candidates. We are very pleased to welcome Mersina Gelagotis to our staff as our 2 day a week Physical Education teacher for the 2021 school year. Mersina comes with extensive experience working with children and being involved in a range of teaching experiences with Physical Education. We look forward to Mersina joining our school community.

What a wonderful day we had today for our Colour Run. The students had a fantastic time, as did the staff. It certainly was a colourful and messy event, which made the most of a beautiful, sunny day. A huge thank you to Mellissa Chandler for all of the work she did again this year to organise this event. Mellissa ensured we were able to have a fun and exciting event, while making sure we followed the COVID safe guidelines. A big thank you to all of our families who raised a significant amount of money for our school. In a year where fund raising has been such a challenge, a fun event like this one that also raises some much needed funds is a win for everyone.

We are very sad to be saying goodbye to Fr Harry this weekend. He has been a wonderful Parish Priest, friend, spiritual support and guide for all of us at St Mary’s. We had a lovely morning tea to thank Fr Harry and to celebrate all he has meant to our community over these years.

As the COVID restrictions continue to ease, we are very pleased to be able to offer a greater range of opportunities to our school community. Today we participated in the Colour Run, on Monday our Year 3-6 classes are going to The Summit to enjoy a range of exciting and fun experiences. On Tuesday the Year 6s are having their special day together at The Summit and we are so pleased to be able to go ahead and make plans for our Year 6 graduation. These are all important celebrations for our school community and are giving us a sense of things slowly returning to some kind of normality.

Please continue to pray for those in our world affected by COVID-19, as well as other illnesses. This challenging year has reinforced more than ever the joy family brings, the importance of time spent with those we love and an appreciation for the simple things in life.

I wish you all a very joyful Advent as we begin our journey to Christmas.

Kind regards

Lisa Broeren