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St Mary's College term 3, version 2

Message from the Principal

Farewell Ms Lea.

Lea Wilson has been a member of the College Leadership Team at St Mary’s College- Secondary Campus for the past five years. First as Head of Secondary and then as Deputy Principal Curriculum. Lea has been instrumental in reviewing and transforming the curriculum on the secondary campus focusing on what our students need to be successful. She has implemented courageous and creative solutions to develop our students particularly in their numeracy and literacy ensuring that an ever-increasing number of students obtain amazing results in NAPLAN and OLNA, and graduate with the capabilities for university and the workplace. Under Lea’s guidance it has been amazing to see how many of our students obtain all their credentials for WACE and Year 12 graduation despite many challenges.

Lea has served the education community for over forty years as an exceptional mathematics teacher, middle leader and Deputy Principal. Her calm, warm nature ensures parents and students always feel welcome to come and have a conversation and that the advice she gives our community is always based on the best educational outcomes for students.

Lea has mentored our Heads of Learning Area, performed wonders with our timetable, ensures all our secondary programs build from Year 7 through to Year 10 to prepare students for Senior School and that we offer an exceptional range of subjects in Year 11 and 12, meeting the needs and interests of our students. She has made a significant contribution to the lives of our students, the life of our community and has been a tremendous support to her colleagues, the leadership team and to me personally. We will miss her humour, her calmness, her passion for teaching and learning and above all her dedication to our students.

We say farewell to Lea at the end of Week 4. I thank her for all her work over the last five years and for her dedication in the handover she has had with Mr. Simon. We wish her well in her retirement and hope herself and her husband Mark enjoy the many adventures they have planned.

Take care and go with Gods Blessings. Thank you, we are a much richer community for having had you as a part of us.

Carol Bell - Principal

Blessing of the Buildings

Invitation to all families.

Please RSVP by 9th August 2021 to Ms Anthea Demin on 08 9194 9502 or Email anthea.demin@cewa.edu.au

Anthea Demin - Principal's PA

Australian Census

The Australian census on 10 August 2021 will provide a snapshot of who Australians are and what is important to us. The census is a key tool that government uses to determine how organisations, schools, church ministries and community groups are prioritised, funded and empowered to best operate in our State.

If your faith is important to you or if you identify with Christian values, please use your voice in the Australian census when asked your religion.

This is an important opportunity to demonstrate the significance of faith-based families in our West Australian community and will support endeavours to secure equitable access to opportunities and resources.

Dr Debra Sayce - CEWA Executive Director

Our Mob

The Our Mob Playgroup participated in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day Event on Wednesday 4th August 2021 that was organised by the Kimberley Aboriginal Children in Care Committee(KACCC) and Aarnja Ltd. The event included a walk from Bedford Park to the Town Beach Playground where many local organisation's had set up their stalls promoting their services as well as offering fun activities for families and their little ones. The day was a huge success and we received so much positive comments about the event from our families who very much enjoyed themselves.

Merrilee Lands - Our Mob Facilitator

Kindy Liturgy

Our Kindy classes had their Creation Liturgy outside under the shade of the trees today. We would like to thank Father Alexis and the Kindy teachers for preparing this. The students sang with joy on their faces as they danced along to the hymns. It was wonderful to see them engage in conversation with Father Alexis to share their knowledge on creation.

Jen Rudyard - Assistant Principal of Primary

Year 6 Cultural Camp

Our incredible Year Six students went to Lombadina in Week 2 for their cultural camp. The students had so many exceptional experiences and opportunities thanks to our committed and talented staff and parent helpers. A special mention to Miss Janenell, Mr Brad and Mr Ameer who shared their home with us and lead us on our cultural learning.

Here are what some of the Year Six students thought of camp:

Maliyah Angus- My favourite part of the year 6 camp was going to Chile Creek because we got to go swimming and look at the beach house there.

Anthea Corpus- My favourite part of the year 6 cultural camp was going to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, and going on the boat ride because we got shown the tidal whirlpools and the pearls.

Mollie Athanitis- My favourite part of the camp was spear fishing and hanging out with my friends on camp. My second favourite part was the Cygnet Bay boat tour.

Janice Cassidy- My favourite thing about going to Lombadina was going swimming at Chile Creek. I liked the Cygnet Bay tour because it was fun and I liked to learn about the pearls.

Autumn Myers- I love how we got to go to the beach and I was covered in sand, it was so much fun when we got to swim in the rock pools.

Theresa Haynes-Murphy- My favourite part of camp was the Hatchery at One Arm Point when we got to see all the sealife and turtles, I also loved the boat ride at Cygnet Bay.

Alex Earle- My favourite of the Lombadina camp was getting oysters the size of your hand and also spear fishing because i got a blue bone, rock cod and surgeon fish.

Tane Norman- My favourite time on camp was crabbing because it was fun.

Kenny Rahman- My favourite part about camp was spearfishing.

Michael Flynn- My favourite part about camp was spearing.

Spencer Groenenberg- My best time on camp was crabbing. I caught lots of crabs.I also loved Chile Creek.

Daniel Reid- My favourite part was when we went spearfishing and I got 1 mangrove jack and 2 Surgeonfish.

Jack Noom- My favourite part was spearfishing because I caught a blue bone and 2 Surgeonfish.

Gabby Prime - Teacher

Wellbeing Hub

The Wellbeing team are so grateful to the P&F for granting us the funds to improve our Wellbeing Hub. We set up an outdoor counselling space and got additional resources for the Relaxation Station to run during the recess breaks. Our space is now warm and inviting inside and out and there are lots of options for our students to choose to help them relax, reconnect and be mindful.

Melita Waters - Social Worker Primary

Soccer West Clinic

Last Friday our primary students wore green and gold to school to show their support of the Australian Olympic Team. Our Year 1-5 students had a blast participating in a soccer clinic run by Soccer West. We have some future Olyroos and Matildas on the primary campus, their skills on the field were outstanding. We thank Soccer West for the time they spent with our students teaching them new skills that they exhibited playing some fun games.

Jen Rudyard - Assistant Principal of Primary

Vocational Education, Training & Carers

Certificate II in Leadership this year

Megan Charles and Clypsy Shaw began their training. It will form an integral part of their final WACE achievements and is run by Goolarri Media. As part of their certificate qualification, Megan and Clypsy have practiced and learned about photography. This is a new unit for the girls and they were fortunate enough to take photos at the recent NAIDOC opening walk. Both girls demonstrated a keen eye for detail and produced some great photos. These will now form part of their final portfolio for this unit of competency.

SBT SUPERSTARS!!

School-Based Traineeships are off and running for 2021. A big congratulations to Leilani Gower who has started her SBT in Certificate II in Salon with Olu Hairdressing. Keep your eye out for emails that advertise possible SBT opportunities in the future.

Broome Business Youth Job Exchange

The annual Broome Business Youth Job Exchange is on Thursday 23 September 2021 from 2:00pm to 4:30pm, and will connect Broome based school leavers, current students or unemployed young people with local employers to exchange knowledge about what businesses are looking for in potential candidates. The event also aims to enhance the likelihood that these youth will make a good transition into education, training or employment through offering an opportunity to connect directly with the business community.

This event is open to all jobseekers (aged 16 – 25+) in the West Kimberley region.

The key objectives of this event is to: • Encourage and promote engagement between local youth and the business community. • Promote employment and training opportunities available within the Kimberley region, • Create opportunities for participants to establish networks with Industry Employers, and local business. • Provide an avenue for current students, school leavers and unemployed youth to provide expressions of interest to local employers.

Jane Bennett - HOLA - Vocational Education, Training & Carers

Polly Farmer - Follow The Dream

The years 7 and 8 boys who went on the Follow the Dream programme overnight camp to Eco Beach Resort had a wonderful time. This was fully funded by the Polly Farmer Foundation.

We enjoyed playing team games and fishing on the beach and ended our first day with a delicious meal, followed by chatter and resilience building conversations around the campfire. On the second morning, we went for a trip to Jack’s Creek, with most of the boys catching at least one fish each! We learnt about the history of Eco Beach and interesting facts about the boys’ family history and cultural connections to the area and our tour guide Neilo McKenzie.

Many thanks to two of our Follow the Dream tutors, Mr Gus Boult-Lyne and Ms Lisa Sharratt for supporting us over the two days, we had lots of fun!

Amanda Davies - HOLA - Learning Extension & Follow the Dream Co-ordinator

Student Representative Council Parent Appreciation Dinner

On Wednesday the Secondary SRC hosted a parent appreciation BBQ and games afternoon on Gantheaume Point. Throughout the year the SRC raised money through their selling of ice cups to fund the event. On the night students cooked and served their parents a BBQ dinner as they watched the sun set. Thanks you to all the parents and student who attended. The SRC hope to make this a annual event as it will give all student an opportunity to say thank you to their Caregivers for all that they do.

Sarah Gardner - Deputy Principal Pastoral Care
Amy Hyett - Business Manager