News

Last Sunday evening, families from St Brigid’s and St Mary’s Primary school joined the St Mary’s congregation to celebrate our Family Mass.

Students from both schools took part in singing the hymns, reading the Liturgy of the Word, led the offertory procession, served on the altar and even ran the collections. Preceding Mass, an important game of cricket was held on the St Mary’s oval, where both Fr Baby and Fr Tomy were able to show off their batting and bowling prowess.

The purpose of family Mass is to bring the Primary and High schools together and join as one faith community.

Next term, Family Mass will be held at St Brendan’s. Stay tuned for further information.

Year 7 students had their first cooking practical recently as part of their Food and Agriculture unit, focusing on eggs.

For many of our students this marked their first experience following a recipe, and they all did a fantastic job!

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (the national data collection) is an annual collection that counts the number of school students receiving an adjustment due to disability.

Please read the letter below for more information.

I recently found a book by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval called “The power of small. Why little things make all the difference”. While the authors are renowned for their work in the business industry, so many of the insights are applicable to the young people in our lives. Thaler encourages individuals to make small, positive changes to their daily routines because she believes these can lead to significant improvements over time.  For students, the minor tasks, habits, and efforts in their academic journey are essential for success.

Attention to Detail

We all know the importance of ensuring we get the details right.  Students benefit from paying attention to the details of their assignments, studying meticulously, and proofreading their work as this can ensure quality and accuracy. This care and respect for getting the details right often translates into care and respect for others as well.

Progress in small increments build confidence

As we know, small steps lead to big accomplishments. Encouraging students to break down their goals, homework and classwork into manageable tasks is important. But more importantly celebrating small victories with them will help them stay motivated and focused. This also has a ripple effect on those around them who also start to benefit from these small wins. Mastering a new concept, improving a grade, receiving praise for their efforts, or seeing small successes reinforces their belief in their abilities building confidence and self-esteem.

Habit Formation and daily routine

Success is often a result of consistent, positive habits. Instilling discipline and diligence in students from a young age helps them develop foundational skills for long-term success in both their academic and personal lives. By focusing on the small things and looking for opportunities to learn and grow, we develop resilience, perseverance, and dispositions that lead to success beyond the school gate.

Preparation is essential to helping to get the small things right.

Charged devices at the beginning of the day, correct workbooks for each lesson, a pencil case with pens, pencils, calculator, highlighters etc. help students with their attention to detail and academic success.  It’s important that we support the students in getting the small things right. Whether it’s double-checking homework, assignments, practicing good study habits, packing our bag the night before, or arriving on time at school. Let’s help the young people in our lives strive for excellence in every aspect of what they do. “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” — Henry Ford

Alex Walters

Assistant Principal, Student Achievement 

New College Sports Shirt- Indigenous Design – Student Led

We are very excited to announce that the NEW College PDHPE Shirt will be available in the coming weeks and will replace the existing design for all future sales through Cowan and Lewis.

The new shirt was designed by a year 11 student, Isabella D.

DESIGN DESCRIPTION

“My design follows our journey throughout our schooling. 

Pathways, twisting and turning, signify changes such as meeting new people, taking on new challenges and changing direction as we learn and grow. These pathways ultimately lead us back to our Ancestors, Elders, parents, and teachers who have protected us, supported us, and guided us, with dedication and wisdom, to achieve our goals. 

The lakes and meandering rivers that surround us provide calm and inspire contemplation. They link us to the earth and remind us to respect the Traditional Owners of the land we occupy. Symbolising the ebbs and flows of education, they demonstrate resilience as they flow around obstacles and continue moving onwards. 

Meeting places highlight the importance of community, friendships and collaboration and emphasise the need to remain grounded and connected to our faith throughout our educational journey.” 

Isabella D

The College will still recognise the existing shirts; therefore, families do not need to purchase new shirts to adhere to the Uniform Guidelines.