Welcome to Week 10!

A reminder to parents that school finishes at 1:30pm this Friday, 4th April and that students return on Tuesday 22nd April. Please join us at 12:45pm this Friday 4th April for our end of term assembly and Easter egg raffle. 

Mr Anthony has arrived safely and has sent us this beautiful photo taken while on a bus  heading to Corinth.

Karoline Cooke our wonderful PE teacher is heading off on maternity leave to welcome baby number two! Karoline is a dedicated, passionate PE teacher who makes an incredible contribution to our school staff and community. Karoline, we wish you, Brenton and Ollie all the very best for your new arrival and we can’t wait to have you back at some point in 2026.

With Karoline heading on leave we welcome Mr Condon into the PE role on a Mon-Wed. Mr C will then remain in 3/4 Blue on a Thur/Fri. Mrs King Shipp makes the move from 1 Blue to 3/4 Blue working on a Mon-Wed. We also officially welcome Jenni Flynn to the Year 1 Blue classroom Thur-Fri for the remainder of the school year.  Parents of the 1 Blue students have had the opportunity earlier this week to meet Mrs Flynn and I am sure they will join me in welcoming her officially to the St Mary’s staff and community.

This week we also farewell the Hill family (Natalie, Jason, Alex and Xavier) who are making the move to Geelong. Xavier and Alex have been loved members of their classrooms and the wider school community over their time at St Mary's. In recent years, Natalie has supported our Prep students with vision assessments and we are grateful for her expertise and time. We wish them all the very best with their move and hope to see them return for a visit soon.

We are busily running lots of prep tours at the moment and are excited to see so many students keen to join the St Mary's community. An important reminder for our current families that applications are due by the end of April as we will be sending out acceptance letters early May. 

As we approach the Easter break, I would like to take a moment to wish all our students, staff, and families a safe and joyful Easter and holiday period. May this season of renewal bring peace, hope, and blessings to each of you. We hope you enjoy this special time with loved ones and look forward to you returning refreshed and ready for a big term two.

Laura Graham

Acting Principal

Meet our Year 1 Teachers

Meeting my first granddaughter Layla Dawn 6 weeks ago

Name: Judith Alves

How long have you worked at St Mary’s?

I have worked at St Mary’s and in Grade 1 for two years however have been a CRT teacher at St Marys for over five years.

What is your favourite thing about our school and especially teaching Year 1?

I have taught primary aged children for over 30 years however, I love the way grade 1 children are so motivated and have a genuine love of learning. My daily bucket fills up with their great acts of kindness and wonderful work. 

What’s an interesting fact about you?

God made me in a unique way with my heart on the right side. I also had 3 thumbs as a baby!

Name: Kerri Gunn

How long have you worked at St Mary’s?

In July this year it will be 20 years since I started at St Mary’s!!!! I took over a Grade 6 class from their teacher Kylie Irving, who was having a baby.

What is your favourite thing about our school and especially teaching Year 1?

For much of my teaching career I have been a senior primary teacher but since giving up full time teaching I have been a Prep-Year 2 teacher and I LOVE IT!!!!!

The students are so innocent and attentive and listen to every word. They even laugh at my attempt at humour. I love my Thursdays and Fridays in 1 Yellow.

What’s an interesting fact about you?

I cannot believe it myself, but in June this year I am going to be a NANNA of 8 grandchildren!!!! Being a Nanna is the BEST! On par with my school family!

Name: Elle Marioli

How long have you worked at St Mary’s?

I spent 2024 casual relief teaching at St Mary’s and was lucky enough to get to know many of the students across the school! It’s been a joy having my very own grade 1 class in 2025!

What is your favourite thing about our school and especially teaching Year 1?

The wonderful sense of community and the students eagerness to learn!

What’s an interesting fact about you?

I have been a volunteer with Camp Quality for the past 8 years, bringing fun and magic back to the lives of children aged 0-13 impacted by cancer. I’m extremely passionate about my volunteer work and wrote my master's thesis on how educators can support children impacted by long term hospitalisation, reintegrate back into school!

Name: Jennifer Flynn

How long have you worked at St Mary’s? Since my daughter was born in 2022, I have been doing casual relief teaching a couple of days a week. I came to St Mary’s a few times in 2023 and 2024 and it immediately became one of my favourite schools. I reached out this year to see if there were any casual positions and I found out about the part time role. I have really enjoyed the days I have been here so far this year and I look forward to officially joining the school and teaching grade 1 Blue with Elle next term.

What is your favourite thing about our school and especially teaching Year 1?

I love how welcoming all the staff and students at St.Mary’s are. There is such a beautiful culture here with the whole school community focusing on creating and building a supportive learning environment. I have previously taught Grade 5/6 , literacy intervention, prep and P.E so this will be my first time teaching year 1 but I love how the students are so curious and keen to participate and engage in their learning.

What’s an interesting fact about you?

I’m from Dublin, Ireland and when I was 12, I came to Australia on holiday for my cousin's wedding. I told my parents I wanted to come back and live here and as soon as I finished university in Scotland in 2009, I booked my flights and I’ve been here ever since. I love my home away from home in Melbourne.

What’s happening in Year 1 

What an amazing term we've had in Year 1!

In Maths, students have been diving into the world of data, learning how to collect, categorise, and represent information in different ways. Students have been developing a strong understanding of place value, exploring how to partition numbers up to 20 into 2 or 3 parts and how to order numbers up to 120. It's been fantastic seeing their understanding grow!

In Literacy, students have been learning how to use nouns and adjectives to write engaging sentences. The grade 1 cohort have loved the new Spelling Mastery Program, which we will continue next term.

Each Wednesday afternoon both grade 1s are exploring music through song and drumming with Mrs Alves and Miss Elle! The grade 1’s have created wonderful rhythms on the djembe drums and learnt an extensive repertoire of new songs! Your child is welcome to continue this at home on an upturned pan or bucket. Ear plugs are optional!

Thank you for your continued support this term. It has been a joy teaching your children and we can’t wait for Term Two.

Keep up the great work, Year 1!