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Dear St Mary’s College,
"Leaders - every leadership position in a girls’ school,
is held by a girl."
This statement is one of the website
banners for the Alliance of Girls’ School Australasia. It is also a fact I often share at tours
and interviews. We are not striving for gender parity or working to reach quotas in girls’ schools.
The girls are the leaders, and they have the modelling of women in many roles and levels of leadership
to support, encourage and inspire them.
Leadership shows
up in a multitude of ways - in formal student leadership portfolios, in the Big Sister program, in public
speaking, in the Grounds for Change barista program, in sport, the arts and STEM. In the classroom, our
girls are encouraged to speak up, share their opinions, dialogue and debate.
In this week’s newsletter, the story about Evie shows how leadership is built from a young age.
And the summary of the netball and ski trip shows the exemplary leadership of staff and students as they
represented our school interstate. Last term I wrote about the involvement of Year 11 student, Chanelle
in Youth Parliament. During the break, I listened to Chanelle collaborate with other young people to present
a bill to parliament. This week, I had a conversation with a parent and learnt about their daughter’
s passionate engagement with STEM Academy and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
These interactions affirm what is happening in the school, and they give me an insight into where we
could do better to support the aspirations of our students. I want everyone to get the best possible outcomes
from their St Mary’s education. Please make contact if you want to have a conversation about your
daughter’s aspirations and how we can support in bringing them to life.
As we celebrate the Feast of St Dominic in the coming week, we always take a moment to connect with our
story. We are grateful for the spirit of leadership in the women who founded our school that lives on
here today.
Enjoy the coming weeks.
Warm regards,
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On Wednesday 3 August we will celebrate
the feast day of St Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers. Our whole school celebrations
will include a College Mass, our first for this year. Gathering to celebrate and pray together as a community
is a foundational element of our ethos and identity as a school.
When we gather with our families, or with our closest circle of friends, it matters that people show
up. We miss people when they cannot be there. The ritual of gathering is important for the relationships
that are held in the circle.
In the same way, when we gather
as a whole school community, it matters that everyone is there, and we miss people when they are not.
Following mass, we have a range of whole school activities planned to celebrate our feast. We look forward
to celebrating our feast, and our community, next week.
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Evie, in Reception, is a “defence
kid.” Her dad served in the Royal Australian Navy up until early this year. When growing up, Evie
and her sister Alice needed resources to be able to better understand defence life and why her dad was
often away and what he was doing.
Evie’s mum wrote a defence life-specific
children’s books to read to her whilst her dad was away. This helped her to feel connected to him.
Defence Kidz was created from this concept as thousands of other defence
families were also finding it difficult to explain defence life to their children. Defence Kidz now advocates
for children and young people throughout Australia who have a parent working in the defence forces.
Evie’s family are very social justice oriented and enjoy helping
those who need assistance. They soon became aware of the can drive for those experiencing homelessness
at Hutt Street and Moore Street and wanted to contribute.
Evie, with the
help of her mum, created a short video encouraging people to donate to the cause and shared it on social
media. She received many donations from friends, family and colleagues.
She also attended a Veterans SA “Meet the Minister” event where she was introduced to Minister
Geoff Brock (Minister for Veterans Affairs) who saw Evie’s video and also wanted to donate cans.
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Evie and her mum emailed Minister Nat
Cook (Minister for Social Services), Minister Joe Szakacs (Minister for Police and Emergency Services)
and the local member for Adelaide, Lucy Hood who were all very supportive and wanted to be involved in
also raising awareness around those people experiencing homelessness.
Minister Cook and Member for Adelaide, Lucy Hood, attended St Mary’s to congratulate the Reception
class for their social justice advocacy and collecting over 450 cans that will be donated to Hutt Street
and Moore Street.
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School Trips
Late last term,
St Mary’s College was fortunate to have three senior Netball Academy teams participate in the Waverley
International Schools Netball Championship in Melbourne. Students played schools from Victoria, ACT, NSW
and SA.
Competing against other netball schools in an interstate
environment allowed our players to display their skills, games sense and sportsmanship throughout the
week-long carnival. Our teams finished 4th, 7th and 12th, and we are incredibly proud of the exceptional
way the students represented St Mary’s College on and off the court. These results are a testament
to the hard work and preparation by players and coaching staff. We are very proud of the students for
their commitment and dedication to the St Mary’s College Netball Academy, and for the exemplary
way in which they represented our school.
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During the holidays, 17 Year 10-11 students, and four teachers
travelled to Falls Creek, Victoria for the Snowsports Tour. It was exciting to see some students experience
snow for the first time. We had regular lessons, as many had not skied before. By the end of day four,
the majority of students were skiing blue or black runs. On day five we learnt to cross-country ski, allowing
us to explore the Nordic Bowl.
Staff were impressed by the students’
courage, resilience, and enthusiasm. Even when tired or uncertain, they continued to step outside their
comfort zones and take on new challenges. We received excellent feedback on the students’ conduct.
Both the netball and ski trips were led and supported by a dedicated
team of staff. This commitment to the provision of diverse learning experiences is just one of the many
things that make our community great.
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