SMC NEWS 2024 - Term 1, Week 7
Week Ahead
From the College Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
2025 Enrolments and Term 1 Open Evening
Many of you will be aware that we are in the middle of our main 2025 enrolments campaign at the College. Please find below an update on upcoming events related to this important part of the College year.
Enrolments for all 2025 year levels close Easter 2024. It is possible that limited spaces will still be available after this time for 2025, but it cannot be guaranteed. Interest in the College for next year has been very strong!
Our first Open Evening for the year occurs this coming Thursday 7th March, beginning at 3.30pm. The focus for Term 1 is STEM and Aerospace. Interviews for families who have provided application forms begin before Easter and will continue after the school holidays at the College. Interviews will be conducted by the Senior Leadership Team, consisting of the Principal, Deputy Principal, Assistant Principals and Directors of the College. We are looking forward to seeing a number of you, in addition to new parents, in the coming weeks at the College.
Principal tours will continue during the year and are an important introduction to the College also. The purpose of a Principal's tour is to introduce myself and provide information about the significant advantages of Boys' Education at St Mary's College, especially for those who may not have considered single-sex education before.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in enrolling your son at the College, please contact the College and ask to speak to Ms Marisa Roper, my assistant. Enrolment forms and registration details for Open Evenings and Principal tours can be found online at www.stmaryscollege.com.
St Mary's College is an Inclusive Community and as such, all are welcome to our Open Evening and Principal Tours at the College.
Reflection for Week 7
Please donate to Project Compassion.
Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow for all future generations.
You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes, online by visiting caritas.org.au/project-compassion or by calling 1800 024 413.
Photo: Laura Womersley/Caritas Australia
Mr Brendan Stewart
College Principal
Deputy Principal
A Safe School Environment
The constant challenge of safety is an ongoing priority at St Mary’s College. With 900 boys and over 100 staff, ensuring that the environment is safe for everyone can take a lot of time and attention. As parents, you can support us in this in two key ways:
- Reinforcing our safety messages with your son
- Ensuring that your own behaviour around the College is safe
We try to keep the balance between allowing boys to exercise their natural instincts to take risks and ensuring that injuries are kept to a minimum. Boys will often view our precautions as unnecessary, however, we would appreciate parental support for some of our key messages.
As a parent, you are welcome to attend the College for organised events and special celebrations and these will be communicated to you via email. If you need to visit the College outside of these events, parents should go to the College Administration building – the Brothers’ House – on West Street. Here, the office staff will be able to help you with your questions or put you in contact with someone who can. If you want to speak with a specific teacher, the best way to arrange is via email. With busy timetables, teachers are not easily able to leave their classes for parent meetings.
The greatest risk for many of our boys is the few minutes they spend departing the College at the end of the school day. In this instance, parents can help by being careful with driving and parking around the College at this time. The school crossing zones are critical in this area and cars should not be stopping in these.
As a part of the overall safety program at the College, we held a lockdown drill this week. There are a range of reasons that a real lockdown might be called and these were discussed with the boys on Assembly last week. The drill was effective and we have highlighted some areas for improvement. There will be a drill of some sort – either lockdown or fire evacuation – held every term. This ensures that the whole school community is familiar with the processes if we are faced with an emergency. If you have any questions about this process, please make contact with me here at the College.
Mrs Samantha Parle
Deputy Principal
parles@stmaryscollege.com
Identity
International Women's Day
As a Catholic boys College in the Edmund Rice tradition, it is particularly important that we recognise and celebrate International Women’s Day.
This year, International Women’s Day is on Friday 8th March. It is a sad fact that in 2024, women are still likely to be underpaid, to work in lower-paid sectors of the economy, to be the primary carers for children and the elderly, to have less in their super funds and shamefully, to be the overwhelming victims of domestic abuse.
Our Edmund Rice Charism does not allow us to be silent in the face of this continuing injustice. The example of Jesus in the Gospels is pertinent. In first-century Palestine, women were certainly marginalised, yet Jesus continually affirms them in his ministry. The letters of St Paul and the Acts of the Apostles reveal that many of the big figures of the early church were women.
Edmund Rice himself was influenced to take the path he did as a result of advice from a female relative, and indeed the Christian Brothers order he founded was modeled upon Nano Nagle’s Presentation Sisters. Our Patron, Mary the Mother of Jesus is the ultimate woman of agency. She said yes to carrying God’s son.
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate the important women in our College and our lives, but also to shine a light upon the injustices that women still face around the world and in our area. We open up conversations about ways we can create a fairer world for everyone to flourish.
At St Mary's College, we are an inclusive community. We reject all forms of sexism or discrimination in the world and commit to calling it out where we see it.
Staff and Student Mass
Staff and student masses will take place this year in the school chapel in the Brothers' House.
This will be celebrated most Thursdays subject to the availability of Father Ray Crowley. Information on this will be made available for students on Sentral daily notices.
All students are welcome, we would love to see you there!
Mr Kevin Murphy
Assistant Principal Identity
murphyk@stmaryscollege.com
Curriculum
Assessment Policy
As we pass the mid-way point of Term 1, students are reminded to keep track of their assessment due dates. Assessment dates can be accessed through:
- Canvas: By selecting ‘Calendar’ on the Canvas dashboard, students can see a personalised schedule of their upcoming due dates for both draft and final submissions.
- Sentral Calendars: By selecting their year level from the drop-down menu, students can see the due dates for their final submissions.
To best prepare students for the world of work and/or study they will enter upon leaving the College; due dates must be firm and consequences for non-submission clear. I understand that occasionally circumstances arise which prevent a student from being able to submit their best work by the due date and for this reason students can apply for extension using the process below. Please note that extensions will not be given for avoidable circumstances, which include family holidays, sporting carnivals, and any activity that the student had a warning of. In these instances, the student must submit before leaving for the activity.
Years 5 to 9 - Applying for an Extension
- Students must attend the Junior Curriculum Office to collect a ‘Request for Extension’ form at least 3 days prior to the due date.
- The form must be completed and signed by parents outlining the reasons an extension is required and returned to the Junior Curriculum Office at least 3 days prior to the due date.
- A new due date will be negotiated with Mrs Shari Pauli (Acting Director 5-9 Curriculum).
Where a student has not applied for an extension and does not submit their assignment by the due date, they will be referred to attend the AIC, which takes place on Wednesday afternoons during Sport. During this time, the student will be provided with the opportunity to complete their outstanding assignment work, reflect, and develop strategies to ensure they meet the designated deadlines moving forward.
Years 5 to 9 - Missed Exams
When a student misses an exam due to illness, they are expected to sit the exam immediately upon their return to the College.
Where a student has an extended period of illness and misses multiple exams, please contact Mrs Shari Pauli to negotiate a new exam schedule.
Years 10 to 12
The process in the Senior School is more restrictive as it is dictated to schools by the QCAA (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority). If a student is absent for an assessment, a medical certificate must be produced.
Mrs Jade Love
Assistant Principal - Curriculum
lovej@stmaryscollege.com
Primary and Middle School Curriculum
NAPLAN Levels of Achievement
Last year, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) underwent a significant refinement in its performance rating system, aiming to better align with the essential skills and knowledge crucial for students' educational success. NAPLAN serves as a vital tool for parents, offering insights into their child's proficiency across four distinct levels of achievement:
- Exceeding
- Strong
- Developing
- Needs additional support
These refined levels are designed to create a more precise and holistic perspective on students' abilities and developmental trajectories, empowering educators and parents to pinpoint areas ripe for improvement in their child's learning journey.
Aligned with these enhancements, our NAPLAN High Achievement Awards embrace the updated rating framework, and the criteria is below. We deeply value academic excellence in your child's educational journey and remain steadfast in our commitment to celebrating their accomplishments.
NAPLAN Schedule
What Students Need to Bring:
All boys must arrive at each NAPLAN session with the correct materials. This includes:
- Device – fully charged
- Earphones (wired)
- Pencil case
Should you have any concerns regarding student participation, please contact me by Monday 11th of March 2024.
Mrs Shari Pauli
Acting Program Leader - Primary and Middle School Curriculum
paulis@stmaryscollege.com
Student Engagement
Real Talk
Last week our College was host to Paul Ninnes from Real Talk. Paul is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Real Talk International. Based on Catholic Christian values he uses his powerful life story, and fifteen years of experience working in this area, to present the life-changing Real Talk message. Paul was awarded “Professional Leader of the Year” in 2014.
Real Talk is all about getting real on the topics of sex, relationships, and personal identity. Real Talk provided engaging and sincere presentations and up-to-date resources to our boys with the focus on knowing their true value, worth, and dignity.
Our Year 8 boys’ session on “Love and Life” focused our boys on the “gift of life”, and “sacredness of life” and created for a purpose, the sincerity and openness with our students made for a very engaging presentation.
Paul presented to our Year 10 boys’ on “Getting real in the Digital World” which focused on prompting the boys to think critically about how to behave in the digital world and covered topics on Cyber Safety, Sexting, Digital reputation, and Healthy tech use. Our students were allowed to take a step back and think about their alternatives concerning decisions they make in life in this regard.
You can find out more about Real Talk here: https://www.realtalkaustralia.com/aboutus
Formal
With just under 3 weeks to go until the Year 12 Formal, the expectation is building toward a fantastic evening. Last week our Marketing and Events team co-presented with me to our Senior boys.
Covered in our joint presentation were expectations regarding the formal, etiquette concerning gentlemen and their partners, and what to expect on the night. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation was made available to our community through a broadcast shortly after.
Character Strength of the Week
This week, we concentrated on the character strength of Perseverance as part of our deliberate character development program for men of faith, integrity, action, and excellence.
My specific focus from this is to encourage our boys to take every opportunity to demonstrate strong work ethic, while being goal directed; despite facing challenges which in turn assists in building resilience against future obstacles.
Story is often a great medium to bring to light other people’s life experience. Ask your boys if they remember the life story of Colonel Sanders, the founder of the food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken and the obstacles he overcame to create a business success story through Perseverance.
Mr Matt Draper
Assistant Principal - Student Engagement
draperm@stmaryscollege.com
Business Manager
Dear Parents and Guardians
As we approach the last few weeks of Term 1, I have some staffing news. My Finance Officer, Adel, finished on February 16th to further her accounting career and we wish her all the best. In the coming weeks, we will have a new Finance Officer in the hot seat, though, in the meantime I ask for your patience as we work with one less in the team.
The March statements will be sent out next week and will show any upfront payment discounts and sibling discounts, please review them carefully, and let us know if there are any discrepancies. All our fee information can be found on our website or by clicking here.
The best email to contact our finance department is accounts@stmaryscollege.com.
Mr Patrick Wilson
Business Manager
wilsonp@stmaryscollege.com
2024 Next Step Year 12 Completers Survey
All Year 12 completers from last year will soon receive an invitation to do the Next Step survey. This is their chance to help our school understand the different pathways of the 2023 Year 12 students and to improve our senior programs and supports for future students. The survey only takes 5 minutes and asks graduates about their study and work activities since finishing school.
As a thank you for participating, Year 12 completers will be entered into a draw to win a MacBook Air.
We ask parents, siblings and friends to encourage our graduates to complete the survey. If their contact details have changed, please assist survey interviewers with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate. Graduates may receive an invitation by mail, email or phone. The survey can be completed online or by phone.
For more information about Next Step, including previous results, visit http://www.qld.gov.au/nextstep.