Term 4 Week 1

Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Community, Welcome back! We hope you all had a restful break.

Mark Your Calendars 📅

School News

We've had a great start to Term 4, with students settling straight back into work. We are happy to have Danielle Mahony back from her big trip! We are currently missing Jenny Sutton and Judith Alves, who are both on trips in the UK (and yes, they are meeting up!).

Next week, we are excited to welcome Orlando and his parents, Chris and Rosa, to our school community. Orlando was meant to start this week, but a broken arm has delayed his start. We are sure he will feel very welcome in Prep Yellow, taught by Charlotte Lipnicki.

Building Works Update (Tap Testing) 🛠️

As you may have noticed by the chalk marks at the front of the school, tap testing took place over the holidays. While we are waiting on the full report, preliminary reports indicate extensive issues. The good news is that the structural engineer has cleared the roof and confirmed it does not require immediate works. This gives us more flexibility with the grant to complete the necessary repairs. We are working closely with the council to have the remediation works completed as soon as possible.

St Mary of the Cross, Pray for us. 🙏

Anthony

Parent Education

Religious Education

St Mary’s Faith News

 School and Parish Connections

Gospel: Luke 17: 5-10

If you had faith!

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.

‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’

St Mary’s Family Monthly Mass

Sunday 26th October 2025

Forms will be sent home on Friday.

Please fill in the forms and return as soon as possible - especially if you would like your child to read at Mass. There are limited readings and we need to make sure the children have time to practice at home and then in the church.

Thank you to all those who have responded already. Your commitment is valued.

Everyone is welcome to sing with the choir. There will be a practice in the church with Monique and myself the week before the Mass.

Thank you for your support!

A heartfelt thank you to all families who encourage their children to participate. It is always wonderful to see familiar faces at these Masses, and we hope even more families will join us in this special school tradition.

New Front Office Display

Crosses from Around the World

The Cross display is starting to take form - Thank you to everyone who has donated a cross

Thank you Miss Mahony for bringing a beautiful cross back from her travels in England. We have a cross from Salisbury Cathedral to add to our collection that is taking shape above the staff room doors in the office area.

As part of our recent staff Reflection Day, we were inspired by the idea of creating a new display in our front office – a collection of crosses from around the world. This will be a whole school initiative, and we warmly invite our families and staff to take part.

If you have a cross from your travels – whether from overseas or within Australia – that you would like to donate, we would be honoured to include it. The crosses will be thoughtfully displayed on the wall beneath the mounted monitor in the front office.

Thank you for helping us bring this idea to life.

Wednesday Morning Masses

As part of our ongoing commitment to nurturing the spiritual life of our students, each class will continue to attend the Wednesday morning Parish Mass at 9:15am.

The response from teachers has been positive. The children have been able to connect with Parishioners and pay attention to prayers and rituals that they have been taught in class.

We continue to warmly invite parents, grandparents and carers to join their child’s class at the Wednesday Masses, when they are rostered to attend.

You may receive an email invitation or a paper invitation, so please check emails, children’s reading folders or take heed of your child’s verbal invitation.

This is a beautiful opportunity to come together in prayer and strengthen our connection as a school and parish community.

We encourage you to check when your child’s class will be attending the Wednesday Mass.

We look forward to welcoming you to this special part of our faith life.

During this Mass you are welcome to sit with your child, but we ask that you join us as a class - so please come along and sit with us at Mass.

After the Parishioners have received Communion, Younger students in years Prep to Year 3 will be invited to receive a blessing from Fr Greg. Everyone is welcome for a blessing. Those wishing to receive a blessing should approach Fr Greg with hands crossed over their chest.

Term 4 Masses

Parish Newsletter

Wellbeing

Italian Day

Buongiorno Parents and Guardians,

We are very excited to announce that Italian Day will be held on Friday, October 24th (Week 3)

The day will be filled with fun activities celebrating Italian language and culture. During the morning session, students will take part in a range of Italian crafts and games. This year’s craft theme is Carnevale di Venezia!

During the middle session, students will enjoy an engaging and interactive show called L’ingrediente Segreto!

Production synopsis-

Giacoma Bonda is just an ordinary girl. She goes to school, walks home, and most nights helps her Nonna make dinner. But there’s one thing her family doesn’t know... she’s also a secret agent!

Recruited by “L’Agenzia” when she was just 12 years old, luckily Giacoma is very good at her job — because Nonna has wandered off again! Giacoma’s mission is to find Nonna ASAP, as she’s the only one who knows the secret ingredient to the bolognese sauce they are making for dinner. Without it, the sauce is doomed! So come along and join the adventure! Giacoma needs your help to solve the riddles and follow the clues. Only you can decide where we go next in our first-ever “choose your own adventure” musical — a brand-new story featuring the best songs from all our past shows combined. 

After the show, students will be treated to a delicious gelato outdoors while listening to some classic Italian tunes. 

Students are encouraged to dress up in Italian-themed costumes or in the colours of the Italian flag (green, white, and red) to help make the day even more festive!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at medmunds@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au.

We can’t wait to celebrate all things Italian together!

Grazie mille,
Melissa Edmunds

Parents and Friends

Community