Year 10 Melbourne Trip 

The count down is on for our Year 10 students and staff with only five more school weeks before they head to the airport for a 3-night stay in Melbourne.  This exciting adventure was initiated by Charlotte who in 2024, as a year 9 student, put forward the idea of an interstate trip in a letter. The school association committee and senior staff considered the request, checked in with teachers and made the decision to say yes! Although attending students have been busy with fundraising, most of the costs of this fabulous opportunity are being covered by our School Association, and the amazing work of our School Association Op Shop Volunteers.  

On behalf of Year 10 students, I would like to thank the school association committee and volunteers and Tanya Ringuet and Lisa Bean for the work they are doing to support this adventure. Stay tuned for further updates, as the departure date gets closer!

NAPLAN 2024 St Marys District School 

NAPLAN reports for Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students have been posted home. If you have any questions in relation to NAPLAN, please contact your child’s class teacher or call the administration office on 63723900. 

My congratulations to all students involved in the testing this year, their application and positive attitude towards the testing was admirable.  Our staff and students have much to be proud of, including our participation rates being above those of similar schools, Tasmania and Australia. With all year groups showing sustained growth, I would like to spotlight our Year 9 students' achievements. When compared to similar schools, St Marys District School Year 9 students are achieving well above similar schools in Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation.  

School Attendance – St Marys District School 

Every school day matters and there are lots of things you can do to set your child or young person up for success. Going to school every day gives your child or young person every chance to learn and grow and connect with their mates and teachers. 

School is where bright futures are supported and where they’ll benefit the most. 

The most common thing we hear from students, of all ages, is that school is where they can:   

• spend time with their friends and teachers,  

• create new and fun experiences,  

• find their interests,  

• learn new things,  

• broaden their options – for whatever future they want (whether that’s their dream job or to travel around the world).  

Try some of these strategies to help improve your child or young person’s attendance: 

Talk to your child about school.  Start a conversation about what’s happening at school. It will help you to better support their interests and confidence in learning. If you show an interest in school, they’ll know that getting an education is important and valued. 

Celebrate the milestones, big and small! Celebrate milestones such as making it through the first day or week of school. And remember: all milestones look different. If it’s a big achievement for your child, it’s important to recognise it. 

Set up a time to talk to your child’s teacher.  If you’re struggling to get your child to school, help is available. Please talk to us at school about your situation. We’ll support you, in whatever way we can. 

Explanations of absence, where known in advance, are always appreciated. When your child is absent from school there are a variety of ways that you can communicate with us about that. These are: 

• Phoning the Administration Office. 

• Using the Schoolzine App. 

• Sending an email to our school email address st.marys.district.school@education.tas.gov.au  

• Replying to the daily text message  

Bullying No Way  

Bullying is a heartbreaking issue which as school staff we too often deal with. Bullying has no place in our schools and we all work hard every day to help eliminate this behaviour and protect our learners from the associated harm.  

This week, is the Bullying No Way: National week of Action which aims to inspire whole-school communities to be involved in finding positive ways to prevent and address bullying. This year we are combining this focus with RUOK Day and our SLB and Live 4 Life Crew are organising a day where our school community will focus on these two important messages through a focus on working and playing together. For more information, see the following links. Bullying No Way: National week of action or A conversation could change a life | R U OK?  

Mrs Carolyn Watson 
Principal 

Over the past couple of weeks we have been very excited to watch our seeds germinate and grow, we currently have nine bean plants growing in Kinder with the jar and the pot doing the best! The children have been very excited to come in each morning and see how they are developing and growing, and see the root system grows.

In week two we went tadpole hunting finding some in a water trough on the farm up near the early childhood classes. We currently have eight healthy tadpoles residing in Kinder of varying ages and stages of development. The children are fascinated by the tadpoles and very excited to see that two are developing legs.

Next week we will be exploring ‘Fairy Tales’ . This will promote early literacy development, promote social and emotional skills, encouraging children to use their imaginations introducing children to moral life lessons, different cultures and basic elements of story telling. We will write our own Fairy Tale as a class and create a classroom book for our book shelf.

We are very excited for Book Week next week and have been very busy working on our door display, which we are very proud of. We have finished this and it is up for all to see what a fantastic job we have done.

We thank families for attending our LiL sessions, we have had a tremendous attendance from families within our wider community, as well as our pre-kinder children for 2026.

Lil is a fantastic way to ensure a smooth and positive transition to School for parents and children to feel safe and secure within the learning environments such as the Kinder classroom, library, PAC and the School farm. We had a incredible library session in week two introducing the children to the library space, reading books for the shelf and engaging in literacy learning experiences such as, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Koala Lou and Wombat Stew and some First Nation stories and resources.

Last week we joined Building Blocks at the St Marys Town Hall for a combined session. During this session the children were given the opportunity to decorate pizza boxes and make their own pizza.

We welcome any new families each Thursday from 9.15am – 10.30am please see Lil calendar on the school calendar for venues each week. If your you have a pre-kinder child we would love to see you at LiL.

On Thursday 14 August, Grade 1/2A went on a class excursion to the Pyengana Dairy. It was a beautiful winter's day. We enjoyed cheese tastings that included mild cheddar (our favourite), vintage (Miss Rossi’s favourite), herb and garlic, sweet chilli (was a little spicy for us) and black pepper. We learnt about the process of cheese making and took a look inside the cellar where they store the vintage cheddars for up to 24 months! We learnt about how the cows are milked by robots and they can even enjoy a back scratch and a snack after they are milked (lucky cows!). To end the day, we all got to chose an ice cream; the flavours included vanilla, chocolate, boysenberry, salted caramel and peppermint. It was a wonderful day spent together.

On Wednesday 15 August, the Grade 10 students hosted a fantastic Bake Sale that brought sweet smiles across the school! Organised with enthusiasm and care, the event was supported by the SLB. Students from Prep to Grade 12 eagerly lined up to purchase a delicious array of treats prepared by the talented Hands on Learning Café class, guided by Mrs Green and Mink Surawat-Reid. The selection included mouth-watering brownies, apricot and lemon slices, cupcakes, carrot cake, ginger snaps, butter cookies, and classic ANZACs. The sale was a runaway success, selling out before the end of recess and proving popular with every grade and staff. Some of our early years students even turned the experience into a real-world maths lesson, calculating what they could buy with their coins. With $268.30 profits, the funds raised will go toward supporting the Grade 10 Melbourne Trip later this term. A huge congratulations to the students for their excellent organisation and community spirit!

On Friday 8 August, we celebrated our 100 days of school in Prep/1 and Grade 1/2A. Students have been counting and monitoring this each morning as part of our routines. We are very excited to hit this milestone. Students enjoyed celebrating what a wonderful first half of 2025 we have had.

Everyday counts!

Live4Life is the only mental health education and youth suicide prevention model designed specifically for rural and regional communities.

Live4Life communities deliver Mental Health First Aid Australia® Teen and accredited Youth Mental Health First Aid training in schools and the wider community, create local partnerships to lead conversations about mental health that reduce stigma, and promote young leaders as mental health ambassadors.

Please meet our 2025 Break O’day Live4Life Crew Members from SMDS as they explain what it means to them to be a Crew Member:

Lowen L:

 To focus on increasing awareness of mental health problems

Lachlan B:

To be a Crew Member means a lot to me, as I get to show more people about mental health and spread awareness.

Lachlan M:

Mental health matters to many people in many ways, and as a Crew Member I can spread awareness to others.

Charlotte R:

Mental health matters to bring key awareness to daily struggles.

Keep an eye out for our RUOK Pyjama Day-September 11.  More information to come soon!

Attention: Parents and Carers of students in Years 4 to 12

Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey

At St Marys District School, the wellbeing of our students is a top priority. We want to hear directly from our students about how they’re feeling and what’s happening in their lives.

Students in Years 4 - 12 will soon be participating in the Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey. This important survey helps us build a clear picture of our students’ current wellbeing and identify ways we can better support them to thrive and engage in learning. The more students who take part, the more meaningful the insights will be.

This survey is part of the Department’s Child and Student Wellbeing Strategy.

Survey Details:

When:                                     from 25 August 2025

Who:                                       Students in Grades 4 to 12.

What do I need to do:           You and your child don’t need to do anything. The survey will be done in class time and will not require your child to prepare in any way.

A letter with more information has been sent home with all Year 4 to 12 students. This includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions and a form to return if you do not want your child to participate.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact 6372 3900.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to ensure every student feels safe, supported, and ready to learn.

As the winter sports season nears the end for another year, SMDS played their final rostered round last week. The semi finals will be played on Wednesday 20 August (weather permitting) and the Grand Finals (should our teams make it) on Wednesday 3 September.

The ladders for each of our teams as of Wednesday 13 August are below:

NHSSA SENIOR GIRLS DIVISION 2 - NETBALL

NHSSA SENIOR GIRLS DIVISION 3A - NETBALL

NHSSA SENIOR BOYS DIVISION 3 - FOOTBALL

WEDNESDAY SOCCER - MIXED DIVISION 2 2025

All teams will play a semi-final, no matter where they finish on the ladder. 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3 in the live semis.

Results from last round are as follows:

NETBALL  Div 2

SMDS 28   PHS  13

NETBALL  Div 3A

SMDS  8     SOTS 18

MIXED SOCCER

SMDS  1     SOTS     4

FOOTBALL

SMDS  9 - 9 - 63         RHS   7 -  5  -  47

These notices have been sent home to parents in the last fortnight.  If you did not receive one and would like to receive a copy of the notice, please contact the school office on 63 723 900.

PRIMARY

• TerrapinPuppet Theatre - Wednesday 20 August 2025
• Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey - Term 3  Gr 4-6