Our DECYP Value in focus is Courage: 

Courage – Accepting challenges and embracing opportunities

The value of Courage  involves accepting challenges and embracing opportunities. This is crucial in fostering an environment where students are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and pursue their goals with determination and resilience. 

At St Marys District School, the value of Courage  is embedded in the school’s culture and daily practices. Students are encouraged to set ambitious goals, whether in their academic learning, sporting or extra-curricular activities or personal development. This is underpinned by a framework of support and wellbeing, which includes guidance and mentorship, to support students as they navigate new experiences. 

Courage  is also about fostering a growth mindset. Teachers and staff emphasise the importance of perseverance and learning. Students are taught that setbacks are a natural part of the learning process, and that Courage  involves persisting in the face of difficulties. This mindset not only helps students to overcome academic challenges but also prepares them for the uncertainties and complexities of the real world. School provides numerous opportunities for students to demonstrate and develop courage. These experiences help students to build confidence and resilience, equipping them with the skills needed to tackle future challenges. 

The Illuminate Challenge

The illuminate Challenge is an exciting education experience that introduces students across five days to be the confident, creative and capable young people they have the potential to be, through responding to the big problems of our community in an innovative and entrepreneurial manner. The program is fully planned and delivered by the experienced illuminate Education Australia team, creating an engaging opportunity for learning by teachers and students alike.

The Illuminate Challenge has provided an opportunity our young people to develop a core set of life skills that they can use from the very first day of the program to the rest of their life.

Rock Challenge

The Tasmanian Rock Challenge is a celebration of youth achievement in contemporary music. Our students who performed demonstrated courage, vulnerability and camaraderie throughout the night and their results exceeded their expectations with three of the four acts moving to the finals.

Grade 5 Camp

This week our Grade 5 students attended the annual overnight camp at Rostrevor. They were very excited for this and were bubbling away with excitement at dinner time.  For some students, this camp represents a big milestone as they spend a night away from parents.  We look forward to hearing about their experiences when they return.

Evidences of Learning and Farm Open Afternoon

All families should have received an invitation to meet with staff and discuss your child’s growth in their learning.  Appointments are available from 3.15pm to 4.45pm on Thursday 19 September in the PAC. We allso welcome families to the Open Farm Afternoon. During this time there will be a variety of foods produced from the farm available to enjoy.  You may take a tour of the farm and garden, and as it is spring time, we have lambs frolicking in the paddocks nearby.

Moderation Day and Quality Assurance days

Grade 11-12 staff from St Marys participate in Moderation Days where they meet online or face-to-face to discuss student works, alongside other staff who teach in the Senior Secondary Sector. Quality assurance meetings form part of the Tasmanian Assessment and Certification (TASC) overall quality assurance processes for the delivery and assessment of TASC accredited courses to ensure high standards are maintained for all content delivered to Grade 11 and 12 students. Thank you to staff for attending these days and continuing to support the quality educational outcomes for all students. 

Winter Sports

Congratulations to the netball teams for making it into the Grand Final this year.  A wonderful effort by all players. St Marys continues to go from strength to strength. Thank you to Laura Swanson for the work behind the scenes ensuring that our students continue to experience quality sporting matches every fortnight. Thanks must also go to the staff who have attending each fortnight – Ros Smith, Will Innis, Janine Burt and Matt Moon.

Courage as a school wide and department wide value is demonstrated every day and in every way.  Students who have participated in extra-curricular opportunities show this visibly, but courage can also be shown quietly, with students who achieve success in a personal milestone, students who support another student if something has upset them, to a group of students noticing someone sitting by themselves and inviting them to join in.

Sandra Cook

Acting Principal

With Justin Emmerton as St Marys District School’s music teacher, the Rock Challenge made its way back onto our calendar.  Initially, we applied to join the Launceston Heat but the dates clashed with sporting events also important to our students. 

To enable our students to do both, we joined the North West heat held at Forth. After weeks of developing musicianship, composing original pieces, learning covers and working together as a team, our students were performance ready and rearing to go for the challenge ahead. On Monday 9 September, the group boarded the bus with guitars, keyboards, with their overnight gear and began the journey to Devonport.  

We arrived at Reece High School where we were staying for the night. There was a lot of nervous energy in the group which was put to advantage when setting up sleeping arrangements.  Max (School Business Manager) ensured that we had everything we needed and the place chosen for us to camp within the school was comfortable, warm and secure. Staff were given a quick tour to show us where to find the facilities needed for our stay. 

Soon we were back on the bus making our way to the Forth Hotel for our sound checks before the night began. 

Jessie was the first performer for the night and performed a solo acoustic act.  She sang her own compositions North Coast and Black Holden. 

Next to represent St Marys were our Grade 7 all girls band Amigas Colega performing How A Heart Unbreaks by Evermoist and their own composition You and Me. Band members were Etta – drums, Lily – vocals, Layla – vocals, Claire – guitar, Nina – bass, Indi – keyboards and Sienna – vocals. After their performances people were heard to say ‘I can’t believe they are only Grade 7’.   

Next on stage for us was Clear Silver who performed Hashpipe by Weezer followed by their original piece Superstar. The band consisted of students from Grade 7 to Grade 10. Members were Sehn – keyboards, Rob – guitar, Wyatt – drums, Ella – bass, Georgia – vocals and Harriet – vocals. 

Finally our last band to perform was the second all girls band Cherry Bombs. Band members were Molly – vocals and guitar, Helayna – vocals and keyboards, Cortney – bass and vocals, Mikayla – guitar and vocals, Ava – drums. They performed their rendition of Hella Good  by No Doubt followed by their original composition Don’t Make Me. 

After listening to the high school and college acoustic and band performances from across the North West region, judging had finished and announcements were made. Jessie  was announced as the first performer to move to the finals. This announcement was closely followed by the selections of Clear Silver and Cherry Bombs moving to the finals. There were tears, screams and stunned looks by the students, parents and staff who attended.  We knew we had a good shot at the finals, but never expected to get three entrants. 

We would like to acknowledge the support given to our bands by Nic Wardlaw who helped with the set up on stage. Thank you to the parents and extended families of students who travelled to Forth to support their child and other performers, and to the staff of Reece High School.  To Max – who helped coordinate our stay at the school, Kelly who prepared breakfast for everyone, Kevin who helped sort out the furniture in the spaces we used, the Admin Team at Reece HS for wishing us good luck then asking how we went the next morning. To the Principal and Assistant Principal for making us welcome.  Without your support we may not be in the position we are now.  After an exciting evening, we spent the next morning at the Bluff Playground and visited the Bass Strait Maritime Museum before making our way home. 

As you read this report, our three performing bands are in Launceston, having completed their sound check and will be stepping on stage beginning with Jessie, then Clear Silver and Cherry Bombs in the evening. 

Grade 11/12 Outdoor Experience students have had an exciting term of opportunities during their learning time.  Thanks to Tanya Greenwood and Jason Johnson, who organised access for our students to visit the Active4Life Gym at St Marys. We had a great time doing some circuit training on the machines and using some of the other fitness equipment at the gym. 

We also had the opportunity to do some campfire cooking with students sourcing their own kindling, setting, lighting and cooking on the fire on our school farm. We cooked damper on willow sticks and filled it with butter and honey. We also made S’mores (an American campfire delicacy). Big thanks to Craig for his assistance in organising this experience – he was rewarded with a S’more for his efforts! 

We are looking forward to week 8 where our group will be climbing St Patricks Head.

Please enjoy some pictures from our recent experiences. 

Grade 7 students have been learning about the customs, beliefs and history of Ancient China.  They were fascinated by the discovery of the Terracotta Warriors and decided to create their own.  Please enjoy a snippet of students’ learning.

St Marys school participated in Wear it Purple day on 30 August.  Wear it Purple Day has become an international movement of love and support, celebrating diversity and inclusivity.  Our school leaders chose the day to be filled with rainbow colours and by wearing these colours we demonstrated that rainbow young people are celebrated and respected, acknowledging all have the right to be proud of who they are and who they are becoming. 

An enormous thank you must go to the EFA’s, staff, school leaders and fellow students for their support on this day, which included cooking and delivering sausages to the entire school (a mammoth effort, which did not go unnoticed!), making and decorating cupcakes and general packing up and down of the day.  It is greatly appreciated and the positive vibe around the BBQ at lunch time was great to witness.  The artwork by one of our year 12 students, “Everyone Belongs”, with the handprints of all students in the school is now sitting proudly in the PAC area.  It makes me feel proud being the School Health Nurse seeing the students engage in such a dynamic way.

On Thursday 29 August, students in Prep/1 and 1/2 participated in a local walking excursion around St Marys led by local "tour guide"  Mrs Bennett. We concluded the excursion with a picnic lunch at the skate park. The excursion completed our in-class learning on "Place", and demonstrated to the students what a wonderful community we live in. 

ROUND 8-SEMI FINALS WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2024 

All winter sports teams played in a semi-final game this week. For football and soccer, it was their last game for the season. Congratulations to our students who committed to the season, showed excellent skills and sportsmanship and had fun playing sport and sharing experiences with their friends. 

Both our netball teams were successful in securing a berth in their respective grand final games, to be played on Wednesday 11 September, at Hobblers Bridge Netball Centre. Congratulations and best of luck to our teams. 

 RESULTS 

FOOTBALL 

Port Dalrymple: 82 St.Marys District School: 53 

MIXED SOCCER 

St.Marys District School: 16 Cressy: 2 

NETBALL  

DIVISION 2:   

Campbell Town District School: 4 St.Marys District School: 28 

DIVISION 3A: 

Prospect: 4 St.Marys District School: 16 

A bus load of very excited students left St Marys District School on Wednesday 11 September, to either participate in or spectate a NHSSA Grand Final games for 2024. Both SMDS netball teams qualified for a grand final this year. The qualification was history making for our two teams (never having had both netball teams qualify for grand finals) and we were so proud of their achievements throughout the season. 

We arrived to warm conditions at Hobblers Bridge, settled into a warm-up and got ready to take the court. Daniel provided the pump-up music and St.Marys District School had by far, the largest cheer squad of parents, grandparents, family, friends and students. The rain came down, pretty much on the first whistle and the slipping and sliding games commenced. The rain got heavy quickly and our supporters retreated undercover.  

St Marys District School Division 2 played Queechy and Division 3A played Star of the Sea in their Grand Final games. Both games were very evenly contested and our girls battled on in very challenging conditions. It was tough to hold onto passes and stay on your feet, let alone score goals. At quarter time Division 2 were 4-5 down and Division 3A were 2-4 up. After a quick quarter time break, the girls played on as the rain continued to get heavier. Unfortunately, all games were called off at half time due to dangerous conditions and winners awarded based on scores at half time. The Division 2 score was Queechy High School 7 defeated St Marys District School 6. The Division 3A score was Star of the Sea 8 defeated St Marys District School 6.  

Although this was a disappointing way to finish the season, it does not take away from the outstanding skills and attitude that both teams demonstrated throughout the season to qualify for finals. Also, I could not have been more proud of how our students accepted the decision to abandon games at half time, even though the results did not go our way this time. What an exceptional group of students to have the pleasure to work with all season.  

Division 2 team: Ava, Helayna, Sienna, Mikayla, Cortney, Mieka, Lily, Ellie and Isla. 

Division 3A team: Malika, Ava, Rose, Molly, Jessie, Reagan, Ella, Paige and Layla. 

Thank you must go to Montanna, who coached, managed, trained and guided our Division 3A team to a grand final this year. I am truly amazed by the growth and leadership of this young lady and so grateful for her help managing the Winter Sports netball program this year. 

Thank you also to Helayna, Sienna, Cortney and Ellie who all assisted with umpiring duties throughout the season. We are extremely appreciative of your support with umpiring, especially as it meant less game time for each of you.  

To Kellie Thomas, Ayla Mead and Rachel McGiveron who assisted with umpiring and organising umpires throughout the season and to Kel and Ayla for umpiring finals in extremely wet and slippery conditions. I could not put it all together without you volunteering your time, so thanks again.  

Please enjoy some photos from the grand final games. We look forward to another successful season next year. 

 Laura Swanson 

Last week we celebrated everything our wonderful team of Teacher Assistants do to support students, educational programs and the SMDS community, as part of Teacher Assistants Appreciation Week.

Our dedicated professionals provide support to both teachers and students. They create an inclusive environment, offering personalized attention, extra help, and care that fosters learning and growth.

To every Teacher Assistant: your patience, kindness, and hard work don't go unnoticed. You make a difference every day in shaping our students and uplifting classrooms. Thank you for your unwavering commitment and for being the heart of so many students’ success!

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

• • Swimming and Water Safety Program - Grade 3-5 and selected Grade 6 students

SECONDARY

• Grade 9 Camp - Itinerary

SAVE THE DATE: