Dear Parents, Carers, Boys and Girls,

This time of the year is one when we look back, as well as look forward. We look back and give thanks to God and to each other for all the blessings we have received this year. We have faced the challenges of 2022 and supported each other to achieve important milestones and goals. We also look forward to all the wonderful possibilities, opportunities, and challenges of the next stage of life’s journey, whatever that may be for each of us.

Last week we gathered together as a community at our K-5 Awards Night and Year 6 Graduation Mass to celebrate the end of another successful year in the life of St Mary’s. It was also an occasion at which we recognised our young people - their achievements, their perseverance and their successes.

We also farewelled some staff members who are leaving us for new adventures. We thank God for Mrs Stephen and Mrs Wilke, Mr Hodgson and Mrs Moffit. We wish Mrs Croese all the best as she takes some much deserved leave next year. We wish Mrs Afflick all the best as she awaits the arrival of her new baby and takes leave next year to enjoy some time with her family. While Mrs Afflick is on leave, Mrs Gen Schofield has been appointed as Acting Religious Education Coordinator. We also welcome Mr Paul Hill and Mrs Wendy Hackett who will be covering the RFF for our classes.

We also acknowledge and thank Fr Eden. We have been truly blessed and richer for having him work with us here in Moruya. We wish him the very best when he moves early next year to his new Parish at Gungahlin.

I am extremely grateful for the dedication and hard work of all the staff at St Mary’s as they regularly go above and beyond to provide the students at St Mary’s with the very best opportunities. I am very blessed to work with such a fine group of committed people. Thank you!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you, our amazing parents and community council for all your continued support and care over the past year. Your encouraging support is greatly valued and very much appreciated. I would like to extend a special thank you to our Year 6 parents, especially those whose youngest child finishes at St Mary’s this year. We wish the Bates, Bell, Brierley-Nye, Browne, Cabban, Cottington, Donnelly, Ellis, Foran, Gill, Ivanoff, Katuke, Mullins, Pace, Potts, Rahman, Schuchmann, Van Weerdenburg and Woodford families well, and thank them for their support over the years. For some of these families, their association with our school has spanned across almost 18 years from the time their eldest child began, to today, when their youngest leaves. It has been our privilege to work in partnership with you and we pray that God continues to bless your families.

To all our wonderful students….thank you again for your dedication to learning this year. 

Thank you to all who have worked hard throughout 2022 to make St Mary’s a great place: A great place for students to learn and grow and develop. A great place for our staff to work together to support each other and to do their best to meet the needs of their students. A great place for families to feel welcome, involved and valued.

In this last newsletter for 2022, it is my greatest wish that Christ will bless you and your loved ones this Christmas with so many wonderful moments to talk about for the rest of your lives. I wish you the warmest of Christmas holidays! I hope you are able to rest and relax with family and friends and look back upon a year where you have gone beyond what you thought you were capable of.May the peace of the birth of Christ come to you and your loved ones during the festive season.

God bless and take care,

Sue Heffernan
Assistant Principal

YEAR 6 GRADUATING STUDENTS

We congratulate all students who were presented with awards at the Year 6 Graduation Ceremony held last Thursday. We wish you well on your next journey to high school.

YEAR 6 SPECIAL AWARDS 2022

Our Year 6 Leadership Team was announced last week at our Awards night. We are very proud of all our Year 5 students and look forward to a great year with them in 2023. We believe they are an exceptional group of young people and believe they will be excellent school leaders and role models for our younger students.

Congratulations to the following students who will lead our school in 2023!

School Leaders

Cooper H and Betty D B

House Leaders

Eyre Leaders - Axel S and Evie G

Cassidy Leaders - Harper L and Asher B

Howard Leaders - Indiana T and Noah D

A message from the Community Council...

Despite the challenges presented by COVID yet again in 2022, the Community Council were able to adapt to the changing circumstances and run several successful fundraising events. Some of these events included a raffle for Mother’s Day, various successful fundraising activities at the Peter Pan Musical and the recent Christmas Raffle, drawn at the K-5 awards night. We also successfully introduced the new navy school jackets and donated several surplus fundraising supplies gifted to St Mary’s during the bushfires to the Lismore School Community to assist during the devastating floods.

These successes wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of the school community in supporting our events. Thank you for the incredible support from various local businesses who donated goods and vouchers. These businesses included Surf the Bay, Moruya Pharmacy, Gundary Bakers, Wildrose Florist, Curtis and Cloud, Moruya Bookshop, Resting Ridge Leather Goods, Southlands Fruit and Vegetables, Moruya Health Café, Alfresco’s, Raw Beauty, Tomakin Social Club, Moruya Gold Club, Mullenderree Farm Sales, Silly Willy’s, Sports First and Cameron’s Hardware. A big thanks also to our generosity of Lindsay Pepper from Milc Designs, who designs all our raffle tickets, certificates, and logos, and to Renee at South Coast Beverages who donated 1000 cups for our refreshments at the Peter Pan musical. And importantly, thanks to the amazing school community for donating jars and refreshments for the Peter Pan events.

As a result of all the hard work over the year we are in the fortuitous position of being able to support both the St Mary’s swimming program, which will subsidise swimming lessons for students in Term 1 2023, and we hope to also be able to contribute up to $2,500 towards either some play equipment or landscaping for the proposed renovation of the play area, due to be undertaken in 2023.

As the year draws to a close, we would like to extend a big thank you to our outgoing Community Council Members who have contributed significant time and energy over the years;  Hayley Van Weerdenburg, Melissa Van Weerdenburg and Louise Thornton. We are also very happy to welcome our new members for 2023; Lynelle Hamer, Ali Hulse, Anna Baran-Tangata and Carrie Weston. We are also able to confirm that at our recent AGM we elected various members into roles for 2023; Mary Dullard as president, Mel Price as vice-president, Ali Hulse as Secretary and Maree Turnbull as Treasurer.

Again, we thank the St Mary’s community for your continued support, and we wish you all a happy and safe break.

Merry Christmas 
Community Council

Thank you to the families who have already finalised their fees for 2022.

As we approach the end of the school year, a reminder that all fees are to be finalised. For our parents who are paying with direct debit arrangements please continue as normal. Thank you.