History:
St Mary鈥檚 School and Parish was established with Archbishop Mannix laying the foundation stone on 2 November 1924. The staffed by the Presentation Sisters, with Sister Kostka O鈥橩eefe appointed as the first principal and Father Dan Coakley the Parish Priest.
The school occupied and used the church premises until the construction of the separate school building on parish land in 1954. Further additions and refurbishment to the original school buildings have occurred due to the increase in enrolments in 1998 and in 2009. The entrance to St Mary鈥檚 is in Holyrood Street, with the school boundaries extending through to Bendigo Street.
Description:
St Mary鈥檚 School is co-educational Catholic primary school, located in the Bayside suburb of Hampton, catering for students from Prep (Foundation Year) to Year Six. The school has a population of just over 300 students.
We are a safe and inclusive community that fosters strong, positive relationships in an engaging and empowering learning environment. We are committed to lifelong learning and making a difference in our world.
St. Mary's provides a safe and collaborative learning environment which supports and promotes the principles of Australian Democracy including a commitment to the elected government, the rule of law, equal rights of all before the law, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and association, and the values of openness and tolerance.
Our school motto 鈥楩riends, Family Community - Together we Grow鈥�, which is evident in the positive community feel that is valued so highly amongst staff, students and parents.
Our 鈥淩ICH鈥� Values of Respect, Inclusion, Compassion and Honesty are visibly at the centre of daily life at St. Mary鈥檚. We strive to live out these values each day in everything we do.
St. Mary鈥檚 teachers and support staff are dedicated to positive outcomes for all children. Our staff work in a highly collaborative environment and have a strong commitment to ongoing professional learning and growth, in order to provide the very best learning opportunities to each individual student in our care.
Our grounds and facilities include: 14 classrooms (two classes per year level); Library; Art Room; Multi-Purpose Hall; Two large surfaced play areas; Basketball Court; Two adventure playground areas; Vegetable garden; Imagination garden and' passive play areas.
In 2018, St. Mary鈥檚 developed a masterplan for refurbishing our current buildings and grounds as a first step towards embarking on a building program.
Features:
The teachers at St Mary鈥檚 actively and passionately explore the possibilities of making their teaching practice more innovative and engaging in order to drive learning growth in our students.
Our teachers work collaboratively in teams to ensure that each student鈥檚 learning needs are met through targeted and explicit teaching.
We believe the wellbeing of our school community is the building block of our whole school culture. Student Wellbeing is central to everything that we do inside the classroom and outside, with a strong focus on building 鈥榳ell-rounded kids鈥�. Our ongoing preventative practices encompass the wellbeing of the whole school community. We provide timely intervention to support small groups or individual students.
We recognise that primary school children learn best when connections are made between the disciplines, rather than teaching subjects in isolation. Faith Inquiry Units connect big ideas and concepts across subject areas, to engage our students to real life issues. Inquiry Learning is a dynamic and engaging way for our students to develop knowledge about their world and develop the skills and competencies that will equip them for life in the 21st century. At the heart of each Faith Inquiry Unit is our mission to 鈥渕ake a difference in our world.' We support students to use new knowledge and skills to bring about social justice and make a difference in the local and global community.
We believe that our role as educators is to equip our students with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively participate in the contemporary world. Technology is integrated into the students learning, in an effort to develop essential problem solving and technical skills that are a key component of living in a rapidly evolving technological society.
St. Mary鈥檚 utilises the tools of the 'G Suite for Education' and students in Years 3-6 have access to one-to-one Chromebooks. Banks of iPads are used in the Prep - Year 2 classrooms. All classrooms have a Digital TV or Interactive Whiteboard.
The Arts are highly valued at St. Mary鈥檚 as unique, expressive, creative and communicative forms that engage students in critical and creative thinking and help them understand themselves and the world. Children undertake specialist classes in Performing Arts and Visual Arts each week. All students have the opportunity to participate in our St. Mary鈥檚 Art Show and School Production, which alternate in Term Three of each year.
All students participate in weekly one-hour Phys Ed specialist classes. These lessons are complemented by fitness sessions taken during the week by the classroom teacher. Students from Years Three to Six participate in a number of inter-school competitions, involving Catholic Schools within the South Central and Dendy Districts. Students in Years Three to Six also participate in Friday Interschool Sports (netball and Aussie Rules football) during Term Two.
Students from Prep to Year Six learn Chinese (Mandarin) through the My Chinese Teacher program; a weekly interactive Chinese lesson where a Chinese teacher based in Beijing is broadcast into the classroom using online technology.