A note from the Principal
Dear Parents & Caregivers
At St Mary’s, we teach the Making Jesus Real (MJR) program. MJR is central to nurturing virtues like kindness, gratitude, and empathy—key elements that contribute to the well-being of our students. Grounded in positive psychology, MJR emphasizes recognising and cultivating strengths within ourselves and others. By encouraging students to see and celebrate the goodness around them, the program fosters a positive outlook and deepens their connection to the world.
Reflective practices within MJR prompt students to notice “God moments” in their daily lives—instances of kindness, honesty, and love that embody the spirit of Jesus. The program challenges students to see Jesus not just as a historical figure but as a living presence, inspiring them to incorporate His teachings into their everyday interactions. By focusing on mindfulness and positive actions, MJR strengthens students’ relationships with Jesus and fosters a sense of community and faith.
Aligned with the mercy values of our school, MJR forms the foundation of our rewards system, and helps contribute to the "emotions matter" climate we aspire to. This approach cultivates an environment where children feel safe to make mistakes, learn, and grow, ensuring they thrive alongside others in a supportive and faith-filled community.
You can support our efforts in driving MJR at home, by helping your children to see the spirit of Jesus alive in the world, and by encouraging them to become WEST people, who always 'welcome' others, 'encourage' others, say 'sorry' when at fault, and give 'thanks' for the blessing they have been given.
Leaving Students
It has come to that time of year again where we have to submit a budget to Catholic Education. To do this, we have to nominate as accurately as possible our student numbers for 2025. If you are not planning on returning to St Mary’s for 2025, for whatever reason, can you please let me know ASAP.
Feast of Mary Mackillop
On Thursday 8th of August, our school recognised the life of St Mary Mackillop, Australia’s first canonised saint. Thank you to Ms Moore and our Year 1’s who led a moving and reflective Liturgy.
Peter Sell Cup
On Friday 9th August, our Year 4, 5 and 6 students competed at the Peter Sell Cup. The day is held each year in honour of the late Peter Sell who contributed so much to the Donnybrook, Harvey and Brunswick communities. Congratulations to all our competitors.
Random Acts of Kindness
Last week, we celebrated Random Acts of Kindness week. During the week we acknowledged the efforts students had gone to in trying to make the world a better place for others. We also tied the Free Dress in with our Feast Day Celebrations which were a huge success.
Feast Day Celebrations
Last week, we celebrated the Assumption of Mary with a whole school Mass, followed by Mary activities in the classrooms, a shared hamburger lunch then a Mission Markets afternoon where the students lead fundraising games and activities. The day was a huge success raising $790 which will be donated to the Parish Pastoral Council to support people in need in the Donnybrook community through their hamper appeals. It was a reflective and fun day for all involved.
Tree Network and Bunbury Diocese Principal’s Meeting
Last week, we hosted both the TREE Network Meetings (Year 3 and 4 teachers, principals and consultants from CEWA) as well as the Bunbury Diocese Principal’s regional meeting. Both provided an opportunity to showcase our school, the good work and the initiatives that are happening here. Both days proved extremely positive with many commenting about our staff, students and workplace.
Bogan Bingo
The St Mary’s P&F Bogan Bingo night was held last Saturday 17th August. A massive thank you must go to Alison Dowey, the school P&F and all the sponsors for their support in making the night happen. From all accounts, it was a great night that raised considerable funds for the school.
Book Week
This week, we celebrated Book Week with the dress up parade, Book Reading Night and Sausage Sizzle, and the book fair. Thank you to Ms Vander-Wielen for her efforts in preparing for and running the Book Fair, and to our parents and staff for ensuring the events of the week were so successful.
Inside Out 2
On Tuesday 27th August, we will take our Year 1-6 students to see “Inside Out 2” at Hoyts Cinema’s Bunbury. The Pixar movie gives a visual presentation of emotions and how they influence our relationships and decision making. The movie provides opportunity for social and emotional learning, with classroom follow-up activities designed to support students in their ongoing social and emotional development.
St Mary’s Got Talent
Next Thursday 29th August, our students will compete in our first ever St Mary’s Got Talent competition. The competition has been well received by our students with many putting in for solos or groups acts. It’s great to see the confidence our students have.
Father’s Day Breakfast
This year, we will celebrate our fathers for Father’s Day with a breakfast on Friday 30th August. Order forms have gone out and we are looking forward to welcoming and celebrating our “dads” on this day. If you did not receive an order form, please contact the office.
Sports Carnival
This term, our Athletics carnival will be held over two days with jumps and throwing events being held on Friday 30th August following the Father’s Day breakfast. The sprints and team games will be held on Friday 6th September.
Retreat and Confirmation
Our Year 6 students have commenced preparations to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday 8th September at 10am in the Church. The students will also be doing their retreat day on Thursday 5th September. The retreat day is free dress for all Year 6 students. We wish our Year 6 candidates all the best as they prepare for this important occasion.
Swimming Lessons
This year, students from Pre-Primary to Year 6 will participate in Swimming Lessons during weeks 9 and 10 of this term. Parents have received the initial information regarding dates and swimming enrolments. If you did not receive anything, please contact the office.
Extension Opportunities
At the end of Term 2, selected Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 students competed in the BEBRAS Challenge. This is a computational thinking challenge that tests students’ abilities to reason and problem solve in mathematics. This group of students will compete in round two in Term 4. Also, this term, selected students from years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will compete in the Australian Mathematics challenge. Students for both extension opportunities have been selected based on standardised assessment and classroom data. Additional to this, two students from each Year 4, 5 and 6 will be chosen to represent the school in Tree Talks later this term. Tree Talks provides selected students the opportunity to showcase their writing and public speaking skills.
NAPLAN
Early in Term 1, our Year 3 and 5 students sat the NAPLAN Assessments. NAPLAN is a measure of a student’s ability in Literacy and Numeracy, supporting schools in decision making both at the individual and cohort level. This year, we have been really pleased with our results which show that we are above national average in reading, writing and numeracy with our areas for improvement being language conventions and spelling.
Assembly
Our next assembly will be led by Year 1 and is booked for 9am Thursday 29th August.
Parent and Friends Meeting
Our next P&F Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 27th August after the assembly in the staffroom. It would be great to have many parents at the next meeting supporting our executive team, so please come along.
School Website
Our school website is live, updated regularly and able to be accessed at http://www.stmarysdbrk.wa.edu.au/. Please look here for all school related parent information.
3-Year-Old Kindergarten
Last term, we successfully commenced our first ever 3-year-old program at St Mary’s. The classes run each Thursday from 9-12:30pm with Mrs Nina Fiumano and Mrs Anne Dixon-Hotchkin in the Kindergarten room. There are now limited places available for Term 4 so please share this information with potential families and ask them to call 97324700 as soon as possible to book their place in the program.
Kindergarten 2025
Kindergarten enrolments are now open for 2025. Make sure to contact the office early and book your child’s spot.
Enrolments 2025
We are now open for new enrolments across all year levels. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please ask them to contact 97324700 and I will give them a personal tour.
Thank you
Andrew Gammon
Principal
St Mary's School Donnybrook
Email: admin@stmarysdbrk.wa.edu.au
Website: www.stmarysdbrk.wa.edu.au
Location: 30 Bentley St, Donnybrook, WA, 6239
Phone: 08 97324700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St-Marys-Catholic-Primary-School-Donnybrook-1835840293345149/