Term 2, Week 7 2025 - 3rd June 2025

Principal's Reflection

“Time waits for no one…”

Steve Francis is a former primary school principal and educational consultant, who speaks widely about effective school culture and work-life satisfaction.  A few years ago, I did a session with Steve where he focused on achieving a healthy work-life balance and ensuring that we consciously build personal goals into our lives to avoid DHS (deferred happiness syndrome).  Here is what Steve has to say on the subject;

Have you ever said, “I’ll be happy when........ “...this week is over!” “...I’m on holidays!” “....the kids leave home!” “....the house is paid off!”

These are examples of deferred happiness syndrome (DHS). Deferring or putting off our own happiness until some later time. We have all heard that we should make the most of every day but most of us just get by from one day to another. We all know that we should make the most of every day and most of us have good intentions. However having good intentions isn’t enough. It is our actions that ultimately count.

A great strategy for avoiding DHS is to set a deadline (e.g. by the end of the year) and then identify ONE personal goal to achieve, in each of the following four areas;

• Place to go
• Activity to do
• Something to learn
• Person you want to be

The goals don’t have to be extravagant. The place to go may be that restaurant that you drive by every day thinking, “I must go there one day!” Now is the time to make a commitment, take action and do it! Things to do can be new things or things that you haven’t done for a long time but used to love doing. The activities can be as an individual, with a partner or with your family e.g. bike ride, flying a kite, a bush walk or fishing. We should also be stretching ourselves by learning something new. You may have some great passion or skills that haven’t been uncovered yet, simply because you haven’t tried that activity. Perhaps it’s speaking a second language, calligraphy, making clay pots, designing or constructing. The possibilities are endless! The final area is about being a better person e.g. more patient with our own children or partner, fitter and healthier, more organised, a blood donor, a charity volunteer or get to know our neighbours.

Life is short - avoid deferred happiness syndrome (DHS) by setting personal goals and living for now!

Source: http://www.happyschool.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Avoiding-DHS.pdf

From our Principal | Mr Wes Rose

P&F Trivia Night
I thank the P&F organising committee for their efforts in organising our trivia night being held this Friday evening in the school hall.  I am sure it will be a great event and will raise much needed funds for our school.

School News
- All the best to our ‘Rock, Pop, Mime’ students who have been busily preparing for the Mackay showcase being held this Wednesday evening. Thank you to Mrs Wood and the parent helpers who have assisted with the preparations.

- Our 9-12 year old students will participate in 3 field events this Thursday at school, in preparation for our Athletics Carnival at the ARC on 13th June.

- Congratulations to the 24 students who represented our school at the Mackay/Whitsunday Chess Competition yesterday. Well done to the ‘St Mary’s Knights’ team for coming 1^st overall in the Primary A division and the ‘St Mary’s Charge’ team for coming 2^nd overall in the Primary B division. We also had a number of ribbon-winning individual champions. Thank you to Mrs Cleaver for organising our teams.

Position Vacant – Parish Office Secretary
The South Mackay Cluster is recruiting for a new Cluster Secretary. The Secretary plays a crucial role in carrying out the office administration for the South Mackay Cluster. Working closely with the Priests, liturgical teams, and schools, the Secretary is responsible for the preparation of sacraments, including baptisms, weddings, and funerals, and supporting sacramental programs. The role also involves a broad range of administration tasks, including answering the phones, monitoring emails, collecting and distributing mail, and weekly liturgical preparation.

This is a full-time position (38 hours per week), remunerated under the Clerks Private Sector Award, based in the Cluster Office (St Mary's Parish Centre).

For a copy of the position description or to apply, please email Human Resources at hr@rok.catholic.net.au.   Applications should include a cover letter outlining your suitability for the role, and a current resume with two professional referees. Applications should be submitted by 10am on Tuesday, 24^th June 2025. As we are committed to the safeguarding of children, young people, and adults-at-risk, a national criminal history check is required for this role.

Quote of the Week

2025 International Competition for Schools (ICAS) Invitation

Children in years 4-6 are invited to take part in the 2025 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS).  The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment. Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision.  The competitions form the largest independent assessment program for schools in Australia, Asia and the Pacific region.

At St Mary’s we will be offering the following competitions this year:  Science, Mathematics, Spelling and English.

The entry fees and dates for the competitions are as follows:

All year 4 – 6 families will be emailed the ICAS letter containing further details of this year’s offerings.  If you would like your child to participate in one or more of these competitions, please make your payment using the ICAS parent payment system by Monday 28^th July.

Belinda Battaia
Assistant Principal - Curriculum

St Mary's Trivia Night

REMINDER: Only 3 more sleeps to our biggest fundraiser of the year!

First prize team - $1000 cash
Best dressed team - $500
Meat tray and raffles
Nibbles & pizza included in ticket price

Year 6 Caritas Stalls

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, the Year 6 students will be running their annual Caritas Stalls to raise money for this very important charity.

The stalls will be active during both breaks and will have a variety of wares available for purchase. They will have home baked goodies, games, jewellery, hair bands, icy cups and much, much more.

Please send along some spending money with your child(ren) to support this initiative and the hard-working year 6 students.

PLEASE NOTE: Prep students will attend the stalls on Wednesday 11th June.

St Mary's Athletics Carnival

Parent volunteers for Senior Athletics Day are still required. Please email simone_sibley@rok.catholic.edu.au if able to assist.

Simone Sibley
HPE Teacher

St Mary's Battlers

The Battlers have had two tough games in the last two weeks.  We’ve played Mackay West and Marian State School and although our defence has been outstanding, we’ve been outdone by some great teams.  Notable try scorers over the last two weeks include Ewan Ruddick, Sonny Gillis and Finn Suratman.  Hard runs and fearless tackles have come from players such as Archie Cheyne, Charlie Mannousakis and Charlotte Hesselberg.  Thank you to Sam Christie, Aliyah Henderson and Kolby Ferriday who stepped in to play last week when our injury count was high.  We appreciated your commitment and support of the team.

Belinda Battaia
Team Manager

Student of the Week

Week 6, Term 2 Student Award Winners

Community News