Listening Hearts - St Mary's College, Broome
Listening Hearts - St Mary's College, Broome
Listening Hearts - St Mary's College, Broome
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From the Principal<br />
I am encouraged with the way in which our students<br />
from remote communities have settled into <strong>St</strong> Mary’s<br />
<strong>College</strong>. They are taking the challenge of adjusting to<br />
life away from their home and family and are to be<br />
congratulated on their positive attitude towards their<br />
new school. This year we have 35 students from areas<br />
including Billiluna, Derby, Frog Hollow, Jungdranung,<br />
Warmun, Kalumburu and Kununurra Communities. The<br />
students are well supported both here and at the<br />
<strong>Broome</strong> Residential <strong>College</strong>.<br />
Recognising the difficulties associated with<br />
transitioning for our new students from remote<br />
communities, Mrs Jennifer Cambridge and our student<br />
services staff developed a new transition program for<br />
the start of 2013. Feedback from students and staff is<br />
that the new transition program has been a great<br />
success and we look forward to many more students<br />
from our remote communities joining in our educational<br />
program at <strong>St</strong> Mary’s <strong>College</strong>. In particular I thank Mrs<br />
Jennifer Cambridge, Mr Jack Reagan and staff from the<br />
Clontarf Academy, Aboriginal Teacher Assistants Ms<br />
Rose Bin Swani, Ms Carlene Smith, Ms Helen Howard<br />
along with Ms Kristine Van and her staff at the<br />
Residential <strong>College</strong> and all of the students’ teachers for<br />
making their transition to <strong>St</strong> Mary’s <strong>College</strong> a success.<br />
A current focus for our teaching staff is the preparation<br />
of courses and programs aligned with the Australian<br />
Curriculum. Our professional development days over<br />
the next 18 months will spend a great amount of time<br />
preparing for the full implementation of the Curriculum<br />
in 2015. I am pleased to report that many of our<br />
learning areas are already aligning their teaching and<br />
learning programs to the Australian Curriculum and we<br />
will be well placed to meet the requirements for<br />
implementation across all earning areas by 2015.<br />
I take this opportunity to thank all stakeholders who<br />
contributed to the development of this important plan<br />
including members of the <strong>College</strong> Board, staff,<br />
students, parents and guardians.<br />
We are most fortunate to have a very active parent<br />
community at the <strong>College</strong>. This ongoing involvement<br />
by our parents has a strong student focus. At the<br />
commencement of the term it was wonderful to have<br />
students return to the newly refurbished ablution<br />
blocks on the Primary Campus. The project, overseen<br />
by parent Phil Belfrage, was made possible by the<br />
support of many parents and the generosity of a<br />
number of <strong>Broome</strong> businesses. During a recent<br />
<strong>College</strong> Assembly, we were able to recognise and<br />
thank each person who contributed to this very<br />
worthwhile project.<br />
Finally, over the Term 1 holidays eleven students and<br />
a number of staff will travel to Taiji Japan for the<br />
exchange program with our Japanese sister school,<br />
Taiji Elementary School. Our links with the Japan and<br />
the town of Taiji date back to 1908 when our school<br />
began educating children of the pearl divers who came<br />
to <strong>Broome</strong> including children of families from the Taiji<br />
region in Japan. This year’s Taiji Exchange program<br />
has been generously supported by the Shire of<br />
<strong>Broome</strong> and by many local businesses who<br />
contributed prizes for a very successful quiz night. We<br />
look forward to welcoming students and staff from Taiji<br />
to <strong>Broome</strong> later in the year.<br />
Principal<br />
As well as busily learning in the classrooms, our<br />
students have been involved in a number of Inter<br />
House and Inter School Carnivals throughout the term.<br />
Each was a great success due to the organisation by<br />
our dedicated staff, parent assistants and the eager<br />
participation of our students. We congratulate our<br />
Primary Swimming Team who was placed first overall<br />
in the Primary Inter School Swimming Carnival<br />
Handicap Division.<br />
Our strategic planning process has continued, and at<br />
the commencement of next term, the <strong>St</strong> Mary’s <strong>College</strong><br />
2013-2015 <strong>St</strong>rategic Plan will be launched. The plan is<br />
the culmination of an extensive consultation process<br />
spanning almost two years and will guide the policy<br />
and decision making for our school over the next three<br />
years.<br />
Congratulations!<br />
The <strong>College</strong> community<br />
congratulates Carlene<br />
Smith on her 30 years of<br />
service to Catholic Education<br />
in <strong>Broome</strong>.<br />
Carlene has worked at<br />
Nulungu and <strong>St</strong> Mary’s<br />
<strong>College</strong>s touching the<br />
lives of many students over<br />
the years.<br />
We look forward to<br />
celebrating this significant achievement with Carlene.<br />
LISTENING HEARTS ST MARY’S COLLEGE BROOME 2.