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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.

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