LINKS: Term Three, Week One

From the Principal

Staffing Announcements

At the end of Term 2, we said a sad farewell to Mrs Wendy Jones and Miss Molly Haswell from our St Mary’s community. We wish them all the best as they start their new chapters.

This week, we welcome Mrs Laura Martin and Miss Lani Slack-Smith as School Officers: Student Support to our community and we know that you will make them feel very welcome.

Athletics Carnival

On Thursday 26^th June, we held our Annual Interhouse Athletics Carnival for Years 3 – 10. It was a fantastic day and the students showed so much talent and sportsmanship throughout the day. I’d like to thank all staff, Rachel and David Wiggan and parents for assisting on the day. A huge thank you and congratulations must go to Rommy Beckinsale who has worked incredibly hard for months to ensure the day went smoothly. Thanks for all your hard work, Rommy! Congratulations also to Coolock House for taking out the day! Good luck to our Preps – Year 2 for your carnival this Friday. A reminder that there will be no whole school assembly this week due to the carnival.

Mercy Day

We held our annual Mercy Day on Friday 27^th June, and it was a fantastic day full of Faith, Compassion, Community and Respect! A huge congratulations to our first Mercy Day Award recipients for living out Mercy each and every day. Thanks to all staff and parents who helped with activities and the Year 9/10 Religion class for leading our liturgy. A huge thank you and congratulations to Mrs Karra Suhr for your excellent leadership in the lead up and on the day also – we all really appreciate it!

Shaping our Future Survey  

Coming soon: Your chance to help shape our schools

Every two years, families from our school communities share their views through the Shaping our future – Perception Survey. It’s a valuable way for us to reflect on how each of our schools are living out Toowoomba Catholic Schools shared purpose: enabling full and flourishing lives.

This year’s survey will be sent via Sentral on Monday, 21 July. Please keep an eye out for it – your feedback helps shape the future of all 32 Toowoomba Catholic schools.

We will also be asking Years 5 to 10 students from our school to complete a student version of the survey during Catholic Education Week at school.

For more information please email: angela.collins@twb.catholic.edu.au

2026 Class Allocations

We will soon be thinking about staffing and class allocations for 2026. Our staff work with great care and dedication to ensure that we place students appropriately, knowing their friends, strengths and needs within the classroom. While we will not be able to accommodate all requests, if there is something that you would like us to consider when allocating staffing and classes for next year, can you please let me know before the end of Term 3.

Op Shop Volunteers

The St Mary’s Op Shop are seeking volunteers to assist. If you are interested, or know of anyone who would be interested, please contact Annette Billsborough on: annetteb06@bigpond.com

Angela Collins
Principal

From the Deputy Principal

Hello St Mary’s community,

Welcome Back to Term 3!

I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy both quality and quantity time with your loved ones over the break. It’s wonderful to see our students return refreshed and ready for another exciting term.

What’s Happening in Term 3

Term 3 is always full of energy and memorable moments, and this year is no exception. Here are just a few of the highlights we’re looking forward to:

- P–2 Athletics Carnival

- Catholic Education Week & Grandparents Day

- Goondiwindi Eisteddfod

- Science Week

- Book Week, featuring our much-loved Book Week Parade

- Star Lab

- Starry Starry Night

- Year 6 Canberra Trip

- Years 9/10 City Camp

It’s shaping up to be a term packed with learning, celebration, and St Mary’s community spirit!

NAPLAN Results – Years 3, 5, 7 & 9

Students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 completed their NAPLAN assessments back in Term 1. During our pupil-free day on Monday, our dedicated staff spent some time reviewing the results and are exploring further ways to support student learning and preparation for future assessments.

Individual student reports have now arrived at school and will be sent home in sealed envelopes over the coming days. These will be accompanied by the official ‘Information for Parents and Carers’ brochure. Please keep in mind the following important message from the brochure:

“NAPLAN tests are only one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process. As they are held once every two years for each student, they cannot replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance. Your child’s teacher will have the best insight into your child’s educational progress.”

If you have any questions about your child’s results or progress, please don’t hesitate to reach out to their teacher(s).

God bless,

John Shaw
Deputy Principal

Religious Life

Welcome back to Term 3! As we step into Term 3 with renewed energy and enthusiasm, we are delighted to welcome our students, families, and staff back to school. There is much to celebrate and acknowledge in the religious life of our school:

• Catholic Education Week held in Week 3, will be a special time to reflect on our shared mission and values, and to honour the wonderful legacy of Catholic schooling.
• Grandparent's Day (held within Catholic Education Week) will be a heartwarming occasion to celebrate the wisdom, love, and support of our treasured grandparents.
• We look forward to gathering in prayer for the Assumption Mass on August 15th, a day of holy obligation in our liturgical calendar.
• Our students participating in the Sacramental Program — your upcoming Confirmation marks an important milestone in your faith journey.
• Our Year 6 and Prep students will visit Kaloma, spreading joy, building friendships, and embracing the spirit of service and compassion.

With so many events and opportunities ahead, Term 3 will be a time of deep connection, faith, and community.

Mini Vinnies Sleepout - Raising Awareness for Homelessness

On Friday 25th July, our secondary students are invited to take part in the Mini Vinnies Sleepout, a powerful and compassionate initiative designed to raise awareness about homelessness in our communities.

Throughout the evening, students will engage in reflective activities, learn about the challenges faced by those without a place to call home, and share meaningful conversations around empathy, dignity, and action. This event is part of our ongoing commitment to living out the Gospel values of compassion and justice.

A letter outlining the details of the Sleepout was emailed to families on Monday 14th July.

We kindly ask parents and carers to provide consent via the Parent Portal by Tuesday 22nd July.

Prep Kaloma Visits

As part of our students retreat program being rolled out, our Prep students will be visiting Kaloma as an introduction to their service-learning opportunities. Each class will visit once. Students will be bussed to and from Kaloma. 

Prep E – Friday 25^th July from 9:45 – 11am.

Prep W – Friday 8^th August from 9:45 – 11am.

Catholic Education Week 

Celebrated annually in Week 3 of Term 3, Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all 312 Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos. We will start our celebrations with 5G liturgy on Friday 25^th July. Classes will also participate in a few other small activities over the week. Please note that Friday 1^st August is Bishop’s Inservice Day (Pupil Free Day) with all St Mary’s staff in attendance in Toowoomba.  

Grandparent’s Day

During Catholic Education Week, we will celebrate Grandparent’s Day on Thursday 31st July from 8:45 – 11:15am. We ask all our grandparents who are available, to join us for a morning of celebration. A RSVP Form was sent home yesterday. We ask that you please complete this form for seating and catering purposes. Please note if no RSVP is received there will be no catering box available. 

Confirmation  

We welcome back our students making their sacramental program this year. Confirmation formation classes commence next week on Wednesday 30^th July at 3:15pm – 4pm in the library. The Rite of Confirmation is scheduled for Sunday 24^th August at 9am, with Bishop Ken presiding.  

Wishing you all a wonderful fortnight!

Karra Suhr
Assistant Principal Mission & Identity

Secondary News

We are very excited to welcome you all back to another jam-packed and memorable term. Your continued support is not only appreciated but also helps to foster a nurturing environment where our core values (Faith, Community, Compassion, and Respect) guide everything we do.

This term, we are delighted to welcome new students to our school. We look forward to seeing them thrive and become a contributing asset to our community. We also warmly welcome our new member of staff, Mrs Laura Martin, whose contributions will enrich our learning environment.

At St Mary’s School, the wellbeing of our students remains a top priority. We believe that a healthy mind and body are essential for success in all areas of life, not only academic progress. Over the coming months, our focus will be on enhancing mental health awareness, promoting stress management strategies, and encouraging self-care practices. Through ‘The Resilience Project’, we look forward to engaging in activities and conversations that help our students develop their resilience and emotional strength.

Our school community is grounded in the values of Faith, Community, Compassion, and Respect. Initially this term, we will place a special emphasis on compassion and empathy, encouraging our students to understand and share the feelings of others. Compassion and empathy are fundamental - by practicing kindness, inclusivity, and understanding, we foster a positive environment where everyone feels save, valued and accepted. Let’s work together to uphold these principles and create a supportive space for all.

As our students continue their academic journey, we encourage structured revision practices to support long-term retention of knowledge. Regular review, creating personalised study materials, and active engagement in learning both inside and outside the classroom are key. Remember, effective time management helps balance study with other activities, reduces stress, and promotes academic success.

This powerful statement serves as a reminder that success and progress are often direct results of the effort we put in, and that by remaining committed and persistent, we can ultimately achieve our most important goals and dreams, no matter how difficult they may seem at first.

Lastly, I would like to commend everyone for their exemplary conduct during last term’s movie night, and to extend my gratitude to Mrs. Cowley, Ms. Border, and all the parents who collaborated to make this social event a success.

We are looking forward to an exciting and productive second semester. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to the school office.

Thank you for your invaluable support and for being such an important part of our school community. Here's to a wonderful Term 3!

Bevin Goodes
Assistant Principal Secondary

Pastoral

The Resilience Project

At the beginning of the year, students in Years 7-10 completed a Student Resilience Survey. Mr Goodes and I recently had an online meeting with our School Partnership Manager, Tom Ferguson, from The Resilience Project, to analyse our school results. These results have provided us with valuable information to help us create and maintain the best culture of wellbeing and resilience that we can.

Overall, there is a lot to celebrate and Tom was particularly impressed with the authentic connections that our staff were able to make with our secondary students. Tom has summarised our results into 4 areas of strength and 4 areas where we can continue to grow. Please see this in the extract from Tom’s correspondence to us, immediately below:

At St Mary’s, the latest Resilient Youth Survey paints a really encouraging picture of how students are feeling at school. Compared to national averages, it’s clear that students genuinely feel:

• Supported by caring and encouraging teachers;
• Safe and treated fairly at school
• Connected through strong, trusting friendships
• Backed by families who offer love, support, and guidance

These are significant strengths—and a real credit to the culture you’ve created across the school. They speak to the deep sense of connection and care that’s clearly embedded in the day-to-day experience of your students.

Looking ahead, the data also shines a light on a few areas where there’s room to grow—and where small shifts could make a big difference:

• Student voice and agency – finding ways for students to step into more meaningful roles and responsibilities within the school community
• Reading for enjoyment – continuing to spark curiosity and joy in reading across all year levels
• Many students are navigating high social media use and disrupted sleep patterns — there’s an opportunity to support healthier boundaries, routines, and digital wellbeing
• Emotional resilience – supporting students to bounce back from challenges, particularly by strengthening skills around forgiveness and managing conflict.

Kind regards,

Tom Ferguson
School Partnership Manager

If you are interested in learning more about how you can implement Gratitude Empathy Mindfulness (GEM) + Emotional Literacy (EL) practices at home, please visit the TRP Parent and Carer Hub website: 2025 Parent & Carer Hub - Inspire 1 - The Resilience Project

For more information or pastoral concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Nicki Wyllie
Middle Leader: Pastoral

Nicola.wyllie@twb.catholic.edu.au

Sports Report

We are super excited to start Term 3 with our Prep - Year 2 Carnival on Friday 18^th July (Week 1, Term 3) at the St Mary’s Oval and Centenary Centre. Please see the schedule of events below. If weather forces the cancellation of the carnival, families will be notified via Sentral and Social media at the earliest possible time.

Prep to Year 2 Athletics Carnival  Schedule of Events below:

Year 3-10 Athletics Carnival Results

Congratulations to Coolock House on taking out the Interhouse Athletics Carnival last term! All students demonstrated great sportsmanship on the day and gave it their all. The Mac Zone Athletics Carnival is to be held on Friday 8^th August in Goondiwindi. An email will be sent out to the relevant families with more information.

A special congratulations to our ‘Queen of the Track’ – Eloise Gee and our “King of the Track’ – Lachlan Henderson. Congratulations to the following age champions and record breakers.

New Records:

Toowoomba Catholic Schools 9-12 Years Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to the 53 students selected to attend the TCS Athletics Carnival on Friday 18^th July! An email was sent out to relevant families in Week 10 and more information was sent out this week. We wish you all the best and we hope you enjoy the experience of competing against other schools in the diocese

Date: Friday 18^th July

Time: 8.30am - 2.40pm

Venue: O'Quinn Street Oval Park, Toowoomba

Uniform: Students are required to wear their light blue St Mary's shirt

Transport: Students need to make their own arrangements

Toowoomba Catholic Schools Netball Carnival

Families who have nominated their child for the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Netball Carnival will be emailed this week with relevant information.

Toowoomba Catholic Schools Netball Carnival on Thursday 31st July (Week 3, Term 3). 

DATE: Thursday 31st July 2025

VENUE: Nell E Robinson, Toowoomba.

STARTING TIME: Teams Arrive: 8:30am; Official Opening: 9:00am.

FINISHING TIME: 2:30pm (approx.)

DIVISIONS: Competitive & Non-Competitive; Boys, Girls & Mixed; The format of the competition will depend on nominations. The number of teams we nominate will depend on student interest and staff availability. 

Term 3 Primary Sport Dates

Term 3 Secondary Sport Dates

Rommy Beckinsale 
Middle Leader: Sport

rommy.beckinsale@twb.catholic.edu.au

Cultural

Term 3 sees a very full programme of Culture with Eisteddfod, Starry Starry Night, and the 2026 Musical announcement coming towards the end of term.

The Eisteddfod is in Week 4. Please monitor the Sentral App closely for Eisteddfod information including program snapshots, coming out in Weeks one and two.

What is Starry Starry Night at St Mary’s?

Starry Starry Night is a beloved biennial event at St Mary’s, held every second year in alternation with the school musical. It’s a vibrant celebration of student creativity and talent, where students from all year levels are invited to audition and perform in a joyful, supportive environment. From singing and dancing to drama, music, and group skits, the event showcases a wide range of performances that reflect the individuality and enthusiasm of our students.

Why It’s Special:

Starry Starry Night is more than just a talent show. It is a chance for our community to come together and for students to:

 - Build confidence and stage skills

- Express themselves creatively

- Work together and support one another

- Be celebrated by the school community

It’s a highlight of the school calendar and a wonderful way for the Goondiwindi community to see the spirit and talent that make St Mary’s so special.

St Mary's Starry Starry Night – Audition Information

Benita Klowss
Middle Leader: Culture

benita.klowss@twb.catholic.edu.au

Building Cultural Capacity one experience at a time.

Library News

Holiday reading -Look who got caught reading!

Thank you for sending in your pictures! If you have taken a photo but have not sent it in, there is still time! The e-mail address below is where you can send your pictures. I hope you all had a great break!

Book Week

This year Book Week turns 80! We celebrate this fabulous week from Monday 18^th August. Our dress up parade will be held on Friday 22^nd August at 9am in the Centenary Centre. The theme is ‘Book an Adventure’ and we are excited to bring this to life in term 3. Each newsletter until the parade, we will give some simple suggestions for costumes. Our hope is that all students who would like to participate feel comfortable to do so and that it is affordable and fun to join in. All books are available in the library and students are encouraged to see Mrs Petrie for help and ideas.

Happy reading!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email the library staff at:

goondiwindilib@twb.catholic.edu.au

Guidance Counsellor

Checking in with children – A message from the R U OK? Team

Mel started having R U OK? conversations with her son Levi when he was four years old.

Mel says there are different ways we can build a safe and supportive environment for children to talk about their feelings and she's shared some of those with us.

Read R U OK? Conversations

Paul Fomiatti
Guidance Counsellor 

E Paul.Fomiatti@twb.catholic.edu.au 

Careers

Over the holidays I participated in a webinar presented by David Curran, ‘Preparing Careers Advisers for the AI Era - Practical, Ethical, Inclusive’, a part of the CICA International Webinar Series.

With 20+ years in education, David specialises in making AI and assistive technology accessible within careers education and SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) settings. As Head of Careers and Assistive Technology Lead at a specialist school for dyslexia, he leads on inclusive digital strategy, using AI to support neurodivergent learners and improve how students access careers education, information and advice (CEIA). 

Using some of the tools and prompting tips from the webinar, I used Microsoft Copilot to assist in drafting this summary, demonstrating how generative AI can support educators and career development practitioners. “As artificial intelligence reshapes the world of work, careers advisers must be prepared not just to respond but to lead.”

Exploring Generative AI in Education and Career Development

As technology continues to evolve, so too does the way we prepare our students for the future. One of the most exciting (and sometimes misunderstood) innovations is Generative AI (Gen-AI). You may have heard of tools like Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT. These are examples of gen-AI, and they’re starting to play a role in education and career development.

What Is Generative AI?

Generative AI refers to tools that can create content - such as text, images, or summaries - based on prompts we give them. Unlike search engines, these tools don’t “know” facts. Instead, they predict what’s likely to come next in a sentence based on patterns in the data they were trained on. This makes them useful for tasks like:

• Drafting reports
• Summarising complex information
• Brainstorming ideas

But it’s important to remember - they don’t think like humans, and they can sometimes get things wrong.

How Does It Work?

Gen-AI tools are powered by something called a large language model (LLM). These models are trained on vast amounts of publicly available data. Microsoft Copilot, for example, can connect to your documents, emails, and Teams chats to help generate content based on your own work - making it a powerful productivity tool for educators and professionals.

What Should We Watch Out For?

While Gen-AI can be incredibly helpful, there are a few key risks to be aware of:

• Accuracy: AI can sound confident even when it’s wrong. Always double-check facts, dates, and sources.
• Hallucinations: Sometimes AI makes things up - like fake job titles or course names.
• Bias: AI reflects the data it was trained on, which may include societal biases.
• Privacy & Copyright: Never input confidential or copyrighted material without permission.

Safe and Ethical Use in Schools

As Career Development Practitioners, we’re committed to using AI tools responsibly. That means:

• Keeping student data safe
• Using AI to support - not replace - professional judgement
• Ensuring AI-generated content is clearly credited
• Encouraging critical thinking when students engage with AI tools

What Does This Mean for Families?

For parents and carers, understanding Gen-AI helps you support your child’s learning journey. These tools won’t replace teachers or career advisors, but they can enhance how we explore ideas, prepare for future pathways, and develop digital literacy.

If you’d like to learn more or see how we’re integrating Gen-AI into our career development programs, feel free to get in touch - I’m always happy to help!

This article is based on content presented by David Curran in a professional learning session hosted by the Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA), 2025.

Quote sourced from the Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA) website, 2025.

If you're seeking information about specific career pathways or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch I'm always happy to help!

Karen Sullivan 
Secondary Teacher: Careers

karen.sullivan@twb.catholic.edu.au

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