7 SMMC Newsletter 14 May

Principal's Message

Last Sunday we celebrated our Mums on Mother’s Day: Our biological mothers, our Grandmothers, the Mums who have lost children, Mums who are desperate to be Mums and the maternal figures in our life who nurture, love and care for us. As a Mother of three beautiful children and two grandchildren, I have been truly blessed by God.

We have been given the ultimate gift of Christ’s love in Mary the Mother of God - an example of care, compassion and unfailing love. As a girls’ school, our young women have Mary as a role model too of strength, steadfastness and maternal love. St Margaret Mary Alocoque described Mary as the “Mother of the Church” and a powerful model of humilty and devotion. Happy belated Mother’s Day to all our beautiful Mums and a special thank you to the women who attended our Alumni event last week for our “I Do, Take Two” - it was a smashing success.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 13

Next

Last week there was an important meeting of Leadership Teams and key members of the Parish to find ways to work more in collaboration. Our combined goal of evangelisation is to bring more people into encounter with our God. It is often difficult to find time in our busy weeks to pause, pray and go to Mass. However, it can be a real source of strength and comfort to spend this time with God. Below are the Mass times for the Parish connected to our school. I hope to see you and our students there:

We wish our Year 7s well on Camp this week at Magnetic Island. It will be a great time to establish new friendships and build skills of team work and problem solving. Thank you to our Year 7 Pastoral Leader Mrs Prue Hendle for the huge amount of work she has put in to make this such a special week for them.

Next week our Year 8s will have their Year Level Retreat and excursion to Mungalla and Year 9s will be involved in an Outer Limits day. Events such as camps and retreats are so important in the life of the school and for our students. Long after they graduate from school, they look back on these experiences as really valuable and opportunities for cultivating the ‘sisterhood’ at St Margaret Mary’s. Thank you Mrs Harrison, Mrs Roberts and Mrs Orman for your careful planning of these days.

Finally, to celebrate to the appointment of our new Pope, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, I will share with you an extract from Bishop Tim Harris’ recent letter:

“For me, I welcome this election. Pope Leo XIV has reached back into history and chosen the name ‘Leo’ which brings with it a continuity with Pope Leo XIII. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum Novarum spoke of workers’ rights and the excesses of socialism and capitalism. It emphasised the principle of the common good and that social and economic arrangements should benefit all people not just the wealthy.”

Our young people need a leader of the Church who will listen to their desire for peace and social justice. Pope Leo XIV has expressed a desire to continue the great work of his predecessor Pope Francis - so I am very hopeful of that.

God bless
Kathleen McCarthy
College Principal

Educated Women of Purpose

Term 2 Reading Focus

On Monday afternoon, our staff participated in a professional learning opportunity focussed on increasing literacy in all Learning Areas.  During Term 2, the College has a focus on increasing reading in all subjects and ultimately, supporting increased literacy in our students.  Please stay tuned for some exciting updates on how we are promoting reading this term.

Year 11 Unit One Exams

Our wonderful Year 11 students will begin their first exam block next week.  Parents are reminded that if students are sick on the day of an exam, parents should call the office to notify us.  Students will need a medical certificate and completed AARA form.  Below are some useful articles to help prepare for exams.

• Tips For Sitting Your Exams
• SMMC Exam Guidelines for Students

Exam timetables can be found on the College Website and in student Compass accounts.

Year 12 Unit Three Results

The Unit Three Report Card for Year 12 students will be released at the end of this term for students.   However, some subjects are releasing student results for each assessment task into Compass for parents to view.  Parents should login to their child’s Compass page and go to their daughter’s profile, then to ‘Learning Tasks’. 

Parents are reminded that these results are provisional until they are confirmed by the QCAA.

The Unit Three Report Card is the final report for Year 12 students generated by the College as their final results will be released by the QCAA on their ‘Senior Statement of Results’ document.  Students are encouraged to use this information to plan their goals for their Unit Four work in order to achieve their best possible results.  The results can be accessed via the Compass portal (see below).

Melissa Pearce
Deputy Principal, Learning and Teaching

Inspirited by Faith and Mission

Pope Leo XIV

It probably won’t have escaped you that after only four rounds of voting, white smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney signalling that we have a new Pope! 

Pope Leo XIV – who was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, is the first pope from North America, the first Augustian pope, and the first native English-speaker in the role in 800 years.

After being announced Pope, he said: “We can be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, that is always open to receive everyone.” This is a heart-warming, brave statement! Like many, I read this a few days ago:

Brothers, sisters…
I speak to you, especially to those who no longer believe, no longer hope, no longer pray, because they think God has left.
To those who are fed up with scandals, with misused power, with the silence of a Church that sometimes seems more like a palace than a home.
I, too, was angry with God.
I, too, saw good people die, children suffer, grandparents cry without medicine.
And yes… there were days when I prayed and only felt an echo.
But then I discovered something:
God doesn't shout. God whispers.
And sometimes He whispers from the mud, from pain, from a grandmother who feeds you without having anything.
I don't come to offer you perfect faith.
I come to tell you that faith is a walk with stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.
I'm not asking you to believe in everything.
I'm asking you not to close the door. Give a chance to the God who waits for you without judgment.
I'm just a priest who saw God in the smile of a woman who lost her son... and yet she cooked for others.
That changed me.
So if you're broken, if you don't believe, if you're tired of the lies... come anyway. With your anger, your doubt, your dirty backpack.
No one here will ask you for a VIP card.
Because this Church, as long as I breathe, will be a home for the homeless, and a rest for the weary.
God doesn't need soldiers.
He needs brothers and sisters.
And you, yes, you... are one of them."
Robert Prevost (Leo XIV)

I am super excited for what he will bring to the world - and have faith that as Pope Francis appointed him cardinal in 2023 that he will be following in his footsteps! Fingers crossed!! 

Watch this space - I suspect we will be hearing lots more about Leo as the weeks progress! And so, a prayer to keep him in our thoughts for his work ahead …

Faithful God, You guide us on the path of life and your goodness is our constant companion. Be with our new Shepherd, Pope Leo XIV, in his service of the Church. Fill him with the power of your Spirit, the peace of your presence and the compassion of Christ.

May he walk with you, in wisdom and humility, and lead us, together with all God’s people, to embody your love for the world. Amen.

Yr 8 & 9 Retreats

Next week our Year 8 and 9 students will be participating in their annual retreats.  Year 8 will focus on forming a connection between their pastoral theme for the year of Sisterhood and how this manifests in their daily lives at the College. The theme also reflects the importance of how the reality of sisterhood with their peers is deeply reflected through their understanding of living the mission of Jesus in their own community. While the Year 9 Reflection Day is to encourage the uniting of the group. This is done through liturgy and various activities centred on the theme of looking after self and others: Mind, Body, Soul & Spirit. Watch this space for some picture and student responses!

God bless,
Rachel Harrison
Assistant Principal - Identity and Mission

Inspired by Community

We have much to be proud of at St Margaret Mary’s College. Ours is a community grounded in the Benedictine values of hospitality, compassion and peace. These values guide our interactions and shape the way we treat one another every day. As a College, we aim to nurture a Maggies’ sisterhood where every student feels seen, safe and supported. We take seriously our responsibility to nurture the wellbeing of each student, and that includes providing a safe learning environment where respectful relationships are fostered.

Our pastoral care program plays an important role in this. Engagement with The Resilience Project aims to foster resilience through the pillars of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. Aligned with this is a focus on helping students build healthy friendships and learn how to handle conflict in a respectful and constructive way. These are skills for life - skills that help our young people navigate both face-to-face and digital interactions with integrity.

We know young people are growing up in a world where every moment can be recorded, shared and replayed. As the adults in their lives, it is our job to guide them in using the devices we give them responsibly. Ethical behaviour online and offline is not just about rules, it’s about values. It is about challenging your child to consider: Is this helping or harming? Would I want this said about me? Does this action reflect who I am?

Recently, it has been necessary to address our Junior students (Years 7-9) to reinforce expectations regarding appropriate online behaviour, respecting their school environment, resolving conflict and bystander behaviour. If a student encounters something concerning, we encourage them to speak up - being a bystander is never neutral - every moment is a choice.

SchoolTV contains a wealth of useful resources to support parents in guiding young people to navigate friendships and the challenges of adolescence.

We really do have much to be proud of at the College, and we all play a role in maintaining a peaceful, productive community that is true to our Samaritan charism and commitment to being a good neighbour to all.

Alison Lloyd
Acting Assistant Principal, Pastoral

College Administration

Legacy Car Park - Crowle Street - Do not use

A reminder to all parents and student drivers that the private carpark behind Legacy on Crowle Street is not to be used as a drop-off, pick up or parking area. We ask that you do not use this area as it is not the property of SMMC and is hindering one of our close business neighbours. 

Often, the driveway to the carpark is blocked by cars who are dropping off their child in the morning, switching from a learner driver or use the carpark to drop off or pick up their child. Staff and clients  from Legacy are unable to access or use the carpark.  It also creates a traffic hazard and congestion along Crowle Street.   Parents are asked to use the drop off zone in the main carpark. 

Year 7 and 10 Vaccinations are scheduled for later in the term

Year 7 - Thursday 12 June
Year 10 - Thursday 19 June (and Thursday 11 September)

Forms are being distributed through homerooms this week and are due back on Monday 26th May. Information and forms about the Vaccinations will be sent home this week. If you have any queries about the vaccinations, please contact Qld Health 4433 6900 or Jenny Walker in the Health and Wellbeing Centre at the College.  

First Nations News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Week 4!

In the past two weeks we have been busy organising our upcoming Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week celebrations. It was great to see all of the students participate in the College Cross Country last Friday and the support they gave to each other on the day!

 ATSIMS

We’re excited to announce that applications for the 2025 ATSIMS program are now open!

If you are interested in marine science and marine career opportunities, we invite you to submit applications via the links sent out by Mr Morganson. Please take note of the following important details:

• Eligibility: Applications are open to Year 10 students and there are only 5 positions available.
• Students receive a free ATSIMS Shirt
• Attendance commitment: Students who apply should be prepared to attend all program events in full.
• Applications close: Friday 19th May.

Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week

Our Reconciliation Sorry Day liturgy will be held on Friday 30th May.

Our NAIDOC day will be held on Friday June 20th.

First Nations Education Advisory Committee Meeting

Our first Term 2 committee meeting will be held next Monday the 19th of May from 5-6pm in the Library. A light afternoon tea will be provided. All are welcome to attend!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours in Culture, Faith and Education,
Mrs Louise Martin
First Nations Middle Leader

Library News

Mother’s Day Competition

Students had to guess the number of pages ‘Bake with Brooki’ has. It was opened to a double page and they couldn’t see the cover or anything else.

Three clever girls did some excellent research - recognised the book from the recipe layout, went  home and looked it up and came to school the next day, entered the competition, wrote down 310p and one winner (out of 3) was drawn out of the box.   Problem solved, research done!  The prize was the cookbook ‘Bake with Brooki’, a box of chocolates and some other fun things for mum.

Sports News

Last Friday, we enjoyed a beautiful morning of sunshine for our Interhouse Cross-country event. Congratulations to all the runners for their hard work, and special congratulations to Anunaka for being crowned House Champion for the third year in a row. We also want to thank our Year 12 students for demonstrating great spirit and leadership, as well as for their impressive participation in the event. Our Alinta girls displayed grace in both victory and defeat, rallying their troops to excel in our modified games, which earned them the title for best spirit!

A special mention goes to our Age Champions – amazing job, girls!

U12 – Emma Brooks
U13 – Madeline Cameron
U14 – Clara Rois Nodar
U15 – Jemma Corcoran
U16 – Macy Stone
U17 – Caydee Kyle
Open – Georgia Allen

Congratulations to our Junior and Senior Queen of the Course winners, Madeline Cameron and Clara Rois Nodar! Madeline completed her run in 13 minutes and 31 seconds, while Clara finished hers in 16 minutes and 31 seconds. Well done to all the runners for their impressive performances. We look forward to seeing strong representation from our College at the upcoming inter-school event. Details about this carnival will be released soon via Compass.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 26

Next

Art News

Dance workshops with Nerida Matthaei

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 12

Next

Nerida Matthaei is a well-known choreographer from Brisbane and is a creator and doctor in contemporary choreographic practices. She came to work with our Year 9, 10 and Senior Dance classes, sharing her expertise in choreographic practice. The Australian Curriculum in Dance is driven by the need to create meaning through our dance and this is what she does so well. Helping students tell their own stories in their own ways coloured the day through all of her workshops. We always look forward to Nerida coming and working with the students, crafting and shaping the students' work in a short space of time to create some creative experiences to inspire and educate the girls with mastery. 

Chris Davis
Curriculum Middle Leader - The Arts

Vocal Workshop with Luke Kennedy 

On Monday, the 28th of April, Luke Kennedy, who rose to prominence through becoming runner-up on “The Voice”, came to SMMC to work with some of our girls honing their vocal skills in performance. Luke has come to the college several times and expressed how he has loved seeing our talented girls develop their skills over time. He also remarked that it was great to ‘discover’ talent that we didn’t know existed! There were some wonderful performances throughout the afternoon, with excellent feedback and development from the girls in applying this knowledge to their own practice. Thanks so much, Luke, for visiting again and sharing your vocal wisdom with us. 

Chris Davis
Curriculum Middle Leader - The Arts

Combined Schools' Musical

Tickets are now on sale for the Combined Schools' Musical production We Will Rock You, bringing Queen’s legendary hits to life!

Performance Dates & Times at the Townsville Civic Theatre:
Friday 6 June 2025 @ 7.00pm
Saturday 7 June 2025 @ 2.00pm
Saturday 7 June 2025 @ 7.00pm

Please follow this link to purchase tickets - https://bit.ly/4jr7g3X

Humanities News

Two business extra-curricular activities were on offer this semester.  Marley Cottone and Olivia Jacoby joined in these opportunities and described the events below.

ECOMAN:

The ECOMAN Challenge is something I think everyone should participate in, especially if you have an interest in business and accounting. The two day program involved strategic planning, communication and most of all teamwork. The program allows you to not only think like a business manager but also play with the idea of changing your strategies to create different financial outcomes. By just the first day I had learnt and put into practise so many new terms and concepts. At the end of the second day we presented our decisions to the other schools and a partner from Findex which was fun. It was interesting to see how each team presented their business based on the outcome of different decision making. This aspect and questioning by the facilitators encouraged quick thinking, time management and of course, public speaking. By the end of it, our team won by having the largest share price on the market which was very exciting. The ECOMAN Challenge could not have been better created and run.

QUT:

The QUT Accounting Challenge was a great opportunity to learn about the things you need to consider when taking over a business. My team and I were able to put ourselves in the shoes of Peta, an interior designer who inherited her dad's plumbing business. With this concept in mind we had to come up with ways for Peta to easily understand the business despite not knowing much about it. We also had to think of ideas to help Peta modernise the business as well as ways to grow and expand the business. In doing this we had to come up with 3 sub inquiry questions to each idea and then answer them. We all learnt so much by participating in the QUT Accounting Challenge and it was fun to understand how businesses are run. We could not have done this without the help of Mrs May who gave us insight on what it is like running a plumbing business as she has one of her own. She allowed us to understand and learn so much from her and really helped my team to understand what running a business is like. We now have a better understanding of how we can help people like Peta achieve her goals, which is the job of an accountant. 

By Marley Cottone Year 10

CQU Schools Business Challenge

CQU use their expertise as a regional university to offer this live interschool quiz via their video linked classrooms across Queensland.  Last week it was Townsville to Rockhampton schools and luckily the pizza and lollies were real life.  As a team, students answered questions about accounting, business, law and general knowledge... Here is what some of our team had to say about the evening:

CQU's Business Challenge shaped up to be a very engaging and educational experience. Taking an afternoon to work as a team to answer Business, Ecom. and Accounting related questions was a thoroughly challenging and fun task. And of course, we can't forget the round of General Knowledge, which we may have been a little too overconfident in. Overall, a great experience to meet other schools and test our knowledge. Thanks CQU! - Olivia Jacoby

Parish News

Holy Family Church, Gulliver 50th Birthday

Holy Family Church are excited to begin their historical visual display for the celebration of 50 years of the Holy Family Church. 

Please contact Carmel on 0435 315 370 with any images over the years or send information via email to the office.

Defence School Mentor Program

I am pleased to have begun my tenure at SMMC as Defence School Mentor. I've had a wonderful introduction to the College through observing and being involved in the Anzac Day services. Although this was a couple of weeks ago now, I still want to take this chance to acknowledge the incredible work of the staff and students here at the College who put on a wonderful assembly, hosted special guests, and attended services (including the march at the Strand) on Anzac Day. I am so proud to be working with your daughters who have demonstrated a strong understanding of respect, integrity, excellence, courage and service.

Education Assistance Scheme
Defence recognises that some children may experience disruption to their education each time they move for a posting. Defence Member and Family Support (DMFS) have a range of services and resources that can assist with the transition between schools and education systems, and provide support for the unique needs of Defence students. One of these is the Education Assistance Scheme.

A range of financial support is available to help minimise disruption to education caused by posting within Australia. The aim is to provide the student with limited interim assistance to help overcome any immediate difficulties with their education occurring as a direct result of posting. Defence may provide education assistance when the member is posted and your child needs to change schools or study away from where you live. This support may include tutoring. This can be accessed within the first 18 months of a posting. If you feel that your daughter's academics have been impacted through your recent posting, you may be eligible to receive funded tutoring sessions via this scheme. If you would like assistance, please reach out to me and I can support your application. Alternatively, you may wish to contact DMFS via email - education.supportprograms@defence.gov.au directly for support.

Absence Support
With several exercises and deployments occurring this year both within and outside of the Townsville region, I would like to share some resources to support your family and your daughters during times of parental absence. Deployment can generate many emotions for ADF members and their families - fear, anger, loneliness, denial, anxiety, joy, relief and anticipation. Please know that, at anytime, the team at Defence Member and Family Support are here to help via their 24/7 family helpline, and various support services.

You can access their information guide here: https://www.defence.gov.au/adf-members-families/news-resources/defence-member-family-information-guide

I encourage you to notify me of movements of this nature so that I can best support your daughter while she is at school. If you have a deployment, exercise, or a change of circumstances coming up, please email me.

Contact Details
An email of introduction has been sent to our Defence families and individually to students to provide my contact details and a short overview of the DSM Program objectives. If you are a Defence family and did not receive this, please email me to let me know. I am available to both students and families - like the students, parents/guardians are welcome to book a meeting with me if they wish. I can be contacted at vclothier1@smmc.catholic.edu.au at any time during the week. I am on campus on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9-2pm. 

If you have any ideas or suggestions for the DSMP at SMMC, I welcome them! I am looking forward to reintroducing Wattle Company Parade and continuing on the fabulous work of our previous DSM, Brett Armstrong. 

Vicki Clothier
Defence School Mentor

Community News