SPORTS DAY
After having to postpone our Sports Day in week one of this term, we held a successful Sports Day on Wednesday 13th of November at Bowker Street Oval. It was a fantastic event marked by ideal weather and great enthusiasm!
Organised by our Health and Physical Education teacher, Mr McCarthy, the day showcased the sportsmanship and athletic abilities of our students.
The event kicked off with an Acknowledgement of Country and Prayer. Following this all students took part in the “Health Hustle,” organized by Ms Moroney, which helped students to warm up for an energetic day of activities.
The events included fun tabloid events, track events including the 100m, 400m, 800m and hurdles, as well as field events like the high jump, long jump, and tug of war.
Each student showed great determination and sportsmanship which was a great credit to them and their families.
Thank you to all who helped to make this day such a success, but a particular big ‘Thank you’ to Mr McCarthy!
Please find below the results from the day.
Good Samaritan Spirit Award
1st – Polding (Red) 1575 points
2nd – Carmel (Gold) 1485 points
3rd – Murphy (Green) 1480 points
4th – Sontrop (Blue) 1460 points
Rev Monsignor Robert Egar Victory Cup
1st – Carmel (Gold) 2080 points
2nd – Polding (Red) 1995 points
3rd – Sontrop (Blue) 1970 points
4th –Murphy (Green) 1775 points
PUPIL FREE DAY MONDAY 18TH NOVEMBER
A reminder that we will hold a Pupil free day on Monday 18th November.
If you need OSHC services on this day, please book with Our Patch.
YEAR 2 COME AND TRY EXPO
On Tuesday the 12th of November, 2RC and 2SK went on an excursion to the Year 2 Come and Try Expo which was coordinated by ACHPER SA and the South Australian Catholic Primary School Sports Association (SACPSSA) as part of their PE WEEK activities. The day was held at the Adelaide Lutheran Sports Grounds on the corner of South Terrace and Goodwood Road. Our students joined with 10 other schools, where approximately 650 students participated in four lessons of sporting activities – 12 of these rotations were organised by sporting codes (SACA, Tennis SA, Golf SA, SA Rugby Union, NRL, SANFL, Volleyball SA, Lacrosse SA, Softball SA, Athletics SA, FFSA) and the other 14 rotations were led by Year 6 students from across 10 Catholic Primary schools - this included our Year 6 Sports Captains running one of the stations. The aim of the day was to promote being active, getting outside and enjoying new sports and games. Here are some comments from our Year 2 students about their experience:
Alisha - I liked the Spread Eagle game run by Our Lady of Grace because it had a lot of running in it.
Sophie - I liked the Rugby because we ran through the line of people and they tried to pull our flags off our belt.
Ryan - I liked the game where we threw the frisbee to get points.
Michael - My favourite game was 'Waspital' run by St Augustine's because the wasps tagged people with pool noodles.
Alessia - the day was great because we got to learn new sports and play new games.
Our Year 6 Sports Captains – led one of the stations, and taught four schools, three new games – these included:
- Zombies - a striking game whereby students had to hit a tennis ball off a tee-ball stand and try and get it past “zombies” who were defending an area.
- Dragons - a variation of dodgeball where two students start as dragons and need to pass a soft ball around a zone and tagged people by touching them with the soft ball, When tagged this player becomes a dragon. The aim is to be the last person remaining untagged.
- Bean Bag Drop – an alternative to “Rob the Nest” - whereby instead of trying to hoard bean bags from other teams – this time you are aiming to have no bean bags left in your hoop.
All of our captains spoke confidently during instructing students on how to play and were actively engaged in the sessions encouraging the students, and reinforcing the rules as needed. The captains were involved in creating and teaching others how to play the games and have been working closely with Mr. McCarthy in preparation for this event. They should be proud of the confident manner in which they represented the school.
REMEMBRANCE DAY
On Monday the 11th of November we came together as a school Community to honour all the brave Men and Women who died in service of our country. Our Year 4CK students lead us through a moving ceremony which allowed us to reflect on the bravery of each of these people in making sure we live in peace here in Australia.
Many classes made poppies and spent time in class reflecting on this special day of commemoration.
Less we forget!
YEAR 3 CLASS LITURGY
Our Year 3 classes came together on Thursday of week four to share a liturgy to celebrate the learning they have undertaken in class in Religious Education lessons.
Students broke open the understanding that they have gained in relation to the biblical story of ‘Moses and the Burning Bush’ and the ‘10 Commandments given to us by God.’
During class lessons prior to the liturgy, students had taken the 10 Commandments and changed the wording to allow them to create their own “Class 10 Commandments”, breaking them open in a contemporary manner. During the liturgy they were able to share these with those attending and to open up the possibility for further conversation at home about how these could be adapted to use at home or in the wider community.
Thank you to our Year 3 Classes as their teachers Mrs Zervas and Ms Steciuk, for sharing the learning that has taken place, in a joy filled liturgy.
NEW RECEPTIONS FOR 2025 TRANSITION VISITS
How exciting the last few Thursdays have been not only for our new students and families starting with us in Term 1 of 2025, but also our Reception Teachers Mrs Michelle Thomson and Jane Button, and the wider school community.
It has been lovely to see these children sharing smiles as they undertake learning and fun activities that are assisting them to get to know one another and to settle into the Stella Maris School Community.
We wish them and their families a welcoming start to their time here at Stella Maris and know that you will all help them to feel a part of this inviting community.
RAA ROAD SAFETY SESSIONS
This term our Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 students have participated in a Road Safety Lesson which has been coordinated by the RAA. The sessions were designed to provide our students with a chance to learn about how to be safe inside cars, exiting cars, and navigating crossings roads safely regardless of if there is a crossing present or not. Students learnt the importance of booster seats for younger children, why they should wear a seatbelt, and how to be a safe passenger to avoid distracting the driver. As part of the session, the RAA setup a mock road crossing for students to navigate and to practice safe crossing skills including looking both ways (right, left, right) before crossing, walking across the road, and trying to cross at designated crossing places where possible. We hope the students use the skills they have learnt during these sessions and put them into daily practice when they are out on the roads to remain safe.
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
On Friday the 1st of November, the Stella Maris sporting juggernaut rolled on as we sent 42 students (from Years 3 to 6) to the Athletics SA Stadium to complete in Section 2 of the SACPSSA Athletics Carnival. We participated against 8 other Catholic Schools in a range of track and field events including 100m/200m sprints, 400m/800m, Hurdles, Shot Put, Long Jump, High Jump, and Relays.
We had four age champions which means that these students accumulated the most points for their high finishes in their events:
Ariana – Year 3 girls, Noah – Year 3 boys, Koby – Year 5 boys, Madi – Year 6 girls
We won the Year 3 boys age group, and the Year 6 girls age group. Overall, our boys came second, and our girls came first. Due to this high finish, we are now relegated into Section 1 in 2025, for the very first time, which is a fantastic achievement.
We congratulate all our sporting superstars for their achievements, efforts and for representing the school respectfully. Thank you to the parents, staff and to Mr McCarthy for their support of this day to ensure that our students were able to attend and participate to the best of their abilities.
YEAR 6 JOURNEY TO EMMAUS
The final of the Journey to Emmaus days for our Year 6 Students was held at McAuley Community School on Monday the 4th of November. Throughout this year, our Year 6’s have joined with other Year 6 students from St Martin de Porres, St Bernadettes, Christ the King and McAuley Community School to reflect on how they can follow the example of Jesus in their interactions with others now, into their secondary education and beyond school into their adult life.
The final of our days began with prayer before students were fortunate to listen to guest speaker, Maddie Kelly talk about her charity work in Tanzania at the School of St Jude. She went on to encourage the students to think about the small changes they could make to help others and explained that they don’t need to go overseas like she did, if they don’t want to, they can just help right here in Australia.
The students asked great questions of Maddie and spent time following her talk reflecting on what they could do to help others.
In the afternoon students headed down to the beach to engage in an art activity where they depicted the key learnings they were taking away from the Journey to Emmaus experience. On their return to McAuley students were given the opportunity to talk to other students going to the same High school as them next year.
Thank you to classroom teachers Kym Hill, Brooke Penney and Hannah Moroney, and ESOs Helen Minear and John Manfrin, for their support and organisation of students in attending these days.
P & F DISCO
A big ‘Thank you’ is extended to Kylie Bowman and the P & F Committee for organising a fun filled evening of singing and dancing at the Disco organised for our students.
The delight that could be seen on the children’s faces as they danced and sang along with the disco leaders was a great joy to watch!
Our students are certainly lucky that the P & F Committee provide such fun events to bring our school community together, so again, we say ‘Thankyou’!
VINNIES CHRISTMAS DRIVE
This Christmas Stella Maris is again planning to support the ‘Vinnies Christmas Drive’ with support from our Year 6 ‘Social Justice Group’.
Items can be sent to school and placed in the baskets in students’ classrooms until Thursday 5th December (Wk 8), so they can be delivered for sorting into Christmas hampers.
This year our local Vinnies Chapter is asking for donations of new toys only.
Please see below for examples of items which can be donated. Gifts can be placed in the baskets in your child’s classroom up until 9am Thursday 5 December.
Please do not wrap any of the items as this will be done by Vinnies that they can allocate gifts appropriately to required age levels.
Toy Suggestions:
- Building blocks, hand-eye co-ordination toys or crawl and play mats
- Gift voucher for a retail outlet
- Microscope or science kit
- Teething toys, bath toys or rattles
- Action figures, dolls or dress-ups
- Toy cars (Hot Wheels or similar) or remote control cars/bikes/trucks with batteries
- Backpacks, handbags or accessories
- Art and crafts supplies or stationery
- Perfume, aftershave or other toiletries
- Story books, novels or diaries
Social