Mel Maria Catholic Primary School

Dear Parents and Staff

As we move further into Term Three, there continues to be a wonderful sense of energy and activity across both campuses of Mel Maria. The past few weeks have provided many opportunities for our students to learn, compete, create, celebrate and simply enjoy being part of our school community.

With Father’s Day approaching on Sunday, 6 September, we take the opportunity to acknowledge the important role that fathers, grandfathers and the many significant male role models play in the lives of our children.

The influence of a father or father figure is often seen in the everyday moments: the encouragement offered after a difficult day, the time spent listening, the example set through actions, and the quiet reassurance of simply being there.

On behalf of the Mel Maria community, I wish all our dads, grandfathers and father figures a very happy Father’s Day. I hope Sunday provides an opportunity for families to spend some special time together and to say a simple but important thank you for all that you do.

We also remember those fathers and grandfathers who are no longer with us and hold them especially close in our thoughts and prayers.

The Mel Maria P&F association will celebrate a Father’s Day Afternoon on Friday, 4 September from 3:30pm-5:00pm on the Primary Campus.

Congratulations to our students who represented Mel Maria so successfully at the recent RoboCup competition last weekend. The results achieved by our teams were outstanding and reflected not only their skills in robotics, coding and problem-solving, but also their teamwork, persistence and willingness to challenge themselves.

Opportunities such as RoboCup are an important part of what we want education at Mel Maria to provide. They encourage our students to think creatively, collaborate with others, solve complex problems and have the confidence to test their ideas, learn from setbacks and try again.

I particularly acknowledge Ms Teresa Marra and Mr Roman Popadynec for the enormous amount of work undertaken in preparing and supporting our students. Much of the work associated with opportunities such as RoboCup happens well before competition day. Their commitment, preparation and encouragement of the students has been exceptional, and the success of our teams is a wonderful reflection of the time and energy they have invested. I also recognise the assistance from other staff who gave up their weekend to support the students and school.

Most importantly, congratulations to all our students who participated. We are enormously proud of the way you represented Mel Maria.

Book Week is always one of the highlights of the school calendar and this year was no exception. Across the school, our students celebrated books, authors, characters and, most importantly, the joy that comes from reading.

Reading opens doors for children. It develops vocabulary and comprehension, fuels imagination, builds knowledge and allows children to experience people, places and ideas far beyond their immediate world. Creating a genuine love of reading remains one of the greatest gifts we can give our students.

Events of this size require considerable organisation, and I would particularly like to acknowledge and thank Mrs Irene Windsor, Greta and Glynis from our Library Team, together with Mrs Charmaine Faulkner from Year Three, for the tremendous work they put into making Book Week such an enjoyable and memorable experience for our students.

Thank you also to our staff and families who embraced the celebrations and helped bring the wonderful world of books to life.

Over recent weeks, Mel Maria students have been proudly representing our school in the Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools, one of the significant annual celebrations of the arts within Catholic education.

Our students have participated across an impressive range of disciplines, including School Choirs, the Year Four Percussion Ensemble, Individual Instrumental performances and Solo Singing performances. Our students have also represented Mel Maria through Speak for Faith, providing another important opportunity for them to develop confidence, communication skills and the ability to express their faith.

The Performing Arts Festival is about much more than the performance itself. Behind every item are many hours of practice, rehearsal, encouragement and perseverance. Standing before an audience and sharing a talent requires courage, and I congratulate every student who has represented Mel Maria throughout the Festival. Regardless of results, having the confidence to perform and to strive for personal excellence is an achievement in itself.

I particularly acknowledge and thank Mr Luke Murphy, our Music Teacher, Genieve Sumich for her work with our Choir, and all our Music Tutors for the tremendous amount of work they have undertaken in preparing our students. Their commitment, expertise and encouragement provide our children with opportunities to discover and develop their musical talents and, importantly, to experience the joy that comes from performing with and for others.

Congratulations to all involved. We are extremely proud of the way our students continue to represent Mel Maria.

As part of Catholic Education Western Australia's ongoing commitment to supporting schools in the delivery of Consent and Respectful Relationships Education (CRRE), CEWA is seeking feedback from parents and carers about their information and support needs in this area.

Grounded in the Catholic understanding of the dignity of every person and the call to support the integral human development of each child and young person, this work affirms the importance of forming students to recognise, respect and uphold the dignity, safety and wellbeing of themselves and others.

Parents and carers, as the primary educators of their children, play a critical role in shaping children's understanding of relationships, respect, safety and wellbeing. To ensure future parent resources and engagement opportunities are relevant and responsive, CEWA has developed a short survey to gather parent perspectives, questions and areas of interest relating to consent and respectful relationships education.

The survey will:

• Gather information about parents' current understanding of consent and respectful relationships education.

• Identify topics parents would value further information or support with.

• Inform the development of future parent-facing resources and engagement

  opportunities.

• Support CEWA and schools to strengthen partnerships with families around student wellbeing and healthy relationships.

The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete and responses are anonymous.

Survey link: https://forms.office.com/r/TV8EfHb55U

Schools are reminded that the three-week mid-year break for students will commence in 2027.

The 2027 term dates are provided below.

First Day of Term - Last Day of Term

Term 1 Thursday 28 January 2027 (Monday 25 January for staff) to Friday 9 April 2027

Term 2 Tuesday 27 April 2027

(ANZAC Day observance on Monday 26 April 2027)

Friday 25 June 2027

(Monday 28 June for Staff)

Term 3 Monday 19 July 2027 to Friday 24 September 2027

Term 4 Monday 11 October 2027 Years K-10 to Friday 10 December 2027

Planning is already well underway for 2027 and beyond, and I encourage families considering Mel Maria Catholic Primary School for their child to submit their enrolment applications as soon as possible.

Interest in the school continues to be strong, and places in some year levels are limited. Families with younger siblings who have not yet submitted an application are also encouraged to do so, as sibling enrolment should not be assumed without an application being lodged.

For families who are considering Mel Maria, one of the best ways to understand our school is to come and see it in action. School tours provide prospective families with an opportunity to visit our campuses, see our learning environments and gain a greater understanding of our unique One School. Two Campuses. One Vision. model.

We are enormously proud of what Mel Maria offers: a strong Catholic identity, high expectations for learning, outstanding opportunities for our students and a community committed to ensuring that every child is known, supported and challenged to achieve their best.

If you know a family considering schooling options for their child, please encourage them to contact the School Office to arrange a tour or obtain further information about enrolment. As always, thank you to our parents, staff and students for the many different ways you contribute to the life of Mel Maria. It is through these shared experiences, opportunities and partnerships that we continue to live our commitment to Every Child. Every Classroom. Every Day.

Kind regards

Paul Hille

Principal

#MakingADifferenceEveryDay

Loving God,

This Father’s Day,
we give thanks for the fathers, grandfathers
and father figures who love, guide and care for us.

We thank You for their strength and gentleness,
for their patience and encouragement,
for the sacrifices they make
and for the many ways, both seen and unseen,
that they support their families each day.

Bless them with wisdom when decisions are difficult,
patience when days are challenging,
strength when they are weary,
and joy in the precious moments they share with their children.

May they look to St Joseph,
a man of faith, courage and quiet strength,
as an example of loving and faithful fatherhood.

We remember especially today
the fathers and grandfathers who are no longer with us.
May they rest peacefully in Your loving care,
and may the memories they have given us
continue to bring comfort and joy.

Bless all the families of Mel Maria.
May our homes be places of love, forgiveness, faith and hope,
and may we never take for granted
the people who walk beside us and help us become
the people You call us to be.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Thought for the Week

“Excellence is not about being better than everyone else.

It is about becoming better than we were yesterday.”

Dear Early Childhood Families

At Mel Maria, we believe that every child can succeed. Our early childhood philosophy is grounded in creating rich, purposeful learning experiences that nurture each child’s strengths, curiosity, creativity and confidence, setting them up for lifelong learning and success.

Miss Olivia Di Lena, Miss Karis Johnson and I recently had the opportunity to attend the Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA) Early Childhood Conference, engaging with current research, expert perspectives and innovative approaches to early childhood education.

The key messages from the CEWA Early Childhood Conference strongly affirmed our approach, while providing valuable national and international insights into best practice in early childhood education. The conference reinforced the importance of empowering young children to become creative, capable thinkers and confident problem-solvers, equipped to navigate and thrive in a rapidly changing technological and AI world.

Our learnings from this inspiring conference, support our ongoing commitment to reflection and continuous improvement to foster excellence in early childhood education at Mel Maria, ensuring every child has the very best opportunities to learn, grow and flourish.

On Tuesday, 18 August, our students celebrated a special Day of Friendship, inspired by the learning and connections developed through our URSTRONG Friendology curriculum. Throughout the day, students connected with their cross-campus buddies via Teams, exchanged letters and cards filled with thoughtful messages of friendship, and enjoyed spending time with friends from other classes.

These meaningful activities strengthened connections across our Primary School and fostered a wonderful sense of belonging, wellbeing and togetherness. It was a beautiful celebration of friendship, kindness and the importance of nurturing positive relationships within our school community. #Making a Difference Everyday!

This week, we celebrated Children’s Book Week 2026 with the theme Symphony of Stories, coming together to celebrate the joy of reading, imagination and storytelling. Our students enjoyed a range of literacy activities throughout the term, culminating in our wonderful Book Week Parade with our Early Childhood community.

A special thank you to our dedicated library staff, Irene Windsor, Greta Scheggia and Glynis O’Neill, for creating such engaging experiences and helping our students discover the magic of books and stories. Together, we continue to create a beautiful symphony of learning and wonder at Mel Maria.

With God’s Blessings,

Danielle Damjanovic

Head of the Early Childhood Campus

As we enter the second half of the term there is much to celebrate at Mel Maria. Our holistic approach to learning focuses on our commitment tto the wellbeing of every student.

Our learning environments on each campus are learning places of enthusiasm, inspiration, collaboration and active engagement fostering the seven general capabilities outlined in School Curriculum and Standards Authority.

Our Catholic identity underpins each of these capabilities within the context of our catholic learning environment giving every student the opportunity to succeed.

The Seven Capabilities

• Critical and Creative Thinking: Learning to process information, solve problems, think deeply, and generate innovative ideas.
• Digital Literacy: Using digital tools smartly, safely, and effectively to communicate, research, and create.
• Ethical Understanding: Recognizing ethical issues, understanding values, and acting with moral integrity.
• Intercultural Understanding: Appreciating diverse cultures, worldviews, and backgrounds to communicate respectfully with others.
• Literacy: Listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing, and creating effective text communication.
• Numeracy: Using math skills, patterns, and spatial reasoning confidently in everyday life.
• Personal and Social Capability: Managing emotions, building positive relationships, and making responsible decisions. Australian Curriculum

Every child, Every Classroom, Every Day.

Each of these capabilities are being lived out within our learning domains for our students at Mel Maria.

Parents being present in partnership with our staff is a highlight of building a strong learning community.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly"

John 10;10

ROBOTICS state competition was held last weekend at Murdoch University. Our Mel Maria students performed with great confidence and competence once again. Our student’s teamwork and collaboration proved a highlight and a definite quality for the success they experienced.

Thank you to Roman Popadynec and Teresa Marra for supporting and preparing our students to participate at this level of competition.

Parents being present throughout proved such a positive model to our students about the strong partnership that we are committed to at Mel Maria as we work together for the best learning outcomes for our students.

Speak for Faith proved to be another opportunity for our students to participate at an extended level within the Religious Education Domain.

Seryn Jankey and Tyler Bui represented themselves and Mel Maria with confidence and conviction discussing aspects of their faith this week.

Each had a prepared speech to present and then were given an impromptu topic to respond to. Tyler has won a place in the finals. We wish him well for the next stage.

Our Choir and our students of music have participated in the Catholic Schools Performing Arts during the last month and have thrived been part of a wider performing arts community.

Thank you for your supporting your children in partnership with our dedicated staff as we continue to strive for excellence

Ros Nichols

Head of Primary Campus

ONSTAGE

ONSTAGE robotic students worked to conceptualise a theme and building a robotic performance with their EV3’s/ LEGO SPIKE builds. Incorporating movable parts, synchronised programming using EV3 classroom, lego spike, working on technical posters and music to produce a creative performance. Teams are scored on their performance and their teams technical interview.

Mel Maria wins State Title for Open Onstage Performance

Our three Onstage performances did exceptionally well with all the teams making it to the State finals on Sunday. The creativity alongside STEM innovations secured them as back to back State Winners in the Open category (against competing high schools; Sacred Heart College and Santa Maria). We placed First with our all girls team the ‘Phoenix Flames’: Camille, Sophie and Jess and second place with our all boys team ‘World Cup Time’: Jai, Aiden and Teo). Our team ‘Friendly Toys’: Henry, Anthony, Harrison and George placed fourth.

RESCUE

The primary rescue challenge sees robots compete by following a winding line on a series of tiles to a designated rescue area. On the way the robot could encounter obstacles, bridges and short cut opportunities that will challenge the most intrepid programmer. After negotiating the randomly selected path, the robot arrives at a green coloured area which indicates a chemical spill. While the clock is still ticking the robot must find “the victim” before pushing them out of the chemical spill to safety.

Out of our three rescue teams two made it to the state finals. They did an awesome job of problem solving and making coding adjustments on the way. They finished in 6th/7th position.

TOM PREPARATIONS ARE UNDERWAY

Mel Maria has a legacy of providing solid foundations for critical and creative thinking opportunities. As part of our expansive learning diversity opportunities, this year we will have our first ever junior ‘Tournament of Mind’ team. Mr Williams will be facilitating these students preparing their long-term solutions and getting them competition ready.

We have our two senior teams delving into this term’s problems entering both the STEM and language literature category. They have been working to answer judges’ criteria and present original solutions to in depth challenges.

The TOM competition will take place at Edith Cowan University Joondalup on Saturday 5th September. TOM fosters creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork.

What a fantastic Science Week!

Our students became scientists, engineers and problem-solvers as they took on a range of exciting hands-on challenges.

Year 2 tackled the Egg Drop Challenge, designing a way to protect an EGGstronaut during a drop (it was a bit messy!)

Year 3 put their knowledge of heat and insulation to the test in the Cool Drink Challenge, trying to keep their drink as cold as possible.

Year 4 became engineers in the Bridge Building Challenge, creating bridges that could hold as much weight as possible.

Year 5 headed to Mars, designing a Mars Landing system to safely land their MARShmallow astronaut.

Year 6 combined circuits and creativity to build their own electrical Skill Tester games.

Teams also had a limited number of Science Week tokens to purchase their materials, adding budgeting, planning and decision-making to the challenge.

It was wonderful to see so much creativity, teamwork, problem-solving and excitement throughout the week. Well done to all our young scientists!

Stay tuned for the winners of each year group.

Two Mel Maria Catholic Primary School students, Ivana Cheung in year one and Finlay Keating in Pre-primary, recently enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, attending an exclusive invitation-only training event with players from world-renowned football club AC Milan on Thursday, 30 July.

The experience was arranged through the TSH Outpost school program and provided students with the chance to participate in training activities alongside professional players. Feedback from the students was overwhelmingly positive, with both describing the event as a fun and memorable experience.

As an added highlight, the students also featured in a story on Channel 7 News, making the day even more special. We are thrilled they had the opportunity to represent MMCPS and be part of such an exciting event.

A big thank you to everyone who supported our Sushi & Pizza Special Day! It seemed to be a big hit with the kids, and we hope they enjoyed their special lunch.

Weeks 7 & 8 – Fortnightly Special

Our next fortnightly special will be available for the next two weeks on Mondays at the Early Childhood Campus and Tuesdays at the Primary Campus:

Recess: Ham & Cheese Pocket
Lunch: Chicken Fried Rice

Orders are available through QKR!

Lunch Order Reminder

A little reminder to please have a quick chat with your child about what has been ordered for their recess lunch each day. We've had quite a few drinks taken from lunch baskets recently by students who weren't sure whether a drink had been included with their order. Making sure children know what they are expecting in their lunch order will hopefully help us avoid items accidentally going missing.

Canteen IOU Payback – Now on QKR!

You can now pay any outstanding money owing to the canteen directly through QKR! Simply look for the “IOU Canteen Payback” section.

If your child has been provided with lunch or another item from the canteen and payment is still owing, you can pay:

Through QKR! using IOU Canteen Payback, or by cash or card at the office at either campus.

We currently have a number of outstanding canteen payments from the past two terms. Reminder emails will be sent home next week for any amounts that are still owing.

Thank you for your continued support of our school canteen!

CEWA Digital Learning Team - The sessions provides parents and carers with practical strategies for imaging screen time, gaming, scrolling, sleep routines and technology-related conflict at home.

The recoding is only available until 7 September.

All children worry sometimes. It is normal for very young children to be afraid of the dark, or for school age children to worry about making friends. But sometimes normal childhood anxiety morphs into something more serious. Because anxiety often affects a child’s thoughts and feelings more than it affects their behaviour, it can be hard to spot. It’s also possible for a child to be generally happy but still so anxious that it interferes with some aspect of their life, like school or socialising.

For one thing, being anxious doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t function — it might just make some kinds of functioning more difficult. A homework assignment that should take 20 minutes might take an hour, for example. With anxiety, it’s important to remember how internal it is. It dominates a child’s thoughts, but it might not be obvious to the people around them.

Common outward signs that a child might be anxious include troubling sleeping, lots of stomach aches or headaches, clinging to parents, and throwing tantrums. Some of these symptoms may look like oppositional behaviour, but really the child is struggling to deal with overwhelming worry. They might also have trouble focusing in class or be very fidgety. I like to say ‘not all that moves is ADHD’, even though its often the first thing we suspect from a hyperactive or inattentive child.

Untreated anxiety in childhood can lead to more anxiety in adulthood, so it’s important to get an anxious child help. The good news is that childhood anxiety is very treatable. Most anxious children respond well to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). By getting treatment early, children can learn to manage their worries and keep anxiety from interfering with their lives.

For the full article, click on the link below:

https://childmind.org/article/detecting-childhood-anxiety/

Reference

Boorady, R. (n.d.) Why childhood anxiety often goes undetected. Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/detecting-childhood-anxiety/

Sharlene Epis

Social Worker

BEd, MSW

sharlene.epis@cewa.edu.au

School Term Dates for 2026

• Term 1 (Monday 2 February to Thursday 2 April)
• Break (Friday 3 April – Sunday 19 April)
• Term 2 (Monday 20 April to Friday 3 July)
• Break (Saturday 4 July to Sunday 19July)
• Term 3 (20 July – 25 September)
• Break (Saturday 27 September to Sunday 11 October)
• Term 4 (Monday 12 October to 11 December)

Pupil Free Days for 2026

• Term 1 – Friday 27 February
• Term 2 – Friday 29 May
• Term 3 – Monday 20 July and Friday 25 September
• Term 4 – Monday 12 October