PUBLIC SPEAKING | St Mary’s hosted the local final of the Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award on Thursday 3rd August. This competition is open to all NSW junior secondary students and gives them the opportunity to improve their confidence in speech-writing and public speaking. Two of our enthusiastic Year 7 students, Fatima Al-Attafi and Melia Pham, competed against students from WHSPA, Braidwood Central, Kiama, Dapto, Bulli and Vincentia High Schools. For the 5-minute prepared speech, Fatima spoke about the epidemic of cyberbullying and Melia spoke about the dynamic nature of friendship. Their impromptu speech topic was ‘One Last Time’ and they only had 5 minutes to prepare for their 2-minute speech. It was a nerve-wracking experience and both students presented their thoughtful opinions confidently. While Fatima and Melia didn’t make it to the next round of the competition, they gained valuable experience and were wonderful representatives of the College. Thank you to our excellent helpers on the day who did a range of jobs to ensure the competition ran smoothly: Ryen Green, Lisa Connelly, Rosalie Van Stralendorff, Sophie O’Dwyer and Madeline Plunkett. Jo Holt English Teacher

FAREWELL KEIKA | Our time together with our Japanese Students from Keika Girls High School has come to an end, we want to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to our host families for their incredible hospitality and warmth over the past 10 days. Each opened their hearts and homes to our Japanese students, creating an unforgettable experience for them and us alike. As we bid farewell to our Japanese friends, we can't help but reflect on the wonderful memories created during this Japanese cultural exchange. Our community has been enriched by their lives and left a lasting impact on our community fostering a deeper understanding of our cultures. #farewellKeika #JapaneseCulturalExchange #GratefulHostFamilies #UnforgettableMemories #HospitalityAndWarmth #EnrichingCommunities #DeepeningUnderstanding #JapaneseFriendship #CulturalDiversity #InternationalConnections

REGIONAL NETBALL CHAMPIONS | What a great day out! Two junior and two intermediate SMC netball teams qualified for the Regional Championships that were held in Nowra. Coached by Ms Thorne, Ms Fearon, Mrs Vidal and Ms Kent, all four teams displayed a range of excellent netball skills and are to be commended for their fabulous sportsmanship across the day. Junior White and Intermediate White came third overall and Junior Blue and Intermediate Blue were both winners of their age group, making them Regional Champions for the second year in a row. Intermediate Blue and Junior Blue now proceed to the All Schools State Finals in November, which will be held at Netball Central. It’s great to get the win but what makes the day so much more special to me is watching 40+ SMC students: 1. Doing what they love! 2. Embracing being part of a team (our SMC netball community is pretty amazing) 3. Challenging themselves (both mentally and physically) 4. And seeing the progress made by each one since trials way back in Term 1. And this makes them all winners in my eyes! Donna Fearon Foley House Coordinator