As we wind down to the end of what has been a rich and full term, I reflect on these final two weeks with pride. Our annual athletics carnival was a 4-day action packed feast of track and field events held in three different venues with our amazing students demonstrating their athletic skills and representing our school with pride at both St Thomas' and Mareeba SHS. A big thank you to Mr Daniel Samanes and Mr Remy Fry for their time and effort in organising and hosting this big event and to our teacher aide Miss Kerrie who assisted over the 4 carnival days. Well done to all of our students who participated and good luck to those representing our school, their families and themselves at the District Athletics Carnival. A massive congratulations to Mitchell who were our overall winning sports house and an even bigger well done to our students who were acknowledged as age champions for the event. Tomorrow our P-3 students will participate in their athletics carnival in different locations at MSS. Families are most welcome to attend.
This fortnight also saw the 'Round of Maths Destruction' competitions take place. Like our Term 1 Spelling Bee, these wonderful events showcase our academic strengths and give our students a great opportunity to work as a team to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. A big shout out to Ms Teresita Nastasi and Mrs Valerie Dayes for hosting these events.
Be sure to save the date for the Mareeba SS Movie Night on Friday 11th August. This wonderful event is coordinated by our Mareeba SS P&C who are working hard to source donations for our monster raffle and prizes. If you would like to donate a prize for our raffle, please drop this to our front office or call the school on 40928100 to arrange a collection time. Keep up to date with information on our Facebook page or come along to a P&C meeting. Our next meeting is tonight, Wednesday 21st June at 5pm in the staffroom.
I mentioned earlier that our 2023 athletics carnival was held over 3 locations. This is due to our school oval and Brady Park upgrade. We are super excited for this upgrade which will see the unstable ground (due to this location historically used as a waste area) stabilised so a running track and sporting facilities can be built in the space giving our students additional playground space for play times. This area will be fully fenced with Brady Park officially part of the MSS grounds. I know at present the site looks very empty with so many of our beautiful trees removed. Like many families and community members, I too was shocked and saddened by the loss of the trees, some of which held very special meaning to our community. As Principal, I have been working with the contractors, project manager and the Department of Education Infrastructure Advisor to investigate why these trees were removed without consultation with school staff and how they can support the project with replacing some of these trees. The Brady Park project is due to be fully completed by the end of Term 3 with students able to use it in Term 4.
At this end of this term, we will farewell and welcome some new staff to Mareeba SS. Taking a mid-year transfer to Bamaga we say farewell to Mrs Catie Chong. Mr Joseph Simmons is also saying farewell as he heads towards the Mt Garnet area as a HPE teacher. Teaching 4C for the remainder of the year we welcome Ms Rebecca Seibert. Please join me in welcoming Rebecca to our school.
Also, taking the opportunity to fulfil a role in Regional Office we say farewell to our Guidance Officer Wendy Harris-Gallichan for Term 3. Replacing Wendy as GO in Term 3 is Kim Luke. Please join me in welcoming Kim to our school.
As Semester 2 ends I wish to thank our wonderful families for their continued support for our students and our school. Just a reminder that report cards will be emailed home today and for those students requiring a hard copy, these will be given to your child at the end of the day. If you haven't done so already, please ensure your email address is updated with our front office by calling 40928100 or emailing admin@mareebass.eq.edu.au I look forward to an action-packed Term 3 and wish everyone a safe and happy Winter holidays. Don't forget our 4-year review will take place in week 2 of Term 3. See you back on Monday 10th July.
- Hannah Simpson, Principal