Specialist Activities

St Mary’s provides a range of specialist activities for our students to enjoy.

Health and Physical Education (H.P.E.)

This key learning area is comprised of three strands: promoting health physical activity and Personal Development. Skills are developed by a Physical Education Specialist who takes all children for 60-minute weekly lessons. Health and Personal Development Education takes place within classrooms as well as through facilitated evening gatherings involving parents/caregivers and their children.

Instrumental Music

Instrumental music lessons are available for Years 3-7 students in brass, woodwind and percussion. These lessons are provided through Music Corp. Our school band is enthusiastic and growing. Private tuition in piano is also available. All lessons take place at school. For more information, see the school office staff.

 In music lessons students listen, perform and compose. They learn about the elements of music comprising rhythm, pitch, dynamics and expression, form and structure, timbre and texture.

Choir

The choir take part in various performance opportunities including eisteddfods.

Sport

Student interest determines sports undertaken. These are commonly netball, cross country, athletics, rugby league and hockey.

All students compete in athletics and swimming competitions.

The Arts

The Arts have the capacity to engage, inspire and enrich all students, exciting the imagination and encouraging them to reach their creative and expressive potential. Students in all year levels participate in a variety of performing arts related activities throughout the year in accordance with their age and abilities. They attend an hourly lesson every week and develop performance skills within the Arts subjects of Media, Drama and Dance.

Drama

Students learn to think, move, speak and act with confidence. In making and staging drama they learn how to be focused, innovative and resourceful, and collaborate and take on responsibilities for drama presentations. They are excited by exploring their imagination and taking risks in storytelling through role and dramatic action.

Dance

Through Dance, students represent, question and celebrate human experience, using the body as the instrument and movement as the medium for personal, social, emotional, spiritual and physical communication.

Media

Students create representations of the world by telling stories through communications technologies.

MJR Peer Led Sessions

During Term 2 student leaders run MJR sessions under teacher guidance. In these pastoral group students learn social-emotional skills through short lessons, games and activities. Student leaders are given prior training which enhances their confidence and leadership skills. Each week the peer leaders also engage in preparation sessions with their classroom teacher prior to meeting with their small group. Parents are kept informed of the theme of each of these sessions, so that they can build on the concepts at home.