Stella Newsletter

BACK TO MENU
Previous Editions

Final Newsletter column from the Principal

Sharyn Quirk

Principal

Performing Arts Live at Sunset Series

Thank you to the Performing Arts students and staff who will present the 'Live at Sunset Series' over the last few weeks of Term 4. The final event in the series, the Showcase of Music evening, will take place on Wednesday 27 November from 6.30pm. These events are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the talent of our students with family and friends and allow us to appreciate the diversity of our community. Congratulations to those involved.

Holiday Activities

Our Teacher Librarian, Ms Christensen, has prepared a comprehensive list of excursions and activities, podcasts and reading material for you to enjoy over the Christmas break.

Love of Nature

https://sydneyrockart.info/#
This is an extraordinary list – it can be almost like a treasure hunt.

Indigenous Petroglyphs Around Sydney and the Central Coast
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jul/23/hidden-in-plain-sight-indigenous-australian-rock-art-on-sydneys-doorstep

Snorkelling

The Basin, Ku-ring-gai

Safe within the shelter of Pittwater, you'll discover the alternative universe created by seagrass beds. The star attraction is sea horses, but you'll also cross paths with starfish, cuttlefish, bream, leather jackets and, during the warmer months, tropical species. The Basin is only accessible by water (or via a 2.8-kilometre track from West Head Road car park) — catch a ferry from Palm Beach.

https://concreteplayground.com/sydney/travel-leisure/the-ten-best-snorkelling-spots-in-sydney

Free

  • Swimming Challenge: Swim in every sea pool/beach from Palm Beach to Manly.
  • Family Puzzle challenge – leave out on a table over the Christmas Holidays and see if it is finished. (I’m bored! – finish the puzzle!) - buy from Goodwill.

GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Manly Art Gallery & Museum

  • Draw. Paint. Create

Drop-in and make a postcard! (Free, no bookings required)

Kids and families - drop into the gallery over summer and explore our exhibition, The Water Understands then have fun creating a postcard using watercolours in this free self-guided activity.

Be inspired by artworks that capture the magical qualities of water and create your own unique postcard to take home or send to a friend! All materials supplied.

Saturday, 14 December 2024 - 10:00am to Tuesday, 28 January 2025 - 5:00pm

https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/whats-on/draw-paint-create-drop-and-make-postcard

  • Art Up Late

https://www.northernbeaches.ns...

  • Thursday, 9 January 2025 - 5:00 pm to 09:00 pm
  • Thursday, 16 January 2025 - 5:00 pm to 09:00 pm
  • Thursday, 23 January 2025 - 5:00 pm to 09:00 pm

Drop in to enjoy a welcome drink and walking conversation through The Water Understands exhibition at Manly Art Gallery & Museum, supported by Sydney Festival.

STATE LIBRARY

AUDIO RECOMMENDATIONS

Podcast recommendations:

  • 20 Best Podcasts for Teens, That'll Keep Them Glued to Their Headphones
    These listens tackle everything from high school mental health to the world of YouTubers.

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/g32157389/best-podcasts-for-teens/

Mature Teens/Adults/Curious podcast recommendations:

  • The Rest is History
  • Phoebe reads a Mystery
  • News Weekly
  • Ologies
  • Natalie Haynes Stands up for the Classics
  • Science Friction
  • Hidden Brain
  • Wheelers Ebooks app – for Stella students. Ebooks & Audio Books

HARBOUR ADVENTURE

Cockatoo Island Visit for a Day – Ferry from the Quay
https://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/media/k5hc1hbf/visit-and-stay_ci.pdf

SYDNEY WRITERS WALK

The Sydney Writers Walk is a series of plaques from around the International Passenger Terminal on West Circular Quay, down to the walkway between the ferry jetties and the train station, and all the way to the side of the Sydney Opera House forecourt on East Circular Quay. The plaques contain an excerpt of the author's writing as well as a brief biography.

The writers represented on Writers Walk include not only Australians but also those who lived in, or visited, Australia, such as D. H. Lawrence, Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain

https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/culture/community/display/94161-sydney-writers-walk-/

Farewells

We farewell long serving staff member Bernie McGrath who has worked at Stella for over 20 years. Hospitality is a core Benedictine value at Stella and Bernie has offered this every day to Stella students and staff. We are grateful for her generous contribution to the community and thank her for her service. We wish Bernie all the best for her retirement from Stella.

We also farewell Amelia Fleming, Philip Wood, Linda Macauley and Songxian (Kyle) Fang who are leaving to take up roles in other schools. Thank you for all you have offered our students at Stella.

I am sad to be leaving my role as principal at Stella Maris at the end of this year. I have really enjoyed the educational community here. The girls are so positive and really want to change the world for the better and the student leaders are such great role models to younger students. The staff are professional and challenge all students to be their best. Knowing that not every school has this strong sense of belonging, I feel Stella is a special place.

I thank all who have worked with me over my ten years at Stella Maris. I thank our College Board and Board Chair, James Mitchell for the support they have given me to help Stella remain a strong and strategically focused school. I am grateful for the support of current and past Leadership Team members who have ensured that Stella is moving forward, helping students to achieve to the best of their ability. I have my fingers crossed that Stella continues to rank among the best Catholic schools in the state.

Merry Christmas!

Prayer for Presentation of Mary (November 21)

When you next are in St Mary Immaculate and St Athanasius’ Church in Manly there is a beautiful stained glass of this story in the former baptistery created by Harry Clarke of Dublin in 1962.

O Mary of all women, you are the chosen one,
Who, ancient prophets promised would bear God’s only Son;
All Hebrew generations prepared the way to thee,
That in your womb this Saviour might come to set us free.

O Mary, you embody all God taught to our race,
For you are first and foremost in fullness of God’s grace;
We praise this wondrous honour that you gave birth to the One
Who from you took humanity and saved us from our sin.

Amen.

http://www.liturgies.net/saints/mary/presentation/morningprayer.htm