History:
St. Mary’s School, Altona first opened its doors on the 31 January 1928. On the first day of school, Fr. Flannery (Parish Priest) counted fifty children in attendance. Four months later the enrolment at the little school by the sea was eighty-six. The new school commenced its life in the Catholic hall which was situated in Rayner Street (corner of Railway Street North). This hall also served as a church, dance hall, meeting place and cinema. St Mary’s first teachers were Josephite nuns who travelled each day from Newport on a one-carriage teachers train. The students would meet the train each morning and walk along the railway line for approximately one kilometre to the school. The first permanent structure was built on the current site in 1950. This building was a church with three classrooms attached.
Description:
St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School is situated approximately 16kilometres west of Melbourne. It is blessed with spacious, beautiful grounds including a large grassed area. Two adventure playgrounds, two basketball/netball courts plus a modern, picturesque hall complement the three main brick buildings that house the administration area, library, staff facilities and classrooms. An extensive renovation and refurbishment program was completed in 2000. The Administration and Office areas were moved to the main building and a new Library and staff facilities were constructed. All other buildings were refurbished and computer wiring installed to facilitate computer terminals in all classrooms. The ‘old’ staff house was refurbished and now houses the Outside School Hours program and the Uniform Shop. We currently have over 200 students grouped into eight classes. A large proportion of students come from language backgrounds other than English. The parish priest, principal and staff see St Mary’s as a community of people sharing a common belief in a Christian concept of life, centred on Jesus Christ. Our school motto 'Caring Catholic Community in Education' reflects our commitment to building our Catholic community at St Mary’s and building links to the broader community of Altona through our programs and extra-curricular activities.
Features:
St Mary’s offers a comprehensive curriculum incorporating all aspects of the Curriculum and Standards Framework. Our religious education program is the focal point and permeates all other aspects of the curriculum. A very successful literacy program P–6 is the cornerstone of our strategy to ensure that all students experience success in their learning. Intervention programs are additional supports for students who do not make the gains that are expected of them (e.g. reading recovery, corrective reading). Numeracy learning is based on SINE (Success in Numeracy Education) across P–6. An instrumental music program, specialist music and art teachers ensure that the Arts are a prominent feature in our school. The school choir performs regularly and the annual Art Show is very popular. The school offers a comprehensive Physical Education program from P–6, with senior children involved in Inter-school Sport competitions. The school promotes a strong leadership program involving students and parents in decision-making and policy development in the school. The school leadership positions include: Junior School Council, House and School Captains, Peer mediators and Sports Captains.