St Mary's Catholic Primary School Mackay

This morning’s Book Week Parade was an explosion of colour, creativity and pure joy. Our students, staff and families brought extraordinary imagination to this year’s costumes, making the 2026 parade one of our most vibrant yet. A gallery of photos will be shared in this afternoon’s newsletter, but here’s a quick look at our 2026 Book Week Parade and Winners, each receiving a QBD Books gift voucher:

Prep – Toby W as Pufferfish
Year 1 – Elva H as Giraffe
Year 2 – Ryker H & Oscar L as Cars
Year 3 – Andy T as Hey Hey
Year 4 – Hayden M as Motorbike
Year 5 – Charlotte P as Treehouse
Year 6 – Sonny G as Rafiki

Parents: Parking is available off McDonald Street on the Back Oval today for the Book Week Parade

REMINDER: It's that time of the year!!! Tuesday 25th August | St Mary's Book Week Parade
Join the Celebration and find your Melody in every page!

On Wednesday 26th August Australian religious songwriter and singer, Andrew Chinn, will be visiting our school to share his songs with our children. Andrew’s songs, such as “These Hands”, “Rainbow”, “An African Blessing” and “Rise Up!” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. The concert will take place in the school hall , at 1:45pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

PLEASE JOIN US!

St Mary's School will join with St Patrick's College to celebrate our Youth Mass on Saturday 22nd August, St Mary's Church at 5pm. Children's Liturgy will also be held. This is a wonderful opportunity for students, families, parishioners and friends to come together in faith and celebration.

Mass will be followed by a pizza outside the church and everyone is most welcome to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bullying No Way Week 💛🧡
Today our students wore a splash of orange and pledged their own Small Acts with Big Impact. Their footprints, displayed around the school, show the simple ways we can stand up, speak up and support a friend. Together, we choose kindness.

This afternoon, ten very lucky Year 3 students represented St Mary’s at the Blast Match Cricket Clinic — a special pre‑event experience leading into the upcoming Australia vs Bangladesh Test Match at Harrup Park.
They learned new skills, enjoyed drills, and even spent time with members of the Australian International Cricket Team. What an unforgettable opportunity for our budding cricketers.

A huge thank you to Mrs Sibley and Mrs Batchelor for accompanying the students — we’re sure it was such a chore spending the afternoon at a cricket clinic with international players. Sorry you missed out Mr Towensend!