About St Mary’s

St Mary’s School is in Robinvale, North West Victoria, on the banks of the beautiful Murray River. As a border community, Robinvale has a close affiliation with Euston, NSW. The two towns are connected via a bridge across the Murray River. St Mary's caters for students from Robinvale, Euston and the surrounding district, all of which are considered growth areas.

Robinvale and the surrounding districts are predominantly farming areas that specialise in table grape production, wine grape production, almond and olive oil production, carrots, avocados as well as dry land farming.

As a rural town, Robinvale has a distinct sense of community, it is vibrant, friendly and proudly multicultural. At St Mary's we aim to provide an environment where people from all backgrounds feel safe and valued. We offer a quality education that recognises and respects the diversity of all our students, families and the wider community.

St Mary’s enrolments reflect the community’s cultural diversity. Approximately 30% of our students speak a language other than English at home. Our population includes people of many faith backgrounds, philosophies and world views which adds a unique richness to our inclusive and welcoming school environment.

St Mary’s has a current enrolment of approximately 290 students and has a Primary and Secondary school component. The Primary School is divided into four units: Foundation, Junior (Years 1 & 2), Middle (Years 3 & 4) and Senior (Years 5 & 6). The Secondary School consists of Years 7 & 8. This composition is unique in our Diocese.

St Mary’s teachers are highly skilled professionals who are committed to their students. They work in collaborative teams and focus on meeting the specific needs of each individual student at every point in their education and development. Staff constantly strive to ensure each student learns to their full capacity. Working in high functioning teams, our teachers plan together, carefully consider student data, use their collective knowledge and skill to inform their teaching and learn from each other. In addition to the teaching staff, a dedicated leadership team and committed support staff work closely with teachers to ensure every child in the school has access to the assistance they need to be their best while delivering a robust, comprehensive, contemporary and engaging curriculum.

Watch Our Video

Vision & Mission

St Mary’s School personalises our Catholic and Mercy values by nurturing our relationship with the Parish and wider community.

Our school empowers and challenges all students to achieve high levels of learning and become valued members of the global community.

Our school is a Child Safe school where all enrolled students and visiting children have the right to feel safe and be safe.


We will

  • Strengthen our Catholic culture through raising the profile of Mary Help of Christians, our patron saint, and develop the Mercy Charism within the school and across the Parish. 

  • Live our Catholic Mercy Values of Respect, Compassion, Justice, Hospitality, Service and Courage.

  • Practise contemporary teaching and learning, so every student is empowered, challenged and supported to achieve high levels of learning.

  • Provide a Child Safe, inclusive and nurturing environment that caters for the uniqueness of each student and builds positive relationships.

  • Be educators who collaboratively promote a positive environment amongst staff, students and families with direction and leadership.

  • Work in partnership with parish, diocesan and local communities to enhance St Mary’s Catholic identity.

Child Safety

St Mary’s School, Robinvale holds the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility. Central to our mission is an unequivocal commitment to fostering the dignity, self esteem and integrity of children and young people by providing them with a safe, supportive and enriching environment to learn and grow in.

At St Mary’s we have robust policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children in our care. All staff and volunteers regularly participate in training to ensure they are aware of child safety and can identify risks.  We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, the cultural safety of students from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds and  to providing a safe environment for vulnerable students and students with a disability. 

At St Mary’s we want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all students, as well as our staff, volunteers and visitors. There is zero tolerance of any child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently through the use of our robust policies and procedures. 

Tehan Kelleher, our Wellbeing Leader, is the school’s Child Safety Officer. Tehan can be contacted by calling the office on (03) 50 263 483 or via email (tkelleher@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au).

St Mary’s School Robinvale, is a part of Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL).  DOBCEL is the company established by the Bishop of Ballarat, Paul Bird CSsR, to become the governing body for schools in the Ballarat Diocese.

Teaching and Learning

Our school is focused on providing a contemporary learning environment and continues to evaluate programs for their relevance to living in the twenty-first century. The use of research and data to inform decisions about learning and teaching, have contributed to a change in culture in this area.

The learning and teaching in the early years builds a strong foundation that supports our beliefs and understandings that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic investigations have greater language skills and better developed social skills, empathy and imagination.

Student Welfare

All staff promote a positive wellbeing philosophy based on high expectations for all students within a nurturing environment. It is the basis upon which student learning is developed and extended.

Wellbeing

Student wellbeing can be broadly defined as a student’s overall development and quality of life. Wellbeing is a holistic term that encompasses all aspects of a student’s life, including their physical, social, mental and emotional state. A student’s well being can change from day to day, month to month and year to year. It is affected by changes happening inside their bodies and in the world around them.

St Mary’s employs a full time Wellbeing Leader to support all students’ and staff wellbeing. The Wellbeing Leader works from a dedicated wellbeing area in the school which students can access whenever they need to. The Wellbeing Leader leads a whole system approach to wellbeing and behaviour support designed to meet the needs of a diverse range of students. The Wellbeing Leader liaises closely with other staff on all matters pertaining to student wellbeing to ensure student’s needs in this area are met.

The Wellbeing Leader:

  • Coordinates wellbeing referrals including facilitating external and community support when required

  • Manages the school’s SWPBS system including developing and implementing student behaviour support, escalation and/or safety plans

  • Supports the implementation of consequences for unacceptable behaviours, focusing on reteaching positive behaviours and restorative practices

  • Offers social emotional intervention programs and strategies

  • Support students and/or families experiencing hardship e.g. grief, anxiety, relationship breakdowns, school refusal, chronic absences or truancy.

Our Staff

Andrea Welsh - Principal

Jess Baldock - Primary Deputy Principal

Maryanne Leslie - Secondary Deputy Principal

Tehan Kelleher - Wellbeing Leader

Leanne Chirchiglia - Foundation Teacher & Team Leader

Jocylyn Palma - Foundation Teacher

Mikayla Simpson - Year 1/2 Teacher & Team Leader

Sophie Westland - Year 1/2 Teacher

Ferne O’Loughlin - Year 1/2 Teacher

Sindy Nel - Year 3/4 Teacher & Team Leader

Reema Madhur - Year 3/4 Teacher

Jill Appleton - Year 3/4 Teacher & Curriculum Leader

Kirsten Neyland - Year 3/4 Teacher

Will Lowry - Year 5/6 Teacher & Team Leader

Nicole Zappia - Year 5/6 Teacher

Kirstyn Pepping - Year 5/6 Teacher

Sandy Natale - Primary Support Teacher

Des Lowry - Primary PE Specialist Teacher & PE Leader

Frank Zappia - Primary Digital Technologies & Languages Specialist Teacher

Sarah Sutton - The Arts Specialist Teacher

Aidan Davies - Secondary Religious Education, Health & Humanities Teacher 

Charlie Ford - Secondary English & PE Teacher

Lydia Kamau - Secondary Maths & Science Teacher 

Ruairi Meban - Secondary Maths, STEM & Languages Teacher

Sereima Waqalevu - Primary Literacy & Numeracy Support

Ebony Dickie - Learning Support Officer

Asela Sauaki - Learning Support Officer

Mariska Moller - Learning Support Officer

Lynne Millen - Learning Support Officer & Uniform Shop Coordinator

Jessica Milevski - Learning Support Officer

Emma Smith - Learning Support Officer

Belle Giofrelle - Learning Support Officer

Ashleigh Roper - Learning Support Officer

Molly Heeps - Learning Support Officer

Margaret McDonald - Learning Support Officer

Carly Sidorow - Library Coordinator

Travis Pike - ICT Coordinator

Gabriella Cardin - Administration Officer

Lisa Zappia - Administration Officer

Julie Graham - Risk & Compliance Officer

Shaun Nel - Grounds & Maintenance

Pui (Gabie) Fong - Cleaner

Statement of Democratic Principles

St Mary’s aims to promote lifelong learning and active participation as citizens in Australian society. Learning and teaching practice is based on an integrated curriculum and implemented through an inquiry approach. An important focus of curriculum development and implementation is the focus on Community and Citizenship, which is developed and explored in line with the Victorian Curriculum's Essential Learning Standards - Civics and Citizenship Domain.

The programs of St Mary’s, and the teaching of those programs support and promote:

  • the principles and practice of Australian democracy;

  • the elected government;

  • the rule of law;

  • equal rights for all before the law;

  • freedom of religion;

  • freedom of speech and association; and,

  • values of openness and tolerance.