This year, students participated in Kind July, a Stay Kind initiative formerly known as the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation. Stay Kind is a movement advocating and actively promoting acts of kindness in homes, schools, workplaces, sport, on the streets and online.

At St Mary’s, we follow the example of Jesus and show kindness to all. Our St Mary's Vision is to “learn together and enrich lives”.

Giving enriches the giver as well as the receiver. We know we have been blessed in many ways and want to share these blessings with others for the good of all in the community. All students, staff and parents are encouraged to give what they can during Kind July.

The St Mary’s community embraced the opportunity to give in many ways. For four weeks, all students, parents and staff selflessly donated essential items such as food and toiletries. Donations were packed into hampers and given to those in need in our local community.

Additionally, St Mary's students and staff participated in a Winter Woollies Day, wearing a selection of colourful scarves, beanies and gloves to raise $500 for the COVID-19 Appeal. We regularly prayed for the health and wellbeing of all in our community.

At St Mary's, we are being kind to others and ourselves. This is on display when we:

• focus on acts of kindness the whole school can do (including Winter Appeal donations) as well as good deeds individuals can do
• give food, toiletries and money to Vinnies to help people in need
• smile and say “hello”
• tell someone new we are happy to see them
• include everyone (in the playground, in sport, at lunchtime, to and from school)
• volunteer to help someone
• give a compliment or “thank you” note
• help others at school and at home
• leave only kind comments online or when messaging
• talk to someone who doesn’t have a lot of friends
• invite a new person to play
• put posters around the school with inspirational and kind quotations on them
• give things we no longer need to others who can use them
• open the door at school, home, anywhere and let others go first
• become sticky note ninjas, leaving kind notes for someone
• show kindness to friends and families in an unexpected way.

Each and every one of us benefits when giving or receiving an act of kindness.

“If every Australian did one act of kindness a day for the month of July, that would be 775 million acts of kindness in Kind July (and 9.3 billion acts of kindness every year).” (Stay Kind website)

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