St. Mary’s School is situated in the rural Victorian town of Mansfield, which is two hundred kilometres northeast of Melbourne. The local economy is based on tourism and primary production. Our environment has Mount Buller and Lake Eildon as its main assets. Our community is a monocultural one with many of our families being attached to the local area for generations. Most families have cultural roots in Anglo-Saxon traditions and are quite content with their general lifestyle as country people.

The community of St. Mary’s enjoys an impressive playground. The size is generous and there is ample play equipment. The play equipment has been enhanced in the last couple of years in two ways. Firstly by more of it being added and secondly, which is a great safety feature, is the laying of rubberised surface underneath the equipment. The oval accommodates many sports activities. Specialist staff are employed in the areas of – Library, – Music, – Reading Recovery, – Physical Education, – Integration/teacher aide. Children have access to computers in each of the classrooms. Other multi-media include satellite link ups and the Internet. These resources do reduce the isolation. A special feature of St. Mary’s is access to cultural and other features of different areas of our state. The shear cost of transportation reduces the children’s ability to attend. This has not deterred the school from developing and implementing a Camping Excursion Policy.

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