Welcome to St Mary Magdalene’s School, a Catholic school with proud history of connecting Life, Faith and Learning in Adelaide’s north. St Mary Magdalene’s School delivers high-quality education in the Mercy tradition for children from Reception to Year 6.
Our school extends beyond the classroom to engage and connect with the broader community through the St Mary Magdalene’s School Community Hub, which runs playgroups, early learning years’ programs, adult programs, and social connection groups.
I know the school and the community well, having myself been educated at St Mary Magdalene’s School for my primary school years. This strong connection I have with St Mary Magdalene’s School helps inform my passion to ensure our focus is not only on academic outcomes for students, but helping students reach their full potential and harness their own God-give gifts and talents.
Our Mercy tradition means we engage the whole person and is founded on the values of compassion, justice, respect, hospitality, service, and courage. These values are embedded into our curriculum to educate students with an understanding of the spiritual, intellectual, physical, and social aspects of their lives.
St Mary Magdalene’s School learning and teaching model is personalised for each student to enable them to find their own strengths and address their areas of personal challenge. We encourage a no-fail environment where learning, growth and resilience are encouraged in students to create life-long learners.
Our school acknowledges and recognises the traditional owners of the land, the Kaurna people, and we encourage our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to develop their cultural connections. We also encourage this connection and understanding within the broader school community to help foster and develop reconciliation with Australia’s first people.
Our parents and guardians form an integral part of our community. Parents and guardians are encouraged to be part of our school community and our staff enjoy building relationships with families.
We offer Reception transition days, kindy and preschool visits, and two Reception intakes per year. I encourage you to view our website and contact the school for further information and enrolment details. We have regular school tours throughout the term and registrations can be made via our front office or website.
I invite you to discover more about St Mary Magdalene’s School and learn how our contemporary curriculum and focus on the education of the whole person in the unique Mercy tradition provides every opportunity for each child to achieve success.
Connecting Life, Faith and Learning
Chris Platten
Principal
Feeling very privileged and excited to be the Head of Campus at St Mary Magdalene’s I want to introduce myself and let you know a little bit about me.
I have been teaching for more than 20 years with the majority of my teaching career being at Catherine McAuley School in Craigmore where I worked from 2002 – 2018. During my time at Catherine McAuley I worked in a variety of positions including the classroom, as a Reading Recovery teacher, Key Literacy Teacher, Inclusive Education Coordinator, APRIM and Acting Deputy Principal.
My passion around inclusion and diversity lead me to work in the Catholic Education Office as a part of the Learning Diversity and Equity Team as a Students with Disability consultant. This position saw me working at a system level supporting a variety of Catholic Schools across South Australia, working with staff and families in planning effective adjustments to increase access and participation for students with disabilities.
In 2020 I was privileged to work as the Mercy School Project Leader where I worked closely with leadership and staff at St Mary Magdalene’s, St Thomas More and Catherine McAuley towards increasing engagement and learning within the Elizabeth Mercy Schools. During this time, I developed a close connection to the St Mary Magdalene’s community.
I learnt a lot working in the Catholic Education Office but missed the close connections I developed with students and families when working within a school community. I am very excited to build these connections within the Elizabeth Parish and within a Mercy School where together we can bring our Mercy Values alive in authentic and relevant ways.
I am passionate about personalising learning and working towards improved learning outcomes for every student at our school. I want all students to experience success and feel safe and supported enough to take risks in their learning. I want to empower students to believe in themselves and be the best person they can be.
I am excited to be a part of your child’s learning journey and look forward to working in partnership with you and your children.
Connecting Life, Faith and Learning,
Ciara James
Head of Campus
