After 33 years of Principal leadership, 29 of those in the Diocese of Parramatta, St Canice's Principal Mr Mark Geerligs has made the decision to retire at the end of the 2019 school year. The School would like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution Mark has made as a Catholic educator and leader.
Beginning his teaching career in 1981, Mark became a Principal in only his seventh year as a teacher when he accepted the role of Principal of St John’s Catholic Primary School Trangie in 1987. In 1991, Mark was appointed Principal of Our Lady of the Nativity Primary Lawson. In 1996, he was appointed Principal of St Finbar’s Primary, Glenbrook and Our Lady of the Rosary, St Mary’s in 2003. Mark has been the Principal of St Canice’s since 2014.
Mark is a caring, supportive and faith-filled leader. In each of his leadership roles, Mark has built strong and enduring connections with the school community. He is a passionate educator who has always sought out opportunities to enrich the students’ learning, whether that has been within the school or in the broader community.
Mark has championed the role of the creative and performing arts in enhancing students’ learning. He is widely recognised for the many exceptional projects he has led in the school and the Blue Mountains community. The creative and performing arts could have no stronger advocate.
Mark has made a significant difference to the lives of young people in the schools he has led and served. He is a relational and inclusive leader who sets high expectations of students and encourages them to be the best they can be.
The St Canice's school community is keen to acknowledge Mark’s work and achievements in months ahead. The process of recruitment for a new Principal of St Canice’s will commence shortly.
Finally, we wish to express our appreciation to Mr Geerligs for the support provided for Catholic schooling as, together, we give witness to the Gospel that enriches the lives of our children and the communities in which we live.
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22 Jul 2026
Little Learners - School Readiness Program
Little Learners is St Canice’s School’s fun, free, play-based school readiness program designed for children aged 3.5–5 years who will be starting school in the next 1–2 years.07 Aug 2025
St Canice's Brekky Club
All students are invited to join the St Canice's Brekky Club. Brekky Club will now run on Thursdays – 7th, 21st, and 28th August.
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02 Sep 2026
From Facebook
🌟 Celebrating Our Incredible Teacher Aides! 🌟 Today, St Canice’s came together to acknowledge and celebrate the incredible work of our wonderful Teacher Aides! 💙 Our Teacher Aides make such a valuable contribution to our school community each and every day. Their patience, kindness, encouragement and dedication help our students to feel supported, confident and ready to learn. 📚✨ From supporting learning in the classroom to building meaningful relationships with our students, their impact reaches far beyond what we see each day. Thank you for everything you do! We are so grateful for the care, compassion and commitment you bring to St Canice’s. 💐👏💙 #StCanices #TeacherAides #SchoolCommunity #ThankYou #MakingADifference02 Sep 2026
From Facebook
📚 Book Week – From an Idea to a Published Book As part of our Book Week celebrations last week, Ms Sally worked with our students to explore the exciting process of writing and publishing a book. Ms Sally was able to share her own experiences as an author, drawing on her knowledge of writing and publishing her own books. This provided our students with a wonderful opportunity to learn what happens behind the scenes when a book is created. Students explored the many stages involved in bringing a book to life, including: 💡 Coming up with an idea – finding inspiration and developing an original concept. ✍️ Building the story – creating characters, setting, beginning, middle and end. 🎨 Creating illustrations – considering how pictures can enhance and support the story. 📝 Working with an editor – understanding the importance of feedback and making changes to improve the writing. 📖 Putting the book together – bringing the words and illustrations together to create the finished product. 🔍 Testing, changing and improving – learning that authors rarely get everything right the first time and that editing, refining and persistence are an important part of the creative process. 🚀 Publishing – discovering how a completed manuscript becomes a published book that can be shared with readers. The students were encouraged to see themselves as authors and creators, learning that every great book begins with an idea and develops through creativity, persistence, collaboration and a willingness to make improvements. We are very grateful to Ms Sally for sharing her experience and passion for writing with our students and for giving them an authentic insight into the journey of becoming a published author. What a wonderful way to celebrate the magic of stories and the joy of reading and writing during Book Week!
MORE NEWS
02 Sep 2026
From Facebook
🌟 Celebrating Our Incredible Teacher Aides! 🌟 Today, St Canice’s came together to acknowledge and celebrate the incredible work of our wonderful Teacher Aides! 💙 Our Teacher Aides make such a valuable contribution to our school community each and every day. Their patience, kindness, encouragement and dedication help our students to feel supported, confident and ready to learn. 📚✨ From supporting learning in the classroom to building meaningful relationships with our students, their impact reaches far beyond what we see each day. Thank you for everything you do! We are so grateful for the care, compassion and commitment you bring to St Canice’s. 💐👏💙 #StCanices #TeacherAides #SchoolCommunity #ThankYou #MakingADifference
02 Sep 2026
From Facebook
📚 Book Week – From an Idea to a Published Book As part of our Book Week celebrations last week, Ms Sally worked with our students to explore the exciting process of writing and publishing a book. Ms Sally was able to share her own experiences as an author, drawing on her knowledge of writing and publishing her own books. This provided our students with a wonderful opportunity to learn what happens behind the scenes when a book is created. Students explored the many stages involved in bringing a book to life, including: 💡 Coming up with an idea – finding inspiration and developing an original concept. ✍️ Building the story – creating characters, setting, beginning, middle and end. 🎨 Creating illustrations – considering how pictures can enhance and support the story. 📝 Working with an editor – understanding the importance of feedback and making changes to improve the writing. 📖 Putting the book together – bringing the words and illustrations together to create the finished product. 🔍 Testing, changing and improving – learning that authors rarely get everything right the first time and that editing, refining and persistence are an important part of the creative process. 🚀 Publishing – discovering how a completed manuscript becomes a published book that can be shared with readers. The students were encouraged to see themselves as authors and creators, learning that every great book begins with an idea and develops through creativity, persistence, collaboration and a willingness to make improvements. We are very grateful to Ms Sally for sharing her experience and passion for writing with our students and for giving them an authentic insight into the journey of becoming a published author. What a wonderful way to celebrate the magic of stories and the joy of reading and writing during Book Week!
02 Sep 2026
From Facebook
📚✨ A Very Special Thank You! ✨📚 A huge thank you to Tohby Riddle, our wonderful local author and illustrator, for generously donating a selection of books to our school library! 📖💙 We are so grateful for your kindness and generosity. Our students love exploring these wonderful stories and illustrations, and we are thrilled to add them to our growing library collection. Thank you, Tohby, for helping us inspire a love of reading and storytelling in our students! 🌟📚 #ThankYou #LocalAuthor #LocalIllustrator #LoveReading #SchoolLibrary #StCanices
29 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Dear Families, A friendly reminder that we host our free Little Lyrebirds Playgroup every Wednesday morning here at St Canice’s! Our playgroup is open to children aged 0–6 years and their carers, and everyone is welcome. It’s a wonderful opportunity for children to play, explore and make new friends, while families connect with others in our community. 🌿 Every Wednesday | 9:00am–10:30am 🎨 Indoor, outdoor and sensory play ☕ Morning tea included 🎵 And often our wonderful Ms Frazer and students join us for a special sing-along! If you know a family with young children who might enjoy joining us, please feel free to pass this information on. We would love to welcome them to Little Lyrebirds! Warm regards, St Canice’s Primary School
28 Aug 2026
From Facebook
📢 Week 7 Information Dear Parents and Carers, Please see the attached information for the upcoming Week 7. We hope you have a wonderful week ahead! 🌟 Thank you for your continued support of our St Canice’s community. 💙
28 Aug 2026
Our schools are cracking the reading code
Do you remember how you learned to read? For a vital skill that is linked to all other learning, it’s surprisingly difficult to explain how to go about learning it.
26 Aug 2026
From Facebook
📚✨ Symphony of Stories – Book Week 2026! ✨📚 “A book is like a garden, carried in the pocket.” — Dolly Parton 📚🌸 Today, St Canice’s came alive with the magic of books as we celebrated Book Week with our wonderful theme, “Symphony of Stories.” 🎶📖 Our students and staff embraced the joy of reading, bringing their favourite book characters to life in a spectacular parade! From colourful costumes to creative characters, it was wonderful to see our school community celebrating the stories that inspire, delight and spark our imaginations. 🌟 A huge thank you to our families for helping make the day so special. ❤️ Every story has a rhythm, every book has a voice, and together they create a beautiful symphony of stories! 🎵📚 #BookWeek2026 #SymphonyOfStories #StCanicesKatoomba #LoveReading #BookWeek #StoriesBringUsTogether
25 Aug 2026
From Facebook
🌟 Congratulations to our Voice of Youth participants! 🌟 Congratulations to all of the students through the Blue Mountains who participated in today’s Voice of Youth Cluster Finals, held at St Finbar’s in Glenbrook. 🎤👏 We are incredibly proud to announce that our Year 6 representative, KC, was awarded the Social Justice Trophy for her inspiring speech, “Equal Rights, Equal Future.” 🏆💙 What an incredible achievement, KC! Your passion, confidence and commitment to social justice have made our school community very proud. 🌏✨👏🌟
25 Aug 2026
From Facebook
💙 Father’s Day Celebration – Thursday 3rd September 💙 Dear Parents and Carers, You are warmly invited to join us for our St Canice’s Father’s Day Celebration on Thursday, 3rd September, from 8:20am – 9:20am. We look forward to welcoming the special fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers and father figures in our students’ lives as we celebrate together. We hope you can join us for this special morning! 💙
25 Aug 2026
From Facebook
🌿 Little Lyrebirds Playgroup is on tomorrow! 🐦 We’d love to see you at Playgroup this week! 💚 Join us tomorrow, Wednesday 26 August, from 9:00am–10:30am for a welcoming and relaxed space for children aged 0–6 years and their carers. ✨ Indoor & outdoor play 🌈 Sensory play ☕ Morning tea included 💚 A friendly space to connect and play 🎉 No cost to attend! Come along, meet other families and enjoy a morning of fun and connection at Little Lyrebirds Playgroup. We can’t wait to see you! 🐦🌿
25 Aug 2026
From Facebook
📚✨ Book Week Parade – Tomorrow! ✨📚 A friendly reminder that our Book Week Parade is tomorrow, Wednesday 26 August, from 8:45am–9:15am in the Hall. 🎭 Come dressed as your favourite book character and get ready to celebrate our love of reading and stories! We can’t wait to see all the wonderful costumes! 📖💫
25 Aug 2026
From Facebook
☕ Parent Café Meeting – Tuesday 1 September Our next Parent Café Meeting will be held on Tuesday 1 September at 2:00pm, with the option to attend in person at school or online via Microsoft Teams. The meeting will focus on: 📚 Student learning data and progress 💚 Student wellbeing 📊 Tell Them From Me survey results If you have any discussion items or questions you would like included on the agenda, please email them to stcanices@parra.catholic.edu.au by Friday 28 August. The Microsoft Teams link and further information are available via your Compass Parent Portal. We look forward to hearing your feedback and working together to support the learning and wellbeing of our students.
20 Aug 2026
Six Habits That Help Children Develop a Love of Reading
Book Week is a celebration of stories, imagination and creativity, but helping children love reading isn't just something that happens during one week of the year. The good news? It doesn't take expensive resources or hours of extra time. Often, it's the small, everyday habits that make the biggest difference.
19 Aug 2026
From Facebook
📚🎶 BOOK WEEK PARADE – WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST! 🎶📚 Book Week runs from Saturday 22 to Friday 28 August, and we are so excited to celebrate with our annual Book Week Parade next Wednesday, 26 August, from 8:45–9:15am in the Hall! 🌟 This year’s theme is ✨ Symphony of Stories ✨. Click here to find out more about the theme: https://youtu.be/wz-psnQnUmQ We encourage our students to come dressed as a character from a favourite book. If they have a copy of the book their character has stepped out of, they are welcome to bring it along too! 📖 Some children love to connect with the theme, some choose to represent age-old favourites, and others like to keep us guessing! As the video suggests, our Book Week Parade is sure to be a wonderful symphony of characters! 🎭🎵 Parents, carers and families are very welcome to come along and enjoy the parade with us. Younger siblings are also very welcome! 💕 The Book Week Parade will coincide with Little Lyrebirds, and we look forward to welcoming our Little Lyrebird visitors and their families to this special morning. We hope you can join us for this super-popular annual event as we celebrate the joy, imagination and magic of books! 📚💫 #BookWeek #SymphonyOfStories #BookWeekParade #StCanices #LoveOfReading #LittleLyrebirds
13 Aug 2026
From Facebook
🍳🥐 Breakfast at St Canice’s! 🥐🍎 All St Canice’s students are invited to join us in the Hall on Thursday 20 August, from 8:20am–8:40am, for breakfast together! We’re also looking for parent volunteers to help out on the morning. If you’re available to assist, please complete the Google Form sent to you via your Compass Parent Portal. We look forward to sharing breakfast, good food and a great start to the day together! 💙 #StCanices #BreakfastTogether #SchoolCommunity #ParentVolunteers