Galilee Newsletter

Principal's Report

Dear Families,

This week I spent some time watching our Boys Soccer Team compete in the Beachside carnival. Our students displayed outstanding courage, spirit and sportsmanship. We were one of the smallest schools and played against entire teams who were experienced soccer players. Our team won all matches leading to the Grand Final due to a willingness to play as a team. They were expertly coached by James O'Carroll and the students competed enthusiastically in all matches. A number of parents came to watch and support them. Our students left a strong impression on everyone who played against them. The team definitely enhanced the reputation of Galilee. 

Reputation within a local community is important for the many reasons:

  • it means that students are being educated holistically;
  • partnerships are created with local organisations;
  • it helps everyone to feel more connected;
  • interest in enrolments is increased.

Our Parents Association members have been working hard to gather donations from local organisations for our upcoming Trivia Night. They have been receiving wonderful feedback about our students and families, recently from Woolworths.

While at the soccer, I met a principal from a nearby primary school and he shared with me some interesting statistics on Galilee. He analysed the NAPLAN (Years 3 & 5) data of seventeen other surrounding schools from 2017/18. He gathered the data from My School and looked at the performance compared to Like Schools. He interpreted that Galilee finished second highest out of the 18 schools. While I have not confirmed the data myself I do know that Galilee students perform favourably in comparison to other Like Schools. We are always exploring ways to improve the academic performance of our students.

Some of the new initiatives  are:

  • earlier start for Prep Transition;
  • School Readiness Program-Seeds & Sprouts;
  • PMP organised for Prep-Year Two;
  • NCCD data due to be submitted on August 2nd;
  • Initiated 2020 Italian Camp for Years 5/6;
  • Surf Life Saving booked for Years 2-6 for 2020;
  • Initial meetings with appointed architect with Building Committee;
  • Consultative sessions with school community to be booked with architects;
  • Outcomes of school uniform review.

Trivia Night

Our annual Galilee Trivia Night will be held this Saturday at Port Melbourne Town Hall, 6.00pm.

 

A number of parents have been working tirelessly throughout the year to prepare for the night. As this is our major fundraiser we are looking for all our families to support the event where they can. 

 

For those who are unable to make Saturday night, don’t forget to bid on the silent auction items.  Local businesses have supported our school by donating to our event.  There are vouchers for restaurants, cafes, health and beauty businesses, bookstores and more including items such as jewellery and even an Ipad.

Bid on these items now at  https://www.32auctions.com/Galileetrivia2019

 

Thanks to the following businesses for supporting Galilee Trivia this year:

 

See you Saturday in your Touch of Silver!

School Uniform

Currently there is a School Uniform Committee who have been working with our supplier PSW to review and organise an updated school uniform. For those who have joined Galilee this year, it may seem like a recent initiative but below I will detail a timeline of events leading to this update.

 

School-wide updates of the uniform have occurred in 1994 when the school began, 1997, 2001 & 2008. All schools update and change their uniform at some stage and it last occurred 11 years ago at Galilee. Some of the reasons schools change uniforms are: 

  • quality issues with material;
  • uniform does not suit new initiatives in curriculum;
  • advancements in more suitable material or designs;
  • enhanced pride in school uniform;
  • schools change colours, designs or logos to be better connected to origin;
  • to differentiate between sport and summer/winter uniforms;
  • designs or colours become more modern to increase presence and appeal in local community, sometimes due to competition.

Changes to the current uniform were formally raised with the School Education Board prior to 2016 and in later years, due to a number of design, quality, appearance and comfort issues with the uniform.

A committee was soon formed to work with PSW that led to the following updates: new hat that reduced fading; new fit for wind-breaker, track pants and long pants; longer striped socks to allow shorts to be worn in Winter; and a rugby top introduced to increase warmth. Sport uniforms to be worn twice a week (increased from one). 

 

The Houses were also reviewed last year with each being named after a school of origin. A colour was associated with each House and decided upon: Green, Blue, White and Maroon. There was discussion at the time over the colour of the symbol of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Both Red and Maroon colours can be found but discussion was had over the possibility of a future change  to Red and the linking between House colours and the school uniform.

 

Parents were invited through the Newsletter to join a Uniform Committee who have met regularly with PSW. Decision making has been strongly represented by these parents with 30-40 students and approximately half of the staff consulted numerous times over proposed changes. Recently drafts have been on display with further feedback collected and some acted upon by the committee. 

 

In any discussion and decision about uniform change I am extremely conscious and considerate of the possible impact of these changes on families, especially in relation to family budgets. A long transition period will occur giving students time to change into the new uniform, potentially 2022 school year. Those going into Year 6 in 2022 will have an additional year in the current uniform.

 

This allows families time to transition to the new uniform with the possible availability of second-hand uniforms. 2020 Preps with siblings will have the choice of wearing the current or new uniform.  The current uniform will continue to be sold at PSW while stocks last. Families will be encouraged to donate second-hand uniforms in the new design when leaving Galilee. A full implementation plan including transition dates will be sent later this term.

 

Our uniform supplier has agreed to assist in sending leftover/second hand uniforms to schools (overseas) in need reducing any waste.

 

I would like to thank the work of the School Uniform Committee and SEB and the feedback that we have received from parents/carers.

Morning Tea

It was great to see parents and 2020 Prep parents enjoy the coffee and a catch-up on Monday morning. Thanks to Justin from The Little Coffee Van for once again making the coffees for us.

The Prep transition morning with current Prep staff ran smoothly with lots of happy faces participating in some craft activities after reading a story.

Assembly Change

Assembly will be on Tuesday 30th July next week as part of Italian Day  instead of Wednesday.

Achievements And Stories Of The Students

Over the holidays Nicholas in 4C competed in the Snow Racer at Mount Buller. The Snow Racer is a hard snowboarding competition for all ages. This is Nicholas’ 2nd year doing snowboarding but this was his 1st Snowboarding competition that he has ever done! He worked very hard and came 3rd with very tough competitors. He had to swerve through obstacles and get the fastest time. Nicholas achieved a time of 54.38 seconds. There was a good amount of competitors which made the race even more difficult. This was a big highlight in Nicholas’ holidays and he might do it again next year. 

 

On the 15th and 16th of July Sienna, Grace and Millie from 4G had a ballet exam. They all enjoyed it so much. They were judged on their Bar Work, their Centre Work and their Character Dance. Millie’s favourite style that they were getting graded on was Character Dance, Sienna’s favourite was everything and Grace’s favourite was also Character Dance. They will get their marks back in a few months. They were all awarded with a certificate and badge which was really great.

 

Orlando in 4G has been doing soccer for 6 years and was lucky enough to be given an award for it during the holidays. The award was for being the ‘Player of the Week’ because Orlando played the game the most skillfully out of everyone in his team. Orlando plays in the Middle Park Soccer Team and has always been doing so. 

 

Scarlett, in 4G competed in a basketball tournament on the 5th, 6th and 7th of July. This tournament was a Melbourne Tigers Tournament. Everyone got into teams and there were 5 teams (in Scarlett's division) that competed against each other. The Melbourne Tigers tournament was held at Dandenong Stadium. The competition was very intense but in the end Scarlett’s team was victorious. Scarlett won a trophy for being a very supportive team member and always having a good attitude. 

 

On the holidays, Luca in 4G participated in a Swimming Competition. He participated in 7 races and placed in 3. He was lucky enough to win 50 metres freestyle and backstroke. Then, he came 2nd in 50 metre butterfly. He competed in 50 and 100 metre races of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. The 50m backstroke was his favourite which he won. The 100 metre race Luca competed in was for 13 and under, then the 50 metres was separated into direct age groups. This was a really great effort by Luca and he should be very happy!

 

By Bridget and Ali

Italian Day

On Tuesday 30th July, students can come dressed in Italian colours or something to do with Italy. There will be an incursion, activities and an assembly (no assembly Wednesday 31st July). Those who have submitted their order will have a special pizza and gelato lunch.

 

Simon Millar

(Principal of Galilee)