Principal News

Dear members of the St Raphael's school community,

• Indigenous Artist in Residence Program
• Maintaining Positive Community Relationships
• Upcoming School Closure Day
• Important End of Year Date Changes
• Covid Update
• School Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting & Positions Available
• Understanding and Engaging Boys Parent Night
• 2022 School Fees Due
• Father's Day/ Special Person Celebrations

Indigenous Artist in Residence Program

This week we are delighted to welcome Emma Stenhouse, an Indigenous Artist in Residence.

Emma is a Ngarrindjeri artist whose work is inspired by nature and connection to Country using contemporary art and traditional Iconography elements. Her works are now featured in a range of products in Myer stores throughout Australia.

 https://emmastenhouse.com.au/

Emma ignites the flame of love for Country in other hearts and minds. As an experienced early childhood educator, Emma imparts her knowledge of culture, implementing programming including traditional indigenous creative practices. She uses this to guide her journey as a gatherer and sharer of knowledge.

Emma is working with all year levels throughout the school as part of our Arts curriculum focus for this term, culminating with our school concert on September 9.

Each homeroom has been rostered throughout the week to work with Emma and her colleague, Anthea Rafferty. Anthea is an experienced artist and secondary teacher at Warrnambool College. This week, Anthea and Emma will work with our students and teachers to deepen their curriculum knowledge and cultural understanding of our First Nations people.

Emma and Anthea invite all parents to drop into the Art Room for a chat before or after school throughout the remainder of the week.

We are also delighted that Emma and Anthea have offered to run a parent workshop followed by a cup of tea this Friday August 19 from 12:30 - 2:30 pm. This will be a fantastic opportunity for our parents to work with Emma and Anthea to deepen their understanding of Indigenous Aboriginal Art and Culture and experience what your children have been learning throughout the week.

Following this workshop, we invite all parents to attend our scheduled School Assembly this Friday August 19 from 2:45 pm - 3:30 pm in the school hall. 

If you can attend the workshop or school assembly, we ask that you enter via the front office and check in on arrival.

We are fortunate to have such a talented and emerging Indigenous Artist and educator working with our children and staff this week. We look forward to your children sharing their learning with you.

Maintaining Positive Community Relationships

Through a perfect storm of covid, illness and teacher shortage, the education sector across the state has been challenged to meet staffing requirements and ensure continuity of learning for students. St Raphael’s Primary School, like most schools across Victoria, has been impacted by staff shortages and the unavailability of relief teachers to fill temporary vacancies in classrooms. There is currently unmet demand for 11,000 teaching roles across the state, requiring schools and communities to be agile and work together to minimise disruption to classroom learning.

During this challenging time, the School has worked diligently to cover the teaching requirements for classrooms impacted by absences and is immensely proud of and grateful for the dedication and efforts of the staff who have supported the students and ensured their learning journey has been uninterrupted. Unfortunately, however, a recent and unexpected absence of a staff member required the St Raphael’s Leadership Team to split students from the affected classroom across the other classrooms at their level to ensure that the learning needs of all students were prioritised and supported. This decision was made in the best interests of all students affected and following extensive consultation and deliberation by the Leadership Team.

For the most part, the students and parents involved have been tremendous in their efforts and support of the School to maintain continuity of learning, and I express my sincere gratitude to all those persons. Unfortunately, however, that culture of community support and positive relationships amongst parents is being undermined and eroded by a few. 

It has recently come to the attention of the School Leadership Team that some members of the St Raphael’s community are making derogatory, divisive and unsupportive comments about various aspects of the School and the decisions and efforts of the School Leadership Team through a private digital communication platform. This conduct is deeply concerning as it is often ill-informed and can very quickly deteriorate the significant work of the vast majority of the community in making St Raphael’s school a place of joy for all students and community members.

We wish to be very clear on this point. 

I, and the School Leadership Team, unequivocally denounce this behaviour and urge all persons involved to cease immediately. Whether intentional or not, conduct of this nature can significantly destabilise the core values that St Raphael’s stands for if it continues unchecked. It is for that reason that I am taking the opportunity to call this behaviour out and emphasise the School’s commitment to building and maintaining a welcoming, supportive and trusted community for all who are part of it. 

Conduct that goes against these values will not be tolerated by the School and is considered to be a breach of the terms of enrolment at the School.

The School is immensely proud of its commitment to fostering positive relationships with all members of the community through its core values of acceptance, trust, hope and honesty. We acknowledge that the last two years have significantly impacted the opportunities that we would like to have provided to all parents to be involved in the education of their children. We also remind parents that the school has always actively encouraged all parents to come and meet with us to discuss their concerns. This offer continues to be extended to all in our parent community to ensure that you are properly informed and are not receiving inaccurate or hearsay information.

As we emerge from the uncertainty that has prevailed over the last two years, the School is unwavering in its commitment to reestablishing positive working relationships with our parents, families, students and staff to promote and live the Gospel values and provide a learning community that is underpinned by support, care and joy. 

By extension, the School relies on the understanding of all parents who enrol their child at St Raphael’s that they share in the commitment and responsibility to partner with the school to promote and support their child’s education. To do this, we expect all parents to communicate with all members of the School community in a respectful and positive manner.

Our recent quadrennial whole school review has acknowledged and affirmed the School’s standing in the Victorian and Australian education sector. On Tuesday 30th August at 9 am in the staffroom, we will be holding the first of regular parent gatherings in the staffroom as an opportunity for parents to reconnect, be informed, ask questions, provide feedback and gain deeper insights into the learning, teaching and whole school operations. All parents are encouraged to attend this meeting.

As a School community, we have been incredible at working together to overcome the challenges of the last two years and will continue to do so to deliver a supportive and empowering learning environment for all students. I do not wish to have this body of work undone by the undue and unfair conduct of a few.

I also remind all parents of the School’s complaints and grievance policy should they wish to raise any concerns or call out this behaviour directly with the school about conduct within the School community.

I thank you for your understanding in this matter and trust that this behaviour will not continue.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Upcoming School Closure Day

A reminder that our next School Closure Day for this term is next Tuesday, 23rd August. On this day, the staff will work with Dr Margaret Bannan's world with teachers to deepen their understanding of climate change. 

Margaret has published materials for schools in this area of concern and has recently written a book called Climate Change.

Margaret is also a member of the Vatican Dicastery Working Group for Educators from Australia, assisting with the implementation of the '7 Goals of Laudato Si'. https://livinglaudatosi.org.ph/

The second half of this professional development day will focus on stimulating learning environments and the importance of providing inclusive and sustainable learning environments that maximise and promote children's learning.

Important End of Year Date Changes

There are some important date changes for the end of the 2022 school year.

Having recently completed our quadrennial school review, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools have allocated our school an additional pupil-free day.

To avoid unnecessary disruption to the children's learning in the remainder of this term and next term, the school's leadership team has decided to bring forward the last day of the 2022 school year for the children from Monday 19th December to Friday 16th December at 1 pm. This scheduled final day for the children's last day of the year was always awkward with the children coming back for one day only on Monday 19th December. 

Theircare will be open on Monday 19th December.

The Yr 6 Graduation Presentation & Graduation Liturgy will now be held on Thursday 15th December at 5 pm, and our Carols Night will now be held on Tuesday 13th December from 5:30 - 7 pm.

Covid Update

Face masks

It is strongly recommended by the Department of Health that face masks are worn in indoor settings, with face masks mandatory for those aged eight and over who are household contacts and attending school. This is because wearing masks is effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19.

In practice, this means that the Victorian Government is asking that, through to the end of winter, students aged eight and over and staff wear masks when in class, except where removing a mask is necessary for clear communication or when a particular activity requires the removal of a mask.

Masks are not required to be worn outdoors but can be worn when physical distancing is not possible. This expectation should not constrain student participation in the full range of school activities, including music, sport and performances.

We understand that parents and carers will play an important role in supporting this expectation. 

It is a simple step we can all take this winter to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and ensure our schools are as safe as possible.

Rapid Antigen Tests

We will not be issuing twice the weekly RAT tests in Term 3. If you require a RAT test, please come to the front office. Students are required to test if they display symptoms or if they are a household contact. Please continue to notify the school if your child tests positive and keep them isolated during their infectious period. 

School Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting & Positions Available

On August 30, we will be holding our last School Advisory Board (SAB) meeting of the current parent SAB members. On Tuesday 11 October we will hold an AGM, and all positions will become vacant, and nominations for SAB positions for 2023 will be available to all parents in our school community. We encourage all parents, especially our new parents, to get involved with this important advisory committee. The nomination process will be detailed in the coming weeks.

The SAB is a fantastic way for parents to meet and to get actively involved in assisting the school with whole school improvement and decision making. Roles on the SAB include President, Vice President, Secretary, a Parish representative and two parent representatives.

We would like to thank Roan Plotz (President), Pauline O’Connor (Vice President), Tracey Pace (Secretary), Cara Fonua (Parent representative), Lisa Mancini (Parent representative) and Margarita Efe (Parish representative) for their support and advice, especially over the last two years of lockdowns and remote learning. It has been greatly appreciated by the staff and the School leadership team to have had their voice, advice and support.

There will be a transition period where the current SAB members will guide and work with the newly appointed members before the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

We will also be forming a new Community Liason Committee (CLC), which will be made up of parent volunteers and staff members. The CLC will be responsible for upcoming whole school community events and community connections. We will invite parents to nominate for the CLC in the coming weeks with the intention of getting this group up and running at the start of Term 4. More information to follow.

Understanding and Engaging Boys Parent Night

We thank all parents who attended our evening presentation by behaviour specialist and educator Tarun Stevenson last Wednesday 10 August. 

The feedback has been extremely positive, and we hope that these insights have provided you with valuable information on how you can support boys at home and with their learning. 

I would like to thank our Student Wellbeing Leading Teacher, Annie McNaughton, for coordinating this parent information session.

If you would like more information and resources from Tarun then please visit: https://calmerclassrooms.today/

2022 School Fees Due

A reminder that all outstanding 2022 school fees should now be reconciled.

All school fees and levies must be finalised by Friday 16 September. 

Over the last two years, the school has worked to assist and support many of our school families in need and provided numerous reminders and offers to meet with me to discuss repayment options if your family is experiencing financial difficulties. 

The school is always willing to discuss alternative repayment options to support all members of our community.

As a condition of your child’s ongoing enrolment at the school, parents have signed an agreement on acceptance of their child's enrolment that they will support the school by paying their children’s school fees on time. The agreement clearly states that refusing to pay the school fees may jeopardise your child’s enrolment in the school.

Unfortunately, over the years, the school has had to engage the services of debt collectors to recoup outstanding school fees. This can have implications on parents’ credit ratings, and it is definitely not the school’s preferred option.                              

Father's Day/ Special Person Celebrations

A reminder that our Father’s Day/ special person celebration afternoon will take place between 1.00 pm - 3.30 pm on Friday 2nd September. There will be a lot of fun activities for our dads/ special persons followed by a whole school assembly.

We look forward to welcoming our dads/special persons to the school on this day.