Deputy Principal's News

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that we are already past the halfway mark for this term. So far this term has been jam-packed, not only with targeted and enjoyable learning experiences but also with an abundance of extracurricular and sporting activities. All year levels have enjoyed having the footy clinics in and for the last two weeks, the students have been participating in swimming lessons at Harold Holt. Student feedback on the swimming has been overwhelmingly positive with feedback from the Year 6’s stating that this has been their best school swimming program to date.

Whilst I know that many students participate in swimming programs outside of school it is a legal requirement that we offer swimming to all students and as such it is extremely difficult to get good quality programs at a time of year that fits in with our school calendar, this year we were extremely lucky to get a spot at Harrold Holt which only opened up due to the change of NAPLAN dates for 2023 and beyond. We are continually evaluating the swimming programs and the time of the year they are available and should something come up in the warmer months we will look into securing it for future bookings.

Next week the teachers will be given some time to write reports and I would like to thank the specialist teachers who will take each of the grades for a day to allow the teachers to have this. As part of the report-writing process, teachers have been moderating work within and across year levels and I have been pleased to be a part of this process, it is always a great experience to see how much the students have grown since the start of the year, they should be very proud of their efforts and successes.

Further below please find a snapshot of some of the fantastic work that our junior students have produced this term, with some examples of Senior work further in the newsletter.

Over the next two weeks we look forward to the St Joseph’s Athletics Carnival on Thursday 1st June and both a Junior and Senior School excursion to TwistED Science, as well as, the continuation of the Year 5 and 6 interschool sports.

Year 1: Reflections on swimming and Pool Safety Posters:

Georgina: This week we’ve been swimming, it has been very fun my favourite part was when we did freestyle because I was zooming through the pool very fast. My pool safety poster explains that I get in the pool safely because I don’t run and I listen to the teacher.

Abigail: We swam for two weeks but we got Fridays off. My favourite thing was the last day of swimming [yesterday] because we learnt how to safely swim through waves. My poster explains how to get into the pool safely.

Oli: I tried to safely put my head under the water when swimming and doing freestyle. I enjoyed it very much because I got to try new things. My poster explains how to have fun and still be safe, I even got to do a torpedo.

2D: Reflections on shape posters:

Pia: In Year 2 we have been learning about 3 and 2D shapes, we learnt about their features such as faces, vertices and edges. My shape is Miss singing cylinder and she has, 3 faces and 0 vertices, she is made up of 2 circles and a rectangle she also loves singing.

Luella: My Poster is called miss sassy cube she has 6 faces, she has 12 edges, she has 8 vertices and she wears a lot of squares.

George: My Shape is Mr Sphere he is 1 foot tall, he has 1 curved face 0 vertices and is a relative of the 2D shape circle.

Emilio: Mr Hexagonal Prism, he has 8 faces, he has 12 vertices, it has 18 edges and today he is wearing 2 hexagons and 6 rectangles.

Harry: We did a wanted poster to describe our 3D objects we gave them a name and had to describe their features.

I did Mr hexagonal Prism too, with 8 faces, 12 vertices and 18 edges.

On another note, Michelle has reported that she and the other Principals in the region have had a very busy but valuable conference in Darwin and she looks forward to seeing the students and families next week. Before getting on her flight this afternoon she managed to get a phone signal long enough to share some photos and the following message:

Although I’ve missed being around this week, I appreciate your collective understanding as I spent the week in Darwin with 14 colleagues from our South Central Principal Network.

How fitting to spend my final day in Darwin on National Sorry Day. Every year on 26 May, National Sorry Day remembers and acknowledges the government's mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, forcibly removed from their families and communities.

This week we have had the incredible opportunity to visit Elders at the Kakadu National Park, participate in a cultural enrichment workshop at NT Catholic Education and also visit the Tiwi Islands and the local communities there.

What an experience and I can’t believe how much I didn’t know about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. Still lots to learn!

I look forward to seeing you all next week, but not looking forward to the Melbourne weather!

With gratitude, Michelle