From the Acting Principal 

A message from Mr Anthony Speranza

Dear families,

You may have noticed that Cathy has not been around the last few weeks.  Sadly, her father passed away and we extend our deepest sympathies and prayers to Cathy and her family during this time. It has been with great pleasure to undertake the acting Principal role in her absence and I would particularly like to thank the staff at St Mary’s who have been of great assistance to me and for their resolve to continue the "normal" running of the school even in her absence.

This week has been a week of quite the celebration with Book Week!  It has been wonderful to see the Book Fair well attended in the mornings and afternoons, with the children exploring their favourite genres or perhaps picking up something new for the first time. Yesterday we invited students and staff to turn up in their pyjamas and with their favourite teddy and favourite book and boy did everyone turn up in style, and comfort! 

After first break the students participated in multi-age activities with various teachers, sharing some of their own favourite books with the children. Multi-age classroom experiences allow the children to develop relationships with peers and staff members who they might not normally spend a lot of time with.

For a full write up and some photos, please see the Student Leadership page in this newsletter or our Instagram feed from yesterday!

This Friday, Book Week continues with a special performance from Story Quest at 2:00pm in the Parish Hall.  Parents and little ones are more than welcome to attend also.  Due to the performance and a modified classroom timetable there will be no Assembly tomorrow.

On Friday 2nd September we will be celebrating Father’s Day & Special Friends. There will be a BBQ Breakfast hosted by the P&F starting at 7:30am on the Main Campus. I encourage families to book for the breakfast ASAP via the link https://www.trybooking.com/CCDHT . Parents, especially the males important to all of our lives, are welcome to stay for the whole school Mass at 9:15am and then Assembly at 10:30am. Please note that the students in Prep and Year 1 will be swimming in the morning and will not be present at the Mass or Assembly.

It’s with great delight that our little ones have taken to Stay Chat & Play on Wednesday and Thursday mornings with great enthusiasm and enjoyment for social interaction. Whether you have toddlers or not, anyone is welcome to drop in and enjoy a cuppa and a chat on these mornings.

Business Directory

A reminder that one of our parents, Rian, is kindly working on putting together a Community Directory together to help families who run small businesses reach a wider audience. This is also extended to anyone who has a special skillset or is happy to do any freelance or volunteer work. To make a submission to the directory, please go to https://forms.gle/7MWq85Zbri9dxt6c7

Seesaw

As mentioned in our previous newsletter, we are delighted to announce that our school will be introducing the Seesaw learning app. By using the app with students in the classroom, we hope to give families insight into their learning progress over time, which was identified as a top priority in our recent Reporting & Communication Survey and focus group with families. Seesaw will also allow classroom teachers and the school to streamline communication to families, so as to make our partnership between school and home even more effective.

Classroom teachers have been educating their students on posting items to their journal and you can expect your children to come home with an invite to download the app and join in with your child’s learning starting next week.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) commencing Monday 5th September

In 2022, our school is participating in Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). MACSSIS is an annual process whereby schools listen to the thoughts and feelings students, families and staff have about how their school can improve. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

One of the main goals of the family survey is to identify the strengths and areas for improvement in our school. MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides valuable community insights on areas that each school can focus on. Our school believes it is important to encourage families to have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of the school.

The survey will be available online from Monday 5th September and needs to be completed by Friday 16 September 2022. Further information will be distributed next week. For further information, please see the attached letter.

Take care and have a nice week, 

Anthony