Message from Gemma

Dear Families and Friends,

Term 4 - here we come!! It was great to see the happy faces return and the waves from the cars. Our gardens are blooming and our children seem excited for the term ahead. 

Over the break I was fortunate to join North Central Catholic Principals on an immersion trip in the Northern Territory. My favourite part of the trip and deepest connection was with Arnhem Land. Kakadu is considered a living cultural landscape. The traditional custodians - the Bininj Mungguy people - represent the longest continuous surviving human culture in the world, with descendants of the First Australians still living in Kakadu today. The Bininj Mungguy people have a deep spiritual connection with the land and have been caretakers of this country for over 50,000 years. To listen to stories and lived experiences was a true privilege. 

After crossing the East Alligator River at Cahill’s Crossing, we made our way to the entrance to Mikkinj Valley with its stunning scenery of billabongs, wildlife & towering escarpment, experiencing the region's world-famous landscapes consisting of sandstone escarpment outcrops, rock art sites, forests, floodplains and billabongs alive with abundant birdlife.  The learning we experienced will be shared amongst our schools in various ways.  At St Gabriel’s and St Stephen’s we are fortunate to be learning about Geography through our ‘Maps of places, land and hearts’ . This shared project will begin with the below map to explore the many languages and countries this amazing space holds. 

We look forward to sharing this project with you all. 

2023 Staffing

We are excited to keep a very stable 2023 staff. Current educators will remain in the hubs they are currently in at this stage. 

A few changes:

Emma Sheehan is moving house - and Reservoir sadly is on the opposite side of the map and a little too far to travel. Sammy Calafiore will replace Emma’s position in 2023. Sammy will begin Term 4 2022 as a transition to our wonderful school. Sammy will be on the St Gabriel’s campus at this stage.

Belinda Hynes will be moving to Holy Cross Mickleham,  we will welcome Ashlee Owen as our Learning Diversity Leader in 2022. Ashlee brings a wealth of knowledge in this area to our school. 

We thank Emma and Belinda for their amazing impact they have had on our schools and wish both every bit of success in 2023.