Dear Families,

This week we have focused on National Sorry Day, which was last Sunday followed by National Reconciliation Week. National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

School Disco

Tonight many of our students are looking forward to what should be a spectacular night at the School Disco.

Tonight we have two different discos happening:

The Junior Disco

The Junior Disco is for Prep - Year 2 students in Maguire Hall from 5.30-6.30pm

Check-in for the Junior Disco opens at 5pm. Look out for your year level desk. Check in will run from 5-5.30pm. Once checked-in, parents must stay with their child/ren on the outside basketball court right up until the Disco doors open at 5.30pm

Check-out opens at 6.15pm. All parents must sign their child out and then line up at Maguire Hall ready to collect their child/ren. All children must be collected by 6.30pm SHARP.

Students are encouraged to wear a white or fluorescent t-shirt or something that will glow under the fluorescent lights. Please note, no glow sticks will be allowed.

The Senior Disco

The Senior Disco is for Year 3-6 students in Maguire Hall from 7pm-8pm in Maguire Hall.

Check-in for the Senior Disco opens from 6.30pm. Once checked-in, parents must stay with their child/ren on the outside basketball court right up until the disco doors open at 7pm.

Check-out opens at 7.45pm. All parents must sign their child out and then line up at Maguire Hall ready to collect their child/ren. All children must be collected by 8pm SHARP.

Students are encouraged to wear a white or fluorescent t-shirt or something that will glow under the fluorescent lights. Please note, no glow sticks will be allowed.

Disco information for students attending GOSH

This information is for those families that have their children booked into GOSH on Friday 31st May:

GOSH will run from Prep O (on the mezzanine level). Please enter via the side door near the Maguire Hall.

If your child is booked into GOSH and has a ticket to the P-2 Disco, GOSH educators will take your child/ren and their belongings across to the disco and sign them in.

Parents of children attending the P-2 disco will then pick up their child directly from the Maguire Hall at the end of the disco.

Those children booked into GOSH and the Year 3-6 disco will need to be picked up at the end of GOSH and signed into the disco by their parents because GOSH closes before the disco ends.

Thank you to the Prep parents who have volunteered to run this event. Thank you also to the staff who will attend the event.

We hope the students have a wonderful time dancing up a storm at the disco!

Stadium Update

As you will be aware, the project to rectify the defect and resultant water damage in the stadium has begun.

As outlined in communication emailed to families earlier this week, the stadium rectification project will occur in three stages. Stage one started on Wednesday and involves demolition of the internal fit-out. The demolition team will be removing timber flooring and some wall panels that have water damage. Stage two involves fixing the defect, including an identified waterproofing defect and suspected drainage defect. Stage three is the final stage of the project where the stadium will be returned to its original state.

We do not have a timeline for the entire project yet, however we anticipate that we are unlikely to have access to our Stadium in Term 3. We will be able to publish an approximate timeline for the project after stage one is complete and a scope of works for stage two has been outlined.

We will continue to update you on the progress of each stage of the project.

We thank our students, staff and families for their continued patience, flexibility and understanding as we navigate this unforeseen issue.

National Simultaneous Story Time

Last week we marked National Simultaneous Storytime at Galilee. This event is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association.

Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country.

This year the book was Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker. Thank you to our Year 6 students Elana, Vanessa and Querey for reading the story to us.

Student free Closure Day next Friday 7th June.

Next Friday 7th June is a student-free school closure day. GOSH will be open all day on Friday 7th June. If you plan to use the service on Friday 7th June, we encourage you to book early to avoid disappointment.

On Friday 7th June, staff will be working with James Russo and Jane Hubbard from Monash University. Both Jane and James have completed their PhD at Monash University in Mathematics Education. They are renowned academics and educators who are leading the way in advancing student achievement through a structured inquiry approach with explicit teaching embedding within each lesson.

As you will be aware, we are in our third year of updating our pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning mathematics. In 2022 and 2023 we focused on professional development of staff in content knowledge and specialised content knowledge, focussing on the learning progression and sequence in each area of Mathematics. In 2023 we started our journey of enhancing pedagogical practices in mathematics. We are continuing to work on pedagogical practices in 2024 and we are thrilled to be partnering with Jane and James from Monash University in this work.

Since starting this project in mathematics we have seen mathematics results improve. The data below was taken from our PAT-Maths Assessment that students from Year 2-6 sit once a year in November. We have highlighted results in green that are above average when compared with normed results from student results around Australia. You can see that in 2021 we did not have any year level that, on average, was performing above the national average. However in 2023, all our year levels from 2-6 performed above the national average.

Our Prep and Year 1 students do not sit the PAT- Math Assessment, they sit an Maths Online Assessment at the start of each year. These results are also showing a trend of improvement.

Semester One Student Reports

Semester One Student Reports will be sent out via email on Wednesday 26th June, which is Week 11. Teachers have been working hard to analyse data and write reports that show an understanding of where your children are at in their learning. The student report will be available on Wednesday 26th June, via a portal. Information about how to access the portal will be shared with all families closer to the date.

More information about Semester One Student Reports will be emailed to all families today.

Staffing Update

As you will be aware, Carmen Carnovale and Brighid Deamer will both be taking Maternity Leave soon. We have started to plan for their leave and have appointed internal staff who will take on different aspects of their roles. Handover between Bighid, Carmen and these newly appointed staff has begun.

Holly Evans will be taking on the Learning Diversity/NCCD role and will be supported by the leadership team. Some parts of the role will be shared between the current Leadership Team. If your child is on a Personalised Learning Plan and you have PSG's, those will be held towards the end of Term 2 and beginning of Term 3.

Alex Pensini will be our Religious Education Sacraments and Liturgy Leaders and Religious Education Learning and Teaching Leader. He will remain Year 6 teacher Monday - Thursday and will focus on his Religious Education Leadership role on Friday. Julie Furgeson will teach Year 6P on Friday.

Seb Greene will be our Community Partnerships Leader. Seb will continue teaching Physical Education Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and he will continue in his Sports Leadership Role organising school based events and carnivals.

Caoimhe Kennedy and Becky Kavaghna will be facilitating and teaching the Seeds and Sprouts Transition and School Readiness program to 3 year olds and 4 year olds. Caoimhe will continue teaching Prep K with Julie Furgson taking her class when she is focusing on Seeds and Sprouts. Becky will continue teaching 2K with Julie Furgson taking her class when she is focusing on Seeds and Sprouts.

We wish Carmen and Brighid every blessing as they prepare to welcome new additions to their family. We would like to thank them for all that they have done for Galilee. We will miss them but look forward to welcoming them back following their leave. They both start their leave in a few weeks time. We will more formally wish them well, closer to the time they go on Maternity leave.

Simon Millar our Principal, will begin returning back to work one day a week in the next few weeks. He had a major bike accident last year where he needed emergency back surgery. Following his accident he has been supported by a medical team who have aided his recovery. We are thrilled to welcome Simon back to Galilee. To assist Simon’s return to work, Amy Burns will remain Acting Principal of Galilee, while Simon returns on a part-time basis.

Sacrament of First Eucharist

The Year 4 students have been preparing to receive the Sacrament of Eucharist this Sunday at Ss. Peter and Paul. They have participated in a Family Faith and Information Night, regular lessons on the Sacrament of Eucharist with their teachers and Sue Kidd a Parish Educator, they have had a wonderful day today at their Reflection day and they have been working with their families at home about what it means to receive the Eucharist.

We could not be more proud of them and the effort they have put into preparing for this very special occasion. We wish them every blessing and we can’t wait to celebrate with them on Sunday.

Grandparents and Special Friends Day at Galilee

On Monday 17th June 2024 we are holding a Grandparents and Special Friends Day at Galilee.

We would like to encourage all our students to invite their Grandparents and Special Friends to Galilee on Monday 17th June for a fun filled morning.

From 8.30am - 9.30am, Grandparents & Special Friends will be invited to a morning tea in Maguire Hall and into our classrooms to see their grandchildren in action. At 9.45am we welcome Grandparents and Special Friends to celebrate mass with us at St Peter and Paul’s Church, finishing our special morning together.

Please note our Book Fair will be open during this time, and our Grandparents and Special Friends will be able to buy a book for their grandchildren, if they would like to.

I wish you and your family every blessing in the coming weeks.

Amy Burns

Acting Principal

Education in Faith