Assistant Principal's News

Debating Highlights!

On Monday 18th August, St Clare’s Year 10 debating team visited St Anthony’s to mentor and support our STA debating teams. It was a valuable opportunity for our students to present their arguments and receive thoughtful, constructive feedback from experienced debaters.

We also hosted four debates on Tuesday evening against St Andrew’s Malabar. It was a fantastic night filled with critical thinking, teamwork, and confident speaking. A special thank you to our adjudicators from Marcellin College—Christian, Massimo, Billy, and Noah—who were fair, considerate, and excellent role models in representing their school. Congratulations to all students involved, and thank you to everyone who supported the event!

Thoughts from the Students...

On Tuesday night we did our first debate against St Andrews Malabar. The topic for our debate was that “ Video games should be considered a sport”. As a reserve I was practising to be the first negative speaker but when I arrived at the debate I had to fill in for the third negative speaker. This job includes doing three rebuttals and summing up your team's presentation. It was so interesting to see the opposing teams point of view and how they rebutted to our speech. The day before we were privileged that some St Clares girls came to hear our debate and to help improve on it, they provided so much information, confidence and encouragement towards us. In the end we unfortunately lost our debate but we had an absolute blast participating. By Freya

On Tuesday night we did our first debates against St Andrew’s Malabar. The topic for our debate was that video games should be a sport, I was on the opposing team so we were against the topic. I was the second speaker, so my job was to rebut the second affirmative speaker and state 3 arguments. Our team was really nervous because they looked really confident and had lots of persuasive words, but in the end, we won!  It was a really fun process preparing my speech because we could say our speeches and give feedback to each other. The day before the debating we had girls come in from St Clares who had done debating for themselves, they were really nice and gave us lots of advice. Overall, debating was beyond fun and I hope I get the opportunity to do it next year in high school. By Leila

Week 2, 4 & 5 Assembly - Congratulations to the award recipients!

Wellbeing: Respect Explorers - Nurturing Positive Relationships ​

At school and at home, strong relationships are the foundation for a child’s wellbeing and success. Taking time to connect, listen, and show interest in your child’s thoughts and feelings helps build trust and confidence. Whether it’s sharing a story, talking about their day, or simply spending quality time together, these moments make a big difference.

Thank you for all you do to support your child’s growth—together, we’re helping them thrive socially, emotionally, and academically.

This a fun activity that helps kids learn about being kind and understanding towards each other.

Book in a Box: K-6 Information Outline          Years 2-6 Presentation Days

‘Book in a Box’ is a chance to bring your favourite book to life by putting together objects that relate to your book and using them to tell the story of what your book is all about. It involves decorating a box and filling it with items that represent different aspects of a book, allowing for a creative and engaging way to showcase the story. This project includes decorating the interior and exterior of the box to reflect the book's themes, summarising the plot and characters, and including objects that 

relate to the story, with accompanying 

explanations or quotes from the book.

2025 Staff Development Days                 (Pupil-Free Days)

Each year, Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) provides time for Staff Development Days (SDD) which provides professional learning time for all staff. With the introduction of the new English and Mathematics Syllabus' in 2023 (K-2) and 2024 (Years 3-6) and the implementation of other syllabi within the next two years, SCS has provided the following days in 2025. 

Blessings,

Marie Iorfino

Assistant Principal