Mrs Ryan's Fortnightly Reflections
What a sea of fun, fathers, and special people we had this morning! Our annual Father's Day Breakfast was incredibly well attended, with plenty of competitive spirit on display during the kicking competition on the oval. It was also lovely to see the men in our community catching up and reconnecting. Thank you to all families for making the effort to attend!
Our Father's Day Stall closely followed, and it was heartwarming to chat with many of our learners and hear the reasons behind their purchases. I hope these gifts bring joy to many homes on Sunday. Thank you to the Mum's who supported our shoppers!
This week, we have seen some changes to our local traffic conditions. Unbeknownst to us, the council has changed the parking restrictions on the school side of Bridlington Avenue. We were not made aware of this change beforehand and therefore were unable to communicate it to our community. We have observed local law enforcement officers present at afternoon pick-up, issuing fines quite readily. St Mary's has no jurisdiction over public roads or local parking laws. If you are a family who uses this area for pick-up, please familiarise yourself with the new parking requirements.
St Mary's is very aware of the traffic congestion and the challenges that both drop-off and pick-up times can create for our community. We are always strategic in our efforts to ensure consistent traffic flow and movement in a timely manner. As a school, we must do all we can to minimise traffic issues, allow local bus services to remain on schedule, and, most importantly, ensure our learners begin their journey home safely.
A few facts that we hope will build understanding and encourage support from all parents, carers, and family members involved in pick-up and drop-off:
We safely disperse approximately 550 learners each day in around 12 minutes.
Staff are allocated to all exit points and remain on duty until 3:25 pm daily.
We have three crossings that support the safe movement of learners and families on surrounding roads.
We assign consistent staff to drop-off and pick-up duties to ensure familiarity with both people and procedures.
Our drop-off and pick-up zone is a two-minute maximum waiting area. Parents are to remain in their vehicles, and learners should wait in the designated car pick-up zone. Please know you will be asked to loop if needed to keep flow moving.
St Mary's is now seeking Expressions of Interest for the construction of a new additional car park, which will be located behind Brigid's Light. This development will help reduce congestion, provide greater waiting capacity, and, we hope, create a smoother and more efficient traffic flow around our school.
Recently, we have seen an increase in the use of smartwatches among our learners. St Mary's maintains a no SIM-enabled or Wi-Fi-enabled device policy for primary-aged learners. We have recently experienced situations where parents have been contacted during the school day regarding issues that could have been managed through normal school processes. We have also encountered inappropriate phone use that is neither age-appropriate nor necessary in a primary school setting.
Please know that all staff members are here to support your child and can respond quickly when concerns are brought to our attention. Supporting learners to solve problems is an important part of our role as educators and community members.
If smartwatches or phones are found in use at school, they will be confiscated by staff and held at the office until collected by a parent or carer. If you believe your child requires a device for after-school travel, they are welcome to leave it with their teacher or the administration team during the school day, where it will be stored safely and securely.
Thank you to the many families who have completed our annual ORIMA Survey. This survey is conducted across the Sandhurst Diocese and allows our school to strategically plan improvements while capturing parent voice. Recent focus areas have included learner safety, parent engagement in children's education, and staff voice. Throughout the year, we have implemented a range of strategies and practices to strengthen these areas.
Staff, learners, and families are all invited to complete the survey, which can be found in your inbox. The more data we gather, the better informed our decision-making can be. If you have not yet completed the survey, I encourage you to do so.
Tonight we are hosting our Trivia Night! We recognise that this is a busy time of year, and we are incredibly grateful to those of you who are attending. I look forward to seeing many of you tonight and enjoying some friendly team competition together.
To all the Dads, Grandfathers, and special men in our lives, I wish you a wonderful day on Sunday. Please know how valued and important you are to the young people of St Mary's and to our entire community.
In faith, trust & love.
Jasmine Ryan
Principal