Principal's Report

Dear Families,

What a big week we have coming up!!

🌟 St. Cecilia’s School Fair — This Saturday!

The wait is almost over! Our 2025 St. Cecilia’s School Fair is happening this Saturday, and we can’t wait to welcome all families - past and present - for a wonderful day of fun, food, and community spirit.

This much-loved event is proudly coordinated by Laura McCarthy, Sarah Lethlean, Chelsea Woodruff and Biddy Blood, with the incredible support of so many volunteer parents. We are so grateful for the time, energy, and generosity you’ve poured into making this year’s School Fair such a special celebration.

The Fair is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and all proceeds will go towards transforming our school library into a vibrant, modern learning hub for our students. With your support, we’re creating:

• Flexible and comfortable furnishings for reading, study, and collaboration
• Updated learning resources to inspire curiosity and creativity

• A new podcast and media space to foster communication and digital literacy

   

By joining us at the Fair or contributing as a sponsor, you’re helping bring this exciting vision to life -  a space where every St. Cecilia’s student can learn, grow, and thrive.

We can’t wait to see everyone this Saturday for a fantastic day of community celebration and support for our school.

Celebrating Gabriel’s Musical Achievement 🎶

We are delighted to celebrate Gabriel’s outstanding achievement in the Oz Schools Instrumental Championships (OSIC), where he proudly represented St Cecilia’s. This prestigious event brings together the finest young instrumentalists from schools across Australia, with entry by invitation following previous eisteddfod success.

Gabriel (Grade 2) performed beautifully in the Prep to Grade 2 category, earning 1st place with his expressive rendition of Petites Variations by Samuel Maykapar. His performance not only showcased his remarkable musical talent but also reflected his dedication and love for the arts - qualities we value deeply at St Cecilia’s.

As our school is named after St Cecilia, the patron saint of music, it feels especially fitting to recognise Gabriel’s pursuit of excellence in this field. His success is a wonderful reminder of the creative spirit and joy that music brings to our community.

Gabriel will now go on to represent Victoria in the National Final on 30 November, where winners from Western Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales will gather in Melbourne for this exciting event.

We congratulate Gabriel on this exceptional achievement and wish him every success in the National Final!

🎵 Watch Gabriel’s performance here.

Keeping Our School Safe

Last week, we held a whole-school Emergency Evacuation Drill, as part of our regular safety procedures. We’re pleased to share that it was a great success. The students remained calm, listened carefully, and followed instructions with great cooperation and maturity.

A big thank you to our staff for guiding students so capably throughout the drill, and to all students for the sensible and respectful way they participated.

These drills are an important part of ensuring that everyone - students, staff, and visitors knows exactly what to do in the event of an emergency. We will continue to hold different types of safety drills to make sure our community remains well-prepared and confident.

🌟 Call for Expressions of Interest – Parents Association Coordinators 2026

As we look ahead to 2026, we’re still hoping to find two parents who might be interested in taking on the role of Parents Association (PA) Coordinators. This is a truly rewarding way to contribute to school life and help lead the wonderful community spirit we enjoy at St Cecilia’s.

Our current Coordinator, Georgie Carman, has done an outstanding job over the past few years, and I’m so grateful for her leadership, enthusiasm and the countless hours she’s devoted to our community. Ideally, we’d love new Coordinators to connect with Georgie during Term 4 for a smooth handover and plenty of support.

If you’ve ever thought about getting more involved, this could be a great opportunity. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Georgie at georgiecarman00@gmail.com  or complete this short Google Form to express your interest.

I’d love to chat with anyone who’s curious about what the role involves - it really does make a big difference to the life of our school.

Parish Partnership

I would like to share an important message from our Parish Priest, Fr Kevin McGovern, regarding the future direction of our parish community. Please take a look in the Education in Faith section of this newsletter edition to find this important information. 

In his letter, Fr Kevin outlines an exciting new chapter as St Cecilia’s Parish and St Michael’s Parish begin a process of partnering together. 

Have a great week everyone!

Marty McKenna

Principal

St Cecilia’s Primary School