Principal's Desk

Dear Parents,

I would like to begin by wishing all our Dads and father figures a Happy Fathers Day for last Sunday.

We know that many Dads and father figures have a significant role in the life of their children. From my experience, this role changes over time as children grow and their needs subsequently change. With our eldest child on the cusp of turning 21, I still feel a great responsibility to be a role model for my three children and help guide them as they grow into young adults. 

When I arrive home from work these days our pet dog Coco is usually the first to greet me at the front door! However, as a family of five we try to commit to sharing a meal together a few times a week. We value this time together to discuss our respective days and share a laugh or two, with a `no device rule’ at the dinner table. Despite the competing demands of casual jobs, socialising with friends and recreational activities, this time together is extremely important to me as a father. 

I hope all our Dads and father figures had the opportunity to spend some valuable time with their children. As our children grow they tend to look more closely at us as parents for guidance, role modelling and good behaviour! We have an enormous responsibility to be present to our children and to continue to nurture our relationship for years to come.

I also trust that our Dad’s enjoyed the fun afternoon last Thursday afternoon at school. Although I was on long service leave, I believe the afternoon was a great success and lots of fun!

Parents’ Association (PA) - Father’s Day Stall and Raffle

A huge thanks to our hard working PA and parent volunteers for coordinating the stall and the generosity of  donations for the raffle. The students were very excited to purchase something special for their Dad! This event is always a highlight on the school calendar and a wonderful opportunity for parent involvement. Congratulations to our raffle prize winners!

Thank you - special police visit

A huge thanks to Parker and Avery's Dad Damian for coordinating a special visit from some of our local police officers on Friday. It was a great opportunity for our students to engage with the police officers in the playground and ask lots of questions in the classroom. 

Art Show - one week to go!

There is a sense of anticipation and excitement from both our staff and students with our Art Show just one week away. The student masterpieces are almost complete! The display boards will arrive this week in readiness to transform our Great Space and the St Mary’s Multi Purpose Room into an Art Gallery. There will be 3 viewing sessions as follows:

Each session will begin promptly with an 'Opening Address' by our Art Leaders in the Library followed by a performance. Mrs Josie Formichelli has been working with a group of Year 3/4 students in preparation for the performance. 

For planning purposes, please indicate which session your family is likely to attend on Tuesday 10th September via the following survey link:

Art Show - session registration

Limited parking will be available in the staff carpark. Entry to the carpark is strictly via the St Mary's gate entrance. All cars will need to exit via the main gate.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS)

A significant and formal way that we as a school engage and gather data is through MACSSIS. Every family should have received a login code to access the survey.

MACSSIS is a set of annual surveys that have been built specifically for Catholic schools in Melbourne and we are inviting all families to participate along with the staff and students in grade 4 to 6. 

One of the main goals of the family survey is to identify the strengths and areas for improvement in our school. MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides valuable community insights on areas that each school can focus on. Our school believes it is important to encourage families to have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of the school.  

The survey is available online, can be accessed from Monday 2nd September and needs to be completed by Friday 20th September 2024. This survey may only be completed once.

Login details were sent to families last week that will enable you to complete the surveys online.

Included below is a short video outlining what the MACSIS Surveys entail and how the data is used.  It would be wonderful to have as many families as possible participate.

For families with more than one child attending our school, we ask that you focus on the eldest child attending the school when completing the survey. The school has invited many families to respond via this survey and participation is completely voluntary. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers – all responses are completely anonymous and at no point are any of the responses from students, families or staff identifiable by the school.

Footy Day

We will celebrate `Footy Day’ on Thursday 19th September, with students encouraged to wear colours from any sporting code, however black and yellow is strongly encouraged - go Tigers!!! The Parents’ Association will also coordinate a `footy lunch’ - please order asap via CDF Pay.

Book Week

This year we are celebrating Book Week in the last week of term. There are a number of activities happening in classrooms across the week, coordinated by our Literacy Leader Mrs Andrea Dowling. The main event is our Book Week Parade, which will take place on Friday 20th September on the basketball court at 9am. Parents and visitors are most welcome to attend. 

Children (and staff!) are encouraged to dress up as any book character. For further details please refer to the Book Week section of this newsletter. This week is a great opportunity to promote reading and literacy in general, and to have lots of fun!

And don't forget our Book Week swap!

We ask that students bring a book or two (to be donated) before the event and a gold coin or note to school on the 17th September. Our fundraising site also allows you to make an online donation to your school’s Great Book Swap in the lead up to the event. Use the QR code for  the link to our online donation portal and where you can find more information. On the 17th September the students bring their gold coin and are able to choose a book to take home.

Please only send books that are in reasonable condition! Students can either bring them to the library or place them in a tub located in the foyer of the school.

Please contact Wilma Honeysett @whoneysett@htws.catholic.edu.au if you have any queries and thank you for your support!

End of School Term -  Friday 20th September -        1 pm finish

The school day will finish at 1pm on the last day of each school term to provide Time in Lieu for staff. We acknowledge the early finish time does impact some families so we will therefore offer supervision of students until 3.30pm if required. Please indicate below if your child needs to remain at school following the 1pm finish time.

If you have more than one child please provide the name of each child below. For planning purposes please complete the form before Tuesday 17th September at 12pm.

Supervision after 1pm - Friday 20th September 2024

Planning for 2025

Towards the end of term we will begin some interim planning for the 2025 school year. This includes finalising our Prep 2025 enrolments and conducting staff annual review meetings. To assist with our planning, please let us know as soon as possible if you will not be returning to HT in 2025. This will greatly assist our formulation of class groupings and allocation of staff early next term.

End of Year Dates

We have received a few enquiries in regards to the finishing date for the end of the school year. As noted on our public calendar, I can confirm the following: 

• Year 6 Graduation Mass and Ceremony: Wednesday 11th December 6pm
• Last day for Year 6 students: Friday 13th December 3.30pm
• Last day for Prep-Year 5 students: Tuesday 17th December 1pm

Further details, including Year 6 activities and fun day, to follow soon.

School Blog - check it out!

I would like to continue to encourage parents to access our school blog to see what’s happening around our school, particularly specialist classes and extracurricular activities. Our students contribute to the posts on a regular basis - I strongly encourage you to `like’ a post of leave a comment. The students get a real buzz to know that parents are appreciating their posts!

http://blog.htws.catholic.edu.au/ 

Warm Regards.

Adrian Scutt

Time to eXcel