Principal's News
Journeying Together in Christ
It is great to be back at school. Many smiling faces greet us each day. I enjoy that little wave from a distance as I walk around outside or walk down the corridor. The grounds look superb and the new building's AC is magnificent.
We stayed inside during our second break on Tuesday due to the heat. Learning is in full flight and the staff has wasted no time in analysing data.
As communicated last year we have a new leadership structure:
Deputy Principal- Wellbeing, Religious Education, Organisation (Chris Summers)
Deputy Principal- Learning and Curriculum (Jennifer McKillop)
Learning Enhancement
F-2: Jess Moodie
3-6: Eloise Liddell
Learning Inclusion/Wellbeing- Donna Allen
During the first three weeks we have met as whole staff and in F-2 and 3-6 groupings.
You may hear the term PLC (Professional Learning Community). The teachers set a SMART goal, look at assessment and what to do with the specific data. This is the first step in providing consistent opportunities for staff to discuss quality teaching and what the data is telling us.
Jennifer, Chris, Donna and myself move in between the teams while Jess and Eloise lead the groups. I was very excited after the first meetings for the year. The dialogue was 100% student focused.
LENT & EASTER
Dear Pope Francis,
Why do we venerate the Cross? How are you? I am fine.
Yours,
Tadiwanashe (age 10, Zimbabwe)
Some people may not know what 'venerate' means!
Pope Francis replies: We venerate, or honour, the Cross because Saint Paul says that the Cross is our glory. The Cross is the place where Jesus won and achieved victory over death. In the Olympics, winners are placed ona higher step and given a beautiful trophy. In this case, Jesus' trophy is his Cross, his triumph. With his death on the Cross, Jesus conquered death. He won! The Cross is the sign of this victory, and that's why we venerate it. So, we glory in the Cross...
Pope Francis
When I spoke with the 5/6 children I asked them to look at the Cross when they walk through the auditorium and be thankful.
Doing Our Best to Be Safe in the CAR PARK
PLEASE do not park around this section. The flow of traffic comes to halt and it will only be a matter of time that some reverses into a car. There are 26 car parks near the office and around 60 over near the stadium. If the parks are full near the office please make your way to the other car park near the stadium.
GREEN Bins
Please support the staff by discussing with your child what can be placed in the Red, Yellow and Green bins. The only paper type materials are- tissues, paper towels and napkins.
See the link below for more information
The photos below are not encouraging.
We will attempt to educate and guide the children. Your support at home would be appreciated.
We should not see the following- cardboard, zooper dooper wrappers, chip/pop corn packets, yoghurt containers...
What is Parent Engagement?
I think most responses to this would be correct.
It may refer to the active involvement and participation of parents or carers in your child's community. This involvement can take various forms, including attending parent-teacher conferences, participating in school events and activities, volunteering in the classroom or for school events, joining parent committees, communicating regularly with teachers and school staff, and supporting their child's learning at home. Parent engagement is essential for creating a supportive and collaborative environment that enhances student success and overall school effectiveness.
Engagement may be silent (in the background) as your child transitions into a new school or who is starting school.
Community Group
We had a wonderful meeting last week with some new faces at our first meeting. We will be sharing a calendar of events at some stage this term. This way you may consider joining a sub-committee (sunset group). This means they have an end. You may be part of a group to arrange one event. For example: Easter Raffle, Social function, End of Term events, Second hand uniform... One person from the sub-committee would report back at the Community Group meeting or send in a report.
We thank our parents for providing pancakes for us on Tuesday.
Advisory Council
We met on Tuesday night. Members are:
Parents- Cait Alletsee (Chair), Jess Salau, Sath Saranathan, Bill Daunt, Tijo Thomas
Staff- David Keenan, Jennifer McKillop and Chris Summers (alternate meetings)
Our priorities for 2024:
- Marketing- media, point of difference, recruiting staff
- Capital Works- review the master building plan for the next 10 years, transport audit,
- Culture of Dialogue- Catholic Identity & Celebrating positive data
We will be recruiting new people to the Advisory Council in 2024. Ideally, new members would start in Term 2 as part of a transition phase.
Sometimes people think they must have a particular skill set. This is not the case. We value whatever your skills or experience may be. If you want to know more about the Advisory Group please arrange to come in and talk or arrange a phone call. The existing parent members will each share their aspirations and experience in the next newsletter.
End of Year Mass
We will have this date asap. We will be staying with a day time mass. This way all students are present and in 2023 we had our largest parent attendance for some time. With plenty of notice families can add it to their calendar.
Parent & Teacher Meetings
These will be held over two weeks at the beginning of Term 2. We will have the days asap. Many factors have forced us to delay these until Term 2. These include: 9 week term , NAPLAN moved to Term 1, Year 5/6 excursion, long weekend and a pupil free day. Meetings will be different this year as we will be dedicating one day to a Learning Community. For example, Foundation will be a Monday with bookings between 9:00am -5:30pm. The children will still be at school and Casual Relief Teachers will be employed. Once we confirm a day for your child's Learning Community we will set up the online booking via PAM.
In the meantime, teachers may contact you and you can contact teachers if you have any questions.
Open Classrooms
We will communicate a morning where this will be an option for families. The time will be between 8:15am-9:30am in a few weeks time. This is an invitation, and not compulsory. More information in coming weeks.
Uniform
Please revisit the uniform policy. It has not changed so existing families have no excuse for introducing sports shorts with brands (e.g. nike or adidas). Socks are to be white or the St Luke's socks sold at Quality teams/Varsity 1. If any new families have any queries please come and speak with me.
For those attending a Taylor Swift concert, I hope it is everything you want it to be. This weekend seems to be 'Swift Mania' in Victoria and not much else. Enjoy!
David Keenan