Principal's Report

 Dear Parents and Carers,

Reading at home

Did you know that reading with your child, even for just a few minutes a day, can make a big difference to their learning and development? 

I came across this article last week that talks about the importance of reading aloud with children. Experts warn that more screen time and less storytime is leaving some children behind in school, especially with reading and vocabulary. Even if your child is wiggly or wants the same book every night, reading together helps them grow in confidence, focus, and imagination. It doesn’t have to be perfect – talk about the pictures, let your child tell the story, or just enjoy the quiet moment together.   I would go so far as to suggest that parents continue with this practice even after children have become independent readers themselves, right up into the middle and senior years of primary school. 

Each year our Year 3 to 6 students participate in the Youth Resilience Survey.  

One of the questions asked is about reading for fun.  Our students' results are always quite low in this area as the students move up into Years 5 and 6 (below those of the Australian Norms). The boys' results become even more concerning with more than half of our senior boys saying that they rarely read for fun.   As an avid bookworm myself it saddens me to learn that so many of our students aren't reading for pleasure.  

St Finbar's is participating in the Premiers' Reading Challenge this year after a few years' hiatus. With the holidays coming up, it might be a good time to hit the library or bookshop and find some new reading material to share together. 

Dads and Kids Camp

It sounds as if the Dads and Kids camp was a great success two weeks ago with some very excited children telling me about their highlights.  The flying fox seemed to be a huge hit, and got lots of mentions.

This event was completely parent initiated and organised. Naturally it was a huge undertaking with a lot of work besides the scenes to make it possible.  We have to acknowledge the efforts of Paul and Samantha Clarke who got this event off the ground, and the organising committee made up of Julian Toohey, Fab Cutrona, Roger Maroun, Adam Dougall, Leigh Ryan, Dirk Gierlach and Michael Sill.  Thank you to all. 

A big thank you to the businesses that sponsored this event as well: Dendy Deli, Mercuri Cutrona Real Estate, Andre J Menswear and Hunky Dory (Bentleigh).

We are very grateful for the $2247 that was donated to the school as a result of the fundraising efforts from this camping weekend. These funds will be used to purchase more decodable readers for our junior classes. 

Emotional Regulation Parent Evening

Please take the time to read about our upcoming Parent Evening on the Deputy Principal page. We are excited to offer this opportunity to parents, and hope that many of you can attend. 

Peter Pan T-shirts

Our T-shirts have been printed and distributed to students, and now we need opportunities to show them off. From next Friday (20th June), students are welcome to wear their Peter Pan t-shirts each Friday for the rest of this term. 

Lunchtime Clubs 

It will be easier for our students to remember which lunchtime and snack time clubs are happening each day with the addition of our new "What's On" board. Lego Club on a Wednesday is always popular. 

School Disco

Get ready to light up the dance floor for the annual St Finbars Disco on the 4th July! More information and booking links can be found on the P & F page of this newsletter. 

Staff Shout Out 

I just want to take this opportunity to send a shout out and thank you to our amazing staff here at St Finbar's. This is a busy time of year for our teachers, at the moment they are finalising mid-year assessments, analysing data, writing reports, completing Personalised Learning Plans and attending PSG meetings.  They are truly dedicated to your children.

Parking Update

We have had another parent receive a parking infringement, this time on Centre Rd whilst waiting in the Drive Through line just before 3:30pm.  Please take note of the signage around the school as it appears that the inspectors are keeping an eye on St Finbar's at the moment. 

Change of Date – School Closure Day

Please note that the date for our next school closure day in August has changed due to the availability of our presenters. The new date is Friday, August 8. We hope this does not cause too much inconvenience.

Take care and God bless,

Michelle Hill