Principal's Piece 

Term 1, Week 9

Thank you to the many families who joined us for our Buddies Picnic last week. Opportunities like this play an important role in fostering a strong sense of belonging and connection within our school community. It was wonderful to see the positive relationships developing between our youngest students and our Year 6 leaders, as well as parents joining in the activities. 

This year, as part of Catholic Education Week, we are especially proud to share that two of our students had their artwork selected for the Catholic Education Week Art Exhibition. Congratulations to Amaira Barot and Israel Oyoo.  Their artwork reflected the spirit and theme of Catholic Education Week. Achievements like this highlight the importance of nurturing creativity and providing opportunities for students to express their understanding of faith, hope and learning in meaningful ways. Thank you to Ms Goga  for attending the exhibition over the weekend and supporting our students. This is also a reminder of the quality of learning that takes place in our classrooms.

Our Social Justice Leaders, School Captains and Mr Iacopino attended a special Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral last Friday to join with other Catholic school communities in celebrating Catholic education. This was a wonderful opportunity for our student leaders to represent our school with pride, reflect on our shared faith and deepen their understanding of what it means to live out Gospel values in our everyday lives. Our students were reminded of their important role as leaders within our community called to serve others, show compassion, and promote justice. We thank them for the respectful and reverent way they represented our school and for the leadership they continue to demonstrate in bringing our school vision of love, faith, hope and learning to life.

Next Thursday we will be having a Holy week pilgrimage around our school. Parents are welcome to attend. Please refer to the Religious Education page in the newsletter for details regarding times for each year level. 

This year, we unfortunately will not be able to host our traditional Mother’s Day Breakfast, due to our building program, the gym is currently out of use, which has impacted our ability to hold this event.

However, we are very much looking forward to welcoming our mums in a different and equally special way. We invite mothers and special guests to visit their child’s classroom from 8:00–8:30am, where students will have something thoughtful and meaningful planned to celebrate and acknowledge their mums.

The dates for these classroom visits are:

• Tuesday 5th May – Teresa and Kolbe
• Wednesday 6th May – Samaritan and Romero

Further information will be shared early next term. We thank you for your understanding and look forward to celebrating the important role our mothers and special people play in the lives of our students.

Our Stage 2 of our building program is well underway, with exciting progress being made on the refurbishment and upgrade of our canteen, redesign of toilet block, upgrade to the facade and larger gathering space which will be our before and after care area. These improvements will provide modern, welcoming and functional areas for our students and community to enjoy. The estimated completion time for these works is the end of May. Please see below for some images of what our new and improved spaces will look like. 

We kindly ask families to avoid picking up  students during break times where possible. Our break times are recess at  (11:00–11:30am) and lunch (1:40–2:20pm). Collecting students during these times can be disruptive, both for your child and for staff supervising across the school. During break times, it can also be difficult for students to hear announcements across the yard, which can delay pick-up and cause unnecessary confusion. In addition, students are often away from their classrooms, making it challenging for them to collect their school bags and belongings. We understand that early collection is sometimes necessary due to appointments and we appreciate your support in organising pick up either before or after break times. 

Hard to believe it is that time of year again where we are thinking about Prep 2027. Enrollment forms are now available via our website for any families who have a child starting Prep next year.  

As this will be my final newsletter for the term, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our families for your ongoing support throughout the term. Your partnership and involvement in school life is truly valued and greatly appreciated. Wishing everyone a wonderful break and a Happy Easter.  May the Easter season be a time of joy, renewal and hope for you all. We pray that this special time reminds us of the message of love and new life that sits at the heart of Easter.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back for Term 2. School resumes on Monday 20th April. 

Please check our school calendar for school closure days for the rest of the year and events happening this semester. 

God Bless and take care

Cinzia Mancuso

Acting  Principal