Principal's News

Dear Parents, 

Thank you for the warm welcome I have received since joining OLGC. I have really enjoyed getting to meet everyone at drop off and pick up times. I have particularly enjoyed receiving feedback from you regarding possible improvements you would like to see at our school such as one platform for communication which we are currently investigating. Please keep the feedback coming! The start of term has been a busy one and we have hit ground running!

I would like to welcome a new staff member to our community. Simon Karpin has joined the administration team on a Thursday as Megan does not work on this day. This will relieve the pressure of other staff having to cover this position and Simone will also support Christina with other administration and finance responsibilities. Simone is experienced in both the corporate and education sector and also works at St Dominic’s in Camberwell. Please join me in making her feel welcome. 

Also, I would like to congratulate our STEM Teacher, Diandra Merola who has announced she is pregnant with her third child. Diandra will go on maternity leave at the end of Term 1. In the meantime we will advertise for a replacement for the period Diandra is away.

My focus in the last couple of weeks has been to meet with each staff member to start building a rapport with them, to set my expectations and to see how I can best support them in their roles. This feedback process is vital in building a strong and positive staff culture and this will continue throughout the year. 

Last Friday, we held our Opening Mass for the start of the school year, where the students and staff received a special blessing from Father Sang. It was a wonderful opportunity for the three schools to come together to celebrate as one parish.  

This week, the leadership team and I will begin conducting Learning Walks in each classroom across the school. This will give us a snapshot of what teaching and learning is happening in each room and where our gaps might be in terms of embedding The Science of Learning approach with a focus on Literacy across the school. We are also investigating other literacy approaches that compliment The Science of Learning for our Prep to Year 2 area.

The classroom teachers are currently conducting their testing with students and once this is completed our intervention program for Maths and Literacy will commence. However, if your child participated in our Maths intervention or extension program last year and needs continued support or extension this will have already commenced. If your child is identified as needing additional support and is new to the program, a letter asking for your permission will be sent home via Operoo in the coming days.

From a marketing perspective, new flyers have been distributed to our local kindergartens and via our social media. Our advertising boards will be updated and I begin my visits our local kindergartens this week. However, our biggest marketing strategy is our current school community. Your positive feedback about our school to prospective parents is invaluable. We have already started to receive requests for school tours and applications for enrolment. Our goal for enrolments for next year is a minimum of 21 students which will replace our graduating Year 6 students. If we receive enrolments beyond this number we will start to grow our community. If you are interested in enrolling a sibling, I encourage you to complete an enrolment form so that we can track our progress with enrolment numbers. 

Also, as a strategy to build future enrolments, I would like to start a playgroup for babies to preschool aged children in our local area. If you have any suitable play equipment or books that you would like to donate please do so at the school office. 

From Term 3, Before and After School will be provided by Melbourne Archdiocese for Catholic Schools Early Years Education (MACSEYE). All Catholic schools in the Melbourne Archdiocese will move to this provider gradually over the next 12 months. More information as to what this will look like at our school will be provided in due course. 

Our deepest condolences go out to the Butler family (Eve 3/4M and Lila 5/6P) with the passing of their Great-Grandmother. Please keep the Butler family in your prayers. 

Also, please keep in your prayers the Halliday family, especially Josh Alcala (Yr 6 2022), who is very unwell in hospital at the moment.

Finally, I will be away on the Year 5/6 camp to Canberra next week and Stu will be Acting Principal for this period of time. 

Wishing you all a wonderful week.

Kind regards

Robyn Thomson

Principal