From the Principal

Dear Families,

Yesterday was the feast day of Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first and only saint. Mary MacKillop co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1866, alongside Father Julian Tenison Woods. This order focused on providing free education to poor children in rural and remote areas of Australia, which was groundbreaking at the time. Their contribution made education accessible to many who would otherwise have been deprived. Mary MacKillop is an integral part of Australian history and culture, embodying values such as compassion, determination, and service to others. Her story is celebrated in Australian history and is taught in schools across the nation. All students have been learning about Mary MacKillop this week. 

Major Fundraiser

We are forever grateful for the incredible people within our community who go above and beyond to make sure that Galilee remains the best school, with the best learning opportunities and resources for our students.

This has never been more evident than in the lead-up to our Major Fundraiser. Our community has banded together to raise funds that will supplement what the school has set aside to buy new digital devices for our Prep - Year 2 students to access and fit-out a new Wellbeing Hub. These two projects will be greatly enhanced by the funds raised through Galilee Parents Association (GPA) and our very generous parent community.

Saturday night is our major fundraiser of the year. Thank you to our GPA for their extraordinary efforts in organising this event. 

Sacrament of Confirmation

We would like to congratulate our Year 6 students who will be participating in the Sacrament of Confirmation this coming Sunday. 

By receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, our students' relationship with God is made stronger. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are strengthened: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. In this way our Confirmed students are equipped to become a better witness to Christ in the world.

Yesterday Bishop Tony Ireland visited our students as part of their final preparation for this very special Sacrament. 

Thank you to our families, teachers and Parish Priests who have assisted in preparing the students for this big occasion. We look forward to celebrating with them on Sunday at 2pm at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. 

Olympic Day at Galilee

Many of us have been watching the Australian athletes' extraordinary performances at the Paris Olympics. Last Monday we gathered as a community to celebrate the Olympics. Students dressed in green and gold and participated in sporting events outside and olympic activities to celebrate this exciting event on the 2024 calendar. We would like to thank Melissa Duncan and Seb Greene for making the day spectacular. Melissa is a regular emergency teacher at Galilee and she has also represented Australia in the 1500m and 800m running event. She arrived at school extra early last Monday to start the day with our very successful running club. She then worked with every student within the school at the sporting events set up by Seb Greene. 

Galilee Girls Soccer Team

Last week our Galilee Girls Soccer Team represented our school at the Regional Competition in Cheltenham. We would like to extend congratulations to all our girls who displayed wonderful sportsmanship and demonstrated excellent level of skill. Thank you to Sinead McGlinchey and Seb Greene who coached and supported the students. 

Science Week 

This week at Galilee has been Science Week. National Science Week is Australia's annual celebration of science and technology. It was celebrated with a fun-filled Science show on Tuesday from parachutes to slime to growing beans. Today students arrived at school dressed in the theme of ‘Science’, our STEM leaders ran a wonderful assembly and parade. Thank you to Rachel Leahy, our STEM leader for organising such a fabulous week and such wonderful learning opportunities for our students. 

Student Free School Closure Day is on Friday 16th August

On Friday 16th August we have a student free school closure day. GOSH will be open for the day and we encourage you to book your children in early if you wish to use this service as spaces are limited. Staff will be focusing on Catholic Identity on the day. The professional development that they will be attending will be facilitated by Rev. Dr Elio Capra. 

Rev. Dr Elio Capra SDB is a lecturer at Catholic Theological College and is a member of the Department of Systematic Theology and the Department of Pastoral and General Studies. He lectures in Liturgy and Sacramental Theology. He is a priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB).

Book Week at Galilee is coming up

Book Week is coming up! On Monday 19th August, students are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. On Monday the 19th of August, we will have our Book Week Dress Up day and parade at 9am. Parents are welcome to attend our parade. On Monday the 12th of August, we will begin our celebration with a Drama Performance about some of the nominated Book Week books. 

Deamer Babies

A heartfelt congratulations to Brighid, Kyle, Patrick and Rosie on the safe arrival of twin boys, Samuel James and Harry Joseph. 

We wish them much happiness and love as they welcome these precious babies into their family.

New staff at Galilee

We are delighted to announce that we have four new members of staff joining our Galilee team. All four staff are joining our Learning Support Team, working with students with additional needs around our schools, and supporting classrooms with their passions and skill sets. 

The new staff are: 

• Kelsey Gan
• Valentina Rodriguez
• Jade Baynes
• Mohammad Moneer

We are passionate about supporting all the students at Galilee to achieve the best results across academic, sporting and health and wellbeing domains. These staff will help us to achieve these goals. 

We wish you every blessing in the coming weeks,

Richard Harding, Amy Burns and Simon Millar