Welcome to Term Three! I hope the school holidays gave you and your family a chance to reconnect, rest and recharge. It has been so lovely to see all the children arrive back at school with smiling faces and to be able to chat to them about their holidays.

As we progress through the winter season, this is a gentle reminder for all students to wear their correct winter uniform to school. We also kindly ask that you label each piece of your child’s clothing—especially school jackets, jumpers, and cardigans. A number of jackets have already been placed into the lost property basket without any names on them.

Curriculum Overviews

Please see the attached Curriculum Overviews for Term 3, 2026.

Kindergarten

Public Speaking Competition

Last Thursday, I had the privilege and challenging task of judging the St Martha’s Public Speaking Finals alongside Mrs Zilich, Mrs Cordi, and Mrs Ronzini. Every student who reached this final stage did a spectacular job, demonstrating excellent preparation and confidence in their speaking skills. They are all to be highly commended for their outstanding efforts.

To move forward to the final round of the competition, a student was chosen to represent each stage: Tony M (2 Gold) for Stage 1, Kira S (3 Gold) for Stage 2, and Jishna K (Stage 3 Gold) for Stage 3. These three individuals will be representing our school community at the Ashfield Olympic Park Network Finals coming up next Tuesday, 4th August. Throughout the network finals, they will each present their speech alongside stage peers from eight other schools across the Network. We extend our warmest wishes for their success and want them to know how immensely proud we are of their achievements.

2026 NAPLAN Results

NAPLAN results were taken home by our Year 3 and 5 students last Thursday. At St Martha’s, we use NAPLAN results to focus on each child’s individual growth and the progress they have made over time. Every student’s learning journey is unique, and we know that many different factors can influence achievement and development. For this reason, we always look at NAPLAN data alongside the individual stories of our students, helping us understand both the successes we can celebrate and the areas where we can continue to strengthen their learning.

Tomorrow, Mr Belcastro and I will meet with the Year 3 and 5 teachers to analyse this year's data and plan future strategies to better support our students at St Martha's.

PBL

Our PBL focus for the next coming fortnight is: Library

We encourage you to discuss the fortnightly focus with your child to help us reinforce the PBL (Positive Behaviour for Learning) message.

Chelsea McKeown

Acting Assistant Principal

Cookie's Life

Cookie - St Martha's Wellbeing Dog

Happy Birthday Cookie!