From The Principal

Dear Families,

It is unbelievable that I am writing the last Newsletter for Term One. As I reflect on the term so far, I am very proud of our children and the way they have settled into the 2024 school year and the growth they have made. I congratulate our children on their dedication to learning, meeting our expectations and the respect and kindness they have shown their classmates. I thank you for your support and encouragement which has assisted your children to have a positive start to the 2024 school year.

As we approach the Easter break, make sure you take the time to rest, recharge and enjoy the precious moments with your family and friends. Term Two begins on April 15, when we will continue to embark on new adventures to ensure our children continue to learn and grow. 

Holy Week

Next week our children will be focussing on the most important week in our Church, Holy Week, leading into Easter. We will be holding Liturgies to celebrate the significant days of this special week.

Palm Sunday is the day Jesus entered the Holy City of Jerusalem surrounded by a crowd of followers. Today, the palms are distributed at mass. The palms signify victory and triumph.

Holy Thursday is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the Feet and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. We also remember Jesus breaking bread and sharing wine with His friends.  

Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary. Our children will participate in the Stations of the Cross where they will have the opportunity to reflect on some of the scenes along Jesus’ journey to His death and resurrection.  

Easter Sunday is the day when Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection gives us all a sense of hope. The resurrection is God’s promise that love will always have the upper hand. 

‘If we have died with him, we shall live with him. If we endure with him, we shall reign with him’. 2 Tim 2:11

Throughout the week we will be celebrating liturgies to commemorate the events of Holy Week.

Palm Sunday liturgy will be held on Monday March 25 at 11.30am in the church.

The Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane will be held on Tuesday March 26 at 11.30am in the church.

The Stations of the Cross pilgrimage will be held at 9.00am in the school yard.

The Resurrection and Hope for New Life will be held on Thursday March 28 at 11.30am in the church.

You are invited to come and join us throughout the week.

We have been extremely lucky to have paintings of the Stations of the Cross by the indigenous artist, John Dunne. They are a beautiful depiction of the journey of Jesus to His death and resurrection. Please feel free to look at them when you are at school. They are placed in the corridors, office area and junior building. 

A reminder that Staff are participating in a Professional Learning Day tomorrow, Friday March 22.

Our focus is Feedback with teacher to student and student to teacher. The day will be facilitated by Glen Pearsall who is well known for his expertise in this area.

Congratulations 

Congratulations to our Choir who sang at the Sunfest festival last weekend. 

They performed extremely well and were placed third. Thank you to Marina Spiteri for leading the choir and supporting our children. 

Northern Metropolitan Region Swimming Championships

Congratulations to our swimming squad who will be representing our school at the regional championships today. The children who swam today were;

Under 12 - Piper V, Abbey M, Chloe B and Eliza M

Under 11 - Leo W, Nathaniel D, Aiden Mc and William R

Under 10 - Mason S, Edward H, Taj O and Devan H

2024 Prep Enrolments

Our Prep enrolments are officially open for new families.  St Annes has an excellent reputation as a wonderful school community and enrolment positions continue to be in very high demand. I encourage families who have a child they wish to enrol for next year to submit an enrolment application ASAP.  Existing families are guaranteed a place, but you must submit an enrolment form. If you haven’t received an enrolment form, please collect  a pack from the office. We have begun our school tours with many families attending. Their feedback about our programs, culture and facilities has been very positive. 

 Harmony Week

Today we celebrate Harmony Day. This year's theme is ‘Everyone Belongs’. The week has been dedicated to celebrating Australia’s multiculturalism. Harmony Week celebrates all the ways in which Australia is a multicultural country and how different cultures work together to create communities. Our school community is growing in its diversity and it is wonderful to see the inclusiveness our children have for each other.  It is something we all need to celebrate! 

Learning and Teaching

Last week many of our leaders attended a professional development session to gain a deeper insight into the new teaching and learning initiative from MACS. It is known as a Vision for Instruction which outlines their intent and goals for the MACS 2030: Forming Lives to Enrich the World strategic plan. The intent is:               

 By 2030, we aim to become the benchmark for excellence in teaching and learning, through a coherently integrated, academically competitive and distinctively Catholic educational offering. 

The two goals for instruction:

• Goal 1 - Excellence: All MACS schools deliver a knowledge-rich, evidence-based teaching and learning program.
• Goal 2 - Equity: Every student, regardless of background, achieves literacy and numeracy proficiency.

It will be exciting to see how we implement these goals and strategies into our teaching and learning strategies and the positive impact this will have on all children who attend St Anne’s and all MACS schools.

Positive Behaviour For Learning - PBL

Our children have been focussing on the skills to be respectful. We have also been discussing the need for our children to be responsible for their actions and words. We have been teaching our children that they can do something by teaching them how to do that thing. Therefore giving them the mindset then the abilities that lead to being responsible. 

At home you can do the following activities to assist your child to develop their responsibility;

Let them help

• Although it may take longer to get things done, let them help. When they are allowed to help they feel valued and more connected at home with you.

Build on age-appropriate tasks

• Start small to build up to tasks such as washing and drying the dishes. Take time to show your child what to do so they can feel good, ‘grown up’ and important

Express Appreciation

• Keep the positive energy by saying thank you and showing you are grateful. Your child will have a great sense of achievement

Allow for Independence

• Your child needs to learn to rely on themselves. Once shown what to do, let your child do the tasks by themselves and as a result will feel confident in their own ability. 

Allow for Natural Consequences

• When a mistake is made, a consequence will teach responsibility. The consequence should revolve around teaching and learning to do better next time. 

Teaching our children responsibility and giving them a chance to contribute at home, and to have experiences that have taught them that their decisions have consequences, stand a much better chance of growing into responsible adults. 

May God bless you and take care

Ms Noelene Hussey