Dear Parents and Caregivers

What a Great Start to 2026!

It has been wonderful to see everyone settle into the new school year. Our students have been awesome in the way they have conducted themselves on their return to school, particularly with the very warm days we experienced last week. We welcome to St Helena's Catholic Primary School all our new students and families to Little Adventurers, Kindergarten and across various year levels.

Our Super Staff

All our staff have been amazing in ensuring we were all ready for the start of the school year and I wish to sincerely thank all of them for their efforts. Our administration staff, our leadership team, our teaching and non-teaching staff. They have all kicked off the new year with continued enthusiasm and commitment! As our new Staff Team comes together in 2026, we come together in the best interests of all our students and school community. I know parents and caregivers will continue to support the staff at Saint Helena's to ensure our Home/School partnership strengthens even more in 2026! Have a read about our new staff to St Helena's in our 'Meet Our Staff' section of the eNewsletter.

Communication

At the beginning of every school year I remind our school community that "It takes a village to raise a child". Let's continue to work together, respecting each other's roles and ensuring that the best interests of all our students are at the forefront of all that we do and say. I remind everyone of the importance of keeping up with the communication that we share with you. Remember to keep up to date with links to our website and other documents, as well as the updated calendar on our website.

Are you following us on Facebook or Instagram? We have some great posts about all the wonderful things going on at St Helena's. Get on board and follow us! As always, communication will always be directly communicated via the school to our parents and caregivers. Our Facebook and Instagram is our platform to the wider community to advertise and celebrate all the wonderful things that we do.

Opening School Year Liturgy and School Captains Presentation

Last Friday we came together as a school community with students in Pre-Primary to Year 6, along with staff and families to celebrate our Opening School Liturgy. We also had our Year 6 Captains formally installed to their positions at the end of the liturgy and given their badges. Congratulations to our School Captains for 2026! I know that they will be wonderful role models for all our students at St Helena's, as will all our Year 6 students.

Thank you to Miss Myles for planning the liturgy and to all our students who played an active role. We look forward to welcoming Fr Bona back to the parish after his holidays in the next few days. It was wonderful to see parents/caregivers in attendance. You are always very welcome to attend all our liturgies and masses.

Parent Information Sessions

Thank you to the parents/caregivers who came along to the Parent Information sessions last night. We appreciate you taking up the opportunity to meet your child/ren's teacher/s and learning more about the exciting year ahead and what the expectations are in their learning space. Thank you too, to the parents/caregivers who remained for the Cyber Safety session, I am sure you all found it very worthwhile in broadening your knowledge of all things cyber safety. Keep an eye out on resources from the session that will be forwarded via email.

Catholic School Advisory Council and P&F News

We look forward to 2026 with the support of our Catholic School Advisory Council, P&F Executive and support of the school community as a whole. Please take the time to have a look at our P&F section in the eNewsletter and make the effort to get involved in 2026!

Our first P&F Meeting is on this Monday 16 February at 5:00pm in the Library. It would be great to see many families represented at this meeting to share ideas and find out more about how you can get involved in assisting in planned events throughout the year.

Save the date - Friday 6 March for our St Helena's P&F Family Welcome Back BBQ.

School Fees

Families are asked to familiarise themselves with school fee documentation coming out this week and ensure that payment schedules are set up by the due date. The School Fees Schedule for 2026 was discussed at last year's Annual Community Meeting and the schedule was published on our website. Thank you in advance for your commitment to sending your child/ren to St Helena's and the paying of school fees that cover tuition, booklists, levies and other expenses as part of your child's/ren's learning journey. If there are families experiencing financial hardship, you are encouraged to make an appointment to meet with me via the Administration office to discuss your payment plan for 2026.

Staff Right to Disconnect

Parents and caregivers please note, that to assist us in enabling our teachers to disconnect from work and technology at the end of their working hours, there is no expectation that they will respond to calls, emails, texts or other communications outside of school hours. A reminder of our Communication Guidelines that we shared at the beginning of the year on our website.

Let's be Grateful!

We are all looking forward to the year ahead and want to keep those smiles we have seen in the last week and a half on all our students' faces as they discover even more new things this year in their learning, as they strive to do Something Beautiful for God in all that they say and do.

Our Vision for Learning at St Helena's Catholic Primary School

is focused on the following four pillars.

SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT

As a community united in faith and trust, St Helena’s Catholic Primary School seeks to provide a nurturing and diverse learning environment where all are inspired to live the ideal of doing Something Beautiful for God.

VISION FOR LEARNING

Pillar One: Christ Centred - Catholic Identity

At St Helena’s, we value the visible expression of our Catholic identity

and actively give witness to the values of the Gospel.

Pillar Two: Collaboration - Community

At St Helena’s, we value staff, students, parents, caregivers, parish and the

wider community working together to support each person

to become the person God intended them to be.

Pillar Three: Voice & Engagement - Education

At St Helena’s, we value evidence-based teaching and learning practices that are respectful and responsive to the diverse needs of all learners in an ever-changing world.

Pillar Four: Safety & Respect - Stewardship

At St Helena’s, we value each individual and act with concern for the

physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of all members of our community.

At St Helena's, we are a Christ-centred and a child-focused community,

always striving to do Something Beautiful for God.

Peace & Happy Days!

Santino Giancono

Principal

"What I can do, you cannot. What you can do, I cannot.

But together we can do something beautiful for God."

Saint Teresa of Calcutta

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