Dear Families,

Thank you to all the families who attended our incredibly successful Art Show last Thursday evening. Congratulations to all the students of St Mary’s for their hard work in preparing for the Art Show and for the dazzling display of talent and creativity on the night. The night truly belonged to these amazing children!

Thank you to all the families who came and supported the children and helped make the Art Show such a terrific community event. It was wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents and other family and friends exploring the galleries and enjoying the experience.

Congratulations and thank you to Daliah McLoughney (Mrs. M), who over the past few months has poured her heart and soul into preparing the students for the night, passing on her incredible gifts to them.

Thank you to our dedicated staff who supported in so many ways both on the night and in the lead-up, in particular, Veronica Del Castillo for the creative student performances throughout the night, and to Tayla Kent, Michelle Perpina, Renae Robinson and Sarah-Jane Clarkson for their contributions over many months.

Thank you also to the many parents who contributed to preparing art show pieces and displays and to running the sausage sizzle. Thank you to Paul McCormack and Primo Street Pizza Co whose delicious fare was enormously popular and to the Coffee Van, Howzit Brew Mobile Coffee.

The Art Show was a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their creative talents through visual, performing and media arts. At St Mary’s we proudly hold the creative arts as an important focus in our school community.

There is a growing body of research that supports the assertion that the Arts play an important role in developing creativity, which is one of the top three 21st-century skills, along with problem-solving and critical thinking. Not only do the creative arts enable enjoyment, and foster imagination and creativity, but also create a safe and supportive environment that encourages individuality, empathy, a growth mindset, and collaboration.

School Disco

I extend my thanks to the Year 3 parents who did a fantastic job coordinating the School Disco, creating a fun and memorable evening for the children. Events like these are a great way for kids to socialize and have a great time with their friends. The enthusiasm and excitement of the children were a testament to the success of the event.

I acknowledge the effort and hard work put in by the parent volunteers who made the event possible. Our students frequently benefit from the generosity of parent volunteers who help create these positive and engaging experiences for them. Thank you also to Mr Eddy for his presence on the night.

Acting Principal Appointment Process

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) is currently in the process of appointing an Acting Principal for 2024, during my period of Long Service Leave. This appointment process is external to the school. The Regional Manager of the MACS Southern Region, Debra Eagan, will provide further information to our school community once this appointment has been made.

I recognise that everyone in our school community is eager to receive some confirmation about this appointment and empathise that this creates uncertainty. Please know that the work of the school in making plans for 2024 continues, including the development of our four-year School Improvement Plan which will come out of the recent review.

I encourage any parents who have questions or concerns about this process or regarding any other matter to please do not hesitate to contact me. As has always been the case, I have an open-door policy and am happy to make time for you to meet with me.

NAPLAN

Recently, we have received the school comparison data, which shows how our school performed against Victorian Schools. Congratulations to staff and students on the excellent NAPLAN results achieved in March this year with students in Years 3 and 5 across Australia participating in the tests.

St Mary’s has performed extremely well in this year’s NAPLAN tests. We are very proud of these results and it is important to note that they don’t just happen by chance. It is a testament to the ongoing consistent hard work of our staff who have each played their part over recent years in enabling these students to achieve. I have provided a snapshot of data from both Year 3 and Year 5 below:

Year 5

Our mean score is equal to the top 75th percentile of the state in both writing and reading
In Year 5 Writing, 76% of students are working at a strong level as opposed to 60% across the state and 24% of our students are working at an Exceeding level as opposed to 14% statewide. In Year 5 Reading, 49% are working at Exceeding, compared to 24% across Victoria. In both areas, no students at St Mary’s are working at a Developing level.
In Spelling our students performing in our lower quartile perform significantly higher than the lower quartile statewide. Our upper quartile compares similarly to the state.
In Numeracy, the school mean is well above the state mean. Students in our tenth percentile are performing above the 25th percentile of the state and near the national mean.

Year 3

In reading, 53% of students are working at a strong level and 32% are working at an Exceeding level. Our mean score is well above the state mean and approaching the 75th percentile for the state.
In writing, 79% of students are working at a strong level and 10% are working at the Exceeding level. Our school mean is above the state mean.
In spelling, 35% of students are working at an exceeding level and our mean score is above the state mean and approaching the 75th percentile of state. This reflects the effort invested by the school in this area in recent years in our junior school.
In numeracy, 58% of students are working at a strong level and 23% at an Exceeding level. Statewide, 14% of students are working at the Exceeding level. Our mean score is above the state mean.

St Mary’s Choir Bayside Carols

We are extremely proud and excited that the St. Mary’s school choir has been invited by the Bayside Council to perform as part of the Pre-Show Entertainment in this year’s Bayside Christmas Carols in the Park on Tuesday 12th December. The event will take place at Dendy Park in Brighton East with the pre-show fun commencing at 5:30 pm and the formal presentations running between 7:30-9:30 pm. St Mary’s Choir participants will perform during the scheduled pre-show entertainment which will take place between 5:30 pm-7:30 pm (exact time to be confirmed soon), after which students will return to their families and are welcome to stay with their families for the remainder of the show.

Rehearsals will commence this week as part of our weekly Thursday lunchtime club. All students (including new members!) have been welcome to participate and are encouraged to show commitment in their attendance towards the lead-up to our performance.

The Bayside Council will also feature a photo of our school choir in the December/January edition of the ‘Let’s Talk Bayside’ Magazine.

2024 Classes

Over Term Four of each year, St Mary’s staff work together to form class groupings for 2024, based on on-balance judgements and taking many factors into account: social, emotional, academic and physical. We aim to provide each child with the best possible opportunities to be an active member of the class to enable maximum learning.

Part of children’s Social Emotional Learning is understanding that working with different and diverse people is a natural part of life and that they will be able to manage and thrive. As adults, we all play a vital role in modelling this mindset to the children.

We do not separate children because of previous conflicts, as we want children to learn the important life skills of restoring relationships, developing social skills, forgiveness and resilience. Avoidance only reinforces anxiety about previous issues or conflicts and creates a false sense of how the world works. As adults, we all need to deal with people from time to time who frustrate or annoy us and it is important for children to learn to manage these feelings from a young age, with adult support and encouragement.

We want to ensure children have a range of people to mix with at St. Mary's as a natural part of life and social-emotional learning. The everyday interactions that the children have are all important learning opportunities. I have the utmost faith in the staff of St Mary’s that they can manage and support students in the classroom environment. The teachers are able to make judgements about class groupings that will best maximise learning opportunities for all students.

If parents have a concern regarding the placement of their child for next year, they must be put in writing no later than Friday 17th November. Parents may also be required to meet with myself and Nathan Eddy to discuss for it to be considered. Concerns must relate to the learning needs of your child and not personal likes and dislikes. There is no need for parents to request friendship matching, as the teachers have a process they work through with the children to empower them in the process. We encourage parents to step back and trust their children to work with their teachers in this.

Parent concerns will be taken into consideration, in balance, along with the many other factors that come into play when organising classes. Whilst concerns may be taken into consideration, the school reserves the right to make the final decision on placements, given the complexity and wide range of considerations that are taken into account. Very often, parent concerns are already in line with what the teachers believe to be the best option for placement. Please note; that it is school policy not to consider personal requests for a teacher. I ask that parents trust the teachers' judgement in these matters.

As is always the case, families will be provided with details about classes and staffing for 2024 as the final half of the term progresses.

Prep Orientation

Next Wednesday 8th November we will be welcoming our new Prep students for 2024 for the first of four orientation mornings. Miss Ewelina Podgorska will be the Prep teacher in 2024, with one Prep class. Ewelina, together with Annie Walker, will be with the new students for their orientation sessions over the coming weeks.

School Closure Day

Next Monday 6th November will be a School Closure Day, followed by the Melbourne Cup Public Holiday on Tuesday 7th November.

I wish all families a restful weekend and public holiday.

Matthew Sweeney

Principal

principal@smhampton.catholic.edu.au

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