Principal's Message
Dear parents, students and families,
At St Anne's we look forward to travelling this journey of hope together and the joy with which we have returned to our classrooms and school are a great springboard for this.
Congratulations to all our students, including our Foundation students who joined us this week, on how they have returned to school. Our classes and the yard have a very nice feeling to them.
Our Parents and Friends (PNF) committee hosted a number of the Foundation parents for a coffee morning on Monday and we hope this made what can be a challenging transition just a little but more easy. It was a great joy to see a number of our longer term families both supporting and making welcome our new families. The reality is that these faces you are seeing around you now are likely to become the friendly faces you bump into in the future not just at school but at Church, basketball and other sports, at the beach, at the shops, at birthdays and wherever else the families of our parish interact. This connection creates a very warm and caring environment for your children to grow up in, but also for you as parents to connect. Though my boys are now 25 and 22 I feel very connected to the Mornington and Mt Martha community and most of this has been through my sons and their activities.
Our first assembly of the year was held Monday and these will continue fortnightly, commencing at 2.45pm. As always parents are warmly invited to join the school at these times.
I did say that last week our focus for this week was just on getting everyone settled into school. Next week we start to get all of the extra things happening.
Wednesday 12 February we will have our Camp Information evening for our Year 5/6 classes at 6.30pm. Information regarding this will be shared by the 5/6 staff. Camp is from 3 Monday to 5 Wednesday March at CYC City Camp.
We will hold our Parent-Teacher meetings for Years 1-6 on the afternoons of
Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 February between 3.40 and 6pm. Parents are to meet with your child's class teacher on-site as we feel it is important that relationships are established face to face. You can book your 10 minute timeslot between 3.40-6.00pm at https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au and enter the event code 4qea4
The aim of these meetings is for you to share as much information about your child with the teacher, look at some potential goals and to discuss how your child has settled into their 2025 class.
On Tuesday 18 February our students will be learning to Bush Dance as part of their Arts Curriculum. That evening, at 6pm, there will be an opportunity for our families to come and see what their children have learnt during the day. On Wednesday 19 February we will have a student-free day as our staff, joined by the staff of St Francis Xavier PS, will be working with leading educationalist Glen Pearsall on enhancing their practice. I apologise for any inconvenience with this early date in the year but we know it will be of benefit to our students. Moira will be running day care for those that require it on-site so please ensure you contact Happy Kids if you will need this.
Monday 24 February at 9.15am is our first OPEN MORNING for prospective 2026 Foundation enrolments. These tours are aimed at new parents wanting to join our school community for the 2026 year. Please let anyone you know who may be considering our school for their child/ren to ring the office for further details. If there are any siblings due to start next year please contact the office.
It is great to see the new council playground at the rear of the school being used regularly by our school families. What a great resource. Can I request that if your children move out there at the end of the day that they have adult supervision with them. It is a public area and I am always concerned about our students' wellbeing.
God Bless and have a great week.
Rod Shaw
Principal
School Attendance and Unexplained Absence
Please contact the school if your child is going to be absent by leaving a message on
9786 4736 and press 1. Please give details of your child’s name and class with areason for their absence such as: unwell, appointment, holiday or family reasons. Alternatively an email can be sent to office@saseaford.catholic.edu.au with cc to the child’s teacher.
If you are running late, (after 9:00 am) please attend the office to sign your child into school and collect a late pass.
If you are picking up your child early you will need to collect them and sign them out from the office.
As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences:
Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a text message.
If parent does not contact the school after receiving the text message, the school will contact the parent by phone. If the parent is unreachable the emergency contacts will be contacted by the school.
If there is still no response, and the school feels that the child is in danger, the police will be contacted.
Ongoing unexplained absences or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in a formal conference being organized. Unresolved attendance issues will be referred to D.H.H.S.
This is a legal requirement.
Democratic Principles
The six (6) principles of Australian democracy include:
(a) elected government; and
(b) the rule of law; and
(c) equal rights for all before the law; and
(d) freedom of religion; and
(e) freedom of speech and association; and
(f) the values of openness and tolerance