Principal's News

Dear SMCM Community, Wominjeka!

On Monday the 2025 staff met to continue planning for the new school year. In 2025 our school theme will be guided by the words of St Mary MacKillop, 'be calm and full of hope', and inspired by the 2025 Jubilee theme "Pilgrims of Hope".

On Monday we reflected on our students' 2024 academic data to set future goals in line with our change of pedagogical approach, underpinned by Cognitive Science research and MACS Vision for Instruction. It is pleasing to see the improvement in student academic results and engagement in 2024.

In 2025 our Homegroup names enter a new era. They will no longer change each year, our homegroup names  reflect the history of our school and our Catholic Identity. On Monday the staff explored the meaning behind our new homegroup names and selected a name for their 2025 class. You can learn about the 2025 Homegroup names below:

2025 Homegroup lists and teachers have been finalised ready for our Orientation session on Wednesday morning. Handover conversations between 2024 & 2025 teachers have begun. The teachers have spent considerable time preparing these lists to best meet the needs of all students. Meeting new teachers and class mates is a time of both excitement and nervousness. During this time parents are encouraged to normalise the different emotions that come with change and reassure their children that adjusting to a new teacher may take time. A new class means opportunity for new friends and seeing other friends at break time. Thank you in advance for your support with this. The complete 2025 Staffing will be shared in next week's newsletter.

The key dates for 2025 including term dates and pupil free days have been added to the Important Dates section of today's newsletter.

The 2025 Fee Structure has been distributed via email. Families will receive a hardcopy of related forms in the coming days. Thank you to the families who have already returned their 2025 Direct Debit forms or paid their 2025 fees in full.

We look forward to seeing all our families in their Christmas colours at our Carols & End of Year picnic tonight!

Claire

Principal

claire.pitcher@smcmeppingnth.catholic.edu.au