Principal's Report
Dear Parents,
We have many events coming up over the next two weeks and understand that it can be hard to keep track of all that is happening. Please see the updated list below with more information about each event following.
Thursday 31st August Parish Consultation meeting
Friday 1st September Father's Day breakfast/stall
Saturday 2nd September St Finbar's vs. St Joan of Arc Footy Match
Wednesday 6th September Italian lunch order day
Friday 8th September St Finbar's Feast Day.
Friday 15th September Footy Day - wear footy colours. Special lunch order.
Important - St Finbar's Parish Consultation
The Parish Consultation Session is happening tonight 31st August from 7pm-9pm in the Fr Lou Heriot Hall. Please consider attending this session so that the needs and hopes of our parishioners can be heard, and subsequently inform future decision-making, not only at the local level, but also at the Archdiocesan level. Please book at www.trybooking.com/CKPNGor scan the QR code.
MACSIS School Improvement Surveys
Over the next few days, you will receive an email regarding our annual Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) surveys. These surveys help us to gauge how we are tracking as a school in various areas, and how we compare in these areas to other Catholic schools in Melbourne. Staff, Parents, and Students in Years 4 to 6 are all invited to complete these surveys. We do take the results of these surveys seriously and use the results to drive our Annual Action Plan. Please keep an eye out for this email; it will only be sent to one email address per family. Last year we had 75 families respond, and we would love to improve on that number this year.
Communication Survey
Thank you to the 77 people who completed the recent communication survey. Over the coming weeks, I will share some of the results from the survey, starting with our primary form of communication - the weekly newsletter. 93.5% of parents are very satisfied or satisfied with our current school newsletter. Parents were asked what they found most valuable in the newsletter with School Dates (96%), Principal's Message (92%) and Class Info (82%) coming in the top three. It appears that most people are happy with the frequency of the newsletter, with 72% preferring our current weekly newsletter. There were some great suggestions as to how we can improve the newsletter including more photos, celebrating successes from our community, and ensuring that the newsletter doesn't become too repetitive.
"The newsletter is excellent. Fun, informative and celebrates all the great things the children are doing plus helps me keep track of important dates."
"Great to know what is being focussed on to reinforce at home and continue talking about with our Family."
"I read this every week as it is very detailed and covers most details."
Father's Day/Special Friend Breakfast & Stall
Our annual Father's Day and Special Friend breakfast and stall is happening tomorrow from 7:30am. Please remember to bring money along for the stall.
Dad's Footy Match - this Saturday!
The Annual Dads Football Challenge is back for 2023. Come down to the William St Reserve (Corner Halifax and William St), Brighton on Saturday 02 September from 1pm.
There will be a Jumping castle and face painting for the kids, and a Mums Longest Kick competition with prizes for the Top 4. There will also be a Matchday Raffle, with proceeds going to the school.
There is also a silent auction with a chance to win the opportunity to drive a Ford Mustang for a weekend. All proceeds will go straight to St Finbar's. Click here for the link.
Thank you also to the many generous sponsors who are supporting this event, and to the Footy Match Committee Alan Contreras, James Davies, Rory Hammer, Tim Marget, Jacob Swierc, James Adams and Richard Maloney. It promises to be a great day.
St Finbar's Feast Day
To commemorate 175 years of education at St Finbar's, we will have a whole day of celebrations on Friday 8th September.
Australian religious songwriter and singer, Drew Lane, will be visiting our school to share his songs with our children. Drew’s songs, such as “We Are One”, “God Is Everywhere” and “I Like The Way God Made Me” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia, New Zealand, and the world. The concert will take place in our school hall at 2:30pm, which parents are welcome to attend. Please note that there will be NO morning assembly on this day.
There will be a 'sausage sizzle' lunch on this day for all students, and Anna will be selling gelato (these can be pre-ordered through the Healthy Hut). If your child doesn't want a sausage for lunch, you will need to provide your own alternative - there will be no lunch orders on this day. Students can wear green on this day to recognise St Finbar's Irish origins.
Story Dogs
Thank you to all of your support with our Story Dogs fundraiser last week. We raised $432.30 which will help to continue the work of this great organisation here at St Finbar's.
Please click here to see the video made by one of our Year 2 students.
Congratulations
Congratulations to a group of our Year 1 boys who came first runners-up at the McKinnon Basketball Association Cougars Cup Winter 2023 competition last Saturday. Well done "Lightning Hoopers"
Michelle Hill,
Acting Principal