Dear Parents and Guardians,

This is a short newsletter to end our year.

Thanks again for a wonderful year in which we have strived to provide the best possible learning opportunities to develop the full potential of every student.

I am so proud to be part of this learning community.

St. Martin de Porres is an excellent school with committed staff who share our vision to improve student growth in an engaging, exciting and happy environment.

We are committed to preparing our students for the changing world ahead of them. Not just academically, but socially, emotionally and spiritually as well.

From all our staff we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We hope you have a safe and happy New Year.

LAST DAY

Friday 16th December is the last day for students. School will finish at 1:00pm. Students can wear casual clothes.

LOOKING TOWARDS 2023

Our 2023 school year will begin with scheduled 'getting to know you" learning conversations on Monday January 30th 2023.

We are focused on building relationships with every learner. As teachers, we are experts in education but families know their children far more deeply than us. We also know that when parents/carers and teachers work in partnership, learners thrive and their performance is enhanced.

We completed assessments in November and December this year that remain relevant to begin the 2023 year so we are not spending more time doing assessments with students as their first experience of school in the new year. We have also introduced a detailed student handover process so our priority to begin the year is to provide an opportunity for a learning conversation.

These learning conversations are an opportunity for teachers to get to know your child better, through you, their parent or carer who knows them best.

They will take place on Monday 30th January 2023 between 8:30am and 5:30pm.

Note that Prep conversations are offered from 3pm to 5:30pm on Monday 30th January and on Wednesday February 8th between 8:30 am and 3pm.

Students will attend the 15 minute conversation for the first 5 minutes and then move to the learning street to participate in some activities. This enables the parent/carer and teacher to have a further 10 minute conversation.

Bookings OPENED on Wednesday 14th December @ 3pm and will CLOSE on Friday January 27th @ 5pm. Yesterday students brought home a note outlining who their 2023 teacher is and advising how to book your 2023 ‘get to know you’ meetings.

Also included, were conversation starters. You are encouraged to use these conversation starter prompts and questions as a way of communicating the most important information during the get to know your meetings.

THANK YOU and GOODBYE

A big thank you to Seamus, Louise, Sami and Phil for all their hard work and passion during their time at SMDP. We wish them all the happiness in their new roles and adventures in 2023.

CHRISTMAS HAMPERS

Thank you to all our families who donated non-perishable food to make Christmas hampers for those families who need support over Christmas. We were able to make up sixteen hampers that we delivered to St Vincent de Paul who were very grateful. Your generosity is appreciated.

Thanks to Lucas our REL for coordinating the collection and packaging of the hampers.

GOODBYE TO OUR

GRADE SIX STUDENTS

It is also that time of year when we say goodbye to our grade six students.

This year’s grade six students have been outstanding role models to all our students.

They have led by example to all our students throughout the year by showing the school how to play, work and laugh with each other. I’m sure they will always look back at their days at SMDP as happy ones and have many lifelong memories.

Enjoy this special family Christmas time and have a good rest.

Dan Ryan

Principal

St Martin de Porres Primary School is committed to creating an environment where the safety, wellbeing, and participation of all children within our care is paramount.

2023 - School Closure Days

Listed below are our school closure days for 2023. These are student free days. Staff use these days to further develop their learning and keep informed with current practice and procedures.

DATE	FOCUS
Friday 3rd February	Visible Learning

NOTE: These dates may be subject to change that may be outside of our control.

Introducing Our 2023 Staff Structures

Year Levels

Teachers

Year Prep

x 2

Lauren Middlebrook

Nell Denny

One/Two

x 3

Sarah Dolan

Caoimhe O'Neill

Jessica Schembri (Monday- Wednesday)

Andrea Fernandes (Thursday - Friday)

Three/Four x 3

Stella Lentini

Shaun Lenaghan and

Welcome, Olivia Davis

Five/Six

x 3

Kathryn Evans

Nicole Bosman (Monday - Tuesday)

Andrea Jensen (Wednesday - Friday) and

Welcome Simone Whitehead (Monday - Thursday)

Nicholas Woodgate (Friday)

Our 2023 Specialist Programs

Subjects	Teachers
Visual Arts	Jan-Maree Farrugia
Physical Education	Welcome to Nicholas Woodgate
Music & LOTE (Japanese)	Jane Padden
Sustainability	Julie Barbey
STEM	Lucas Mangani
Reading Recovery & Levelled Literacy Intervention	Anne Sexton
Extra Yr 1/2 Support	Andrea Fernandes
Extra Yr 3/4 Support	Julie Barbey
Extra Yr 5/6 Support	Nicole Bosman
Learning Support Officers	Alison Fisher Kerrie Hartman Fenina Reataza Welcome, Vidhi Virpariya & Rebecca Ketsakidis
Library Technician	Fenina Reataza
Business Manager/ Accountant	Debbie Di Genova
Admin Officer	Rexi Ninan

Next year our Leadership Positions will be made up of:

Leaders	Positions
Dan Ryan	Principal
Denise Kelly	Deputy Principal / Learning & Teaching Leader
Elise Coghlan	Deputy Principal / Literacy & Numeracy / Visible Learning Leader
Welcome, Chiara Genovese	Student Diversity Leader
Lucas Mangani	Religious Education/ Digital Technology Leader
Kathy Blythe	Student Wellbeing Leader
Simone Whitehead	Family Engagement Leader

SMDP Award Winners