Leadership & Management

Week 10 Term 4

WEEK TWO ADVENT

St Fidelis School is committed to the care, wellbeing and protection of children , young people and vulnerable people in our community.

Dear Parents and Carers,

In the Principal's Message section today there is information regarding:

• Staff leaving St Fidelis
• Italian day
• Year Six Graduation
• A message from MACS regarding term dates 2026

Life Saving Victorian MEGA Beach Education Program

What a great day the Year 3 - 6 students enjoyed at the beach today. This Life Saving Education Program at the beach was designed to  create ‘Everyday Lifesavers’ out of Victorian students, by teaching them practical and engaging water safety, lifesaving and emergency response skills. The aim is to empower students to make safe aquatic related decisions while enjoying their local beach or waterways. This program was made possible by the Victorian Government's swimming funding to ensure the students could participate in a water safety program.  Many students missed out on opportunities to develop their swimming competencies and water safety knowledge, missing swimming lessons that  were cancelled during the two years of the  COVID-19 pandemic. 

Staffing Farewell News

Katarina Davidson will be leaving St Fidelis at the end of the year. Katarina began her teaching career at St Fidelis and has been with us for 20 years. Katarina has taught Foundation and the Year 3/4 level. Katarina has always had the best interest of her students and has always given her best to her students and families. Whilst we are happy for Katarina to move and continue her professional career elsewhere, Katarina will be truly missed. Katarina will take up a position in Year 4 at St Margaret's in Maribyrnong in 2023. 

Viviana Clarke will be leaving St Fidelis at the end of the year.  Viv has been a classroom teacher and valued staff member for the past 10 years. Viv has taught across the Junior and Senior areas of the school during her time at St Fidelis and has spent the last few years in the Senior Learning Area. Whilst we are thrilled Viv has a new role at St Mary’s Ascot Vale, we are certainly sad to see her go.  We know that Viv will bring her teaching skills and knowledge as she continues her journey as an educator next year. We wish Viv all the very best for the rest of her teaching career. 

Stefanie Carriera will be leaving St Fidelis at the end of the year. Stefanie started her career at the beginning of the COVID pandemic and has finally completed a full year face to face teaching. Stefanie has been a wonderful teacher and well-liked by all. Stefanie is moving to a school closer to her new home. We thank Stefanie for her short time at St Fidelis and wish her all the best with her up-and-coming wedding and her new school in 2023. 

We also said farewell to Max Williams, an Education Support Officer in our school. Max completed a teaching placement in Foundation at St Fidelis in 2021 and has been an Education Support Officer in a part-time capacity this year. Max has supported the Year 3/4 level this year. Max will continue to complete his degree in teaching in 2023 and we wish him all the best with his future teaching career. 

Staffing 2023

The new staff and the rest of the staff at St Fidelis will be published in next week's newsletter.  

Italian Day 

Please read Signora Rosa’s section of the newsletter for reminders of the requirements for Italian Day this Wednesday. Thank you to Signora Rosa for organizing such an exciting and fun-filled Italian day for our staff and students. Special thank you to the Parents and Friends for organising delicious Italian food and to our special grandparents for working with our students. 

Year Six Graduation - Saturday, December 10th

Year Six Graduation will take place this Saturday 10th December. The Year Six students and their families will attend Mass in the St Fidelis church at 4:00 pm, followed by the presentation of awards in the school hall.

All students are expected to attend the Mass and will be required to wear their full summer uniform.

After the presentation of the awards, the Parents and Friends organised a celebratory dinner (optional) for any families that would like to attend. This night is a special evening as we farewell our Year Six students and some of our families who have been associated with St Fidelis for several years. 

Kind Regards

Manuela Watson

PRINCIPAL

A MESSAGE FROM MACS  DIRECTOR - Revised School Term Dates for 2026

Main Points

The Department of Education and Training (DET) has announced changes to the Victorian school term dates for 2026 to provide an opportunity for Victorian communities to participate more broadly in the Commonwealth Games.

The 2026 Commonwealth Games will take place across regional Victoria from Tuesday 17 March to Sunday 29 March, with Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton hosting a range of activities and events for 20 sports and nine para-sports.

 The 2026 Victorian school term dates are:

•  Term 1: Tuesday 27 January to Friday 13 March
•  Term 2: Monday 30 March to Friday 19 June
• Term 3: Monday 6 July to Friday 18 September
• Term 4: Monday 5 October to Friday 18 December.

Term dates for Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) schools generally align with those published by the DET.