The Principal's Desk

Dear parents, families and friends,

Eighth week of term, fifth week of a two week lockdown.

It is tough! It is hard! It is tiring! It is draining. The finish line has been moved once again until the 23rd September. Unfortunately there is no certainty for schools in regards to whether we will return to onsite learning at the start of Term 4 or it will be the same as last year with a gradual return to school over the course of Term 4. There are still two weeks until the end of term. The last day of term will still be Thursday 16th September. Friday the 17th will remain the scheduled school closure day to allow staff to plan and prepare for Term 4. As you can appreciate, the staff need to plan for Term 4 as they would normally do, they also need to have an extra plan in place if remote learning continues into Term 4. We have tried as much as possible to replicate the school environment online and to cover the curriculum planned for the term, however there is a vast difference between onsite learning and remote learning and so we need to have a plan in place that accounts for this.

Remote learning is challenging, but it is also rewarding. Taking into account all the complexities involved, the school has tried to deliver a program that meets the requirements set by the Education Department and Catholic Education (MACS - Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools), our own curriculum plan for the year and term, as well as the individual needs of each student and family in our school community. The ultimate aim is that the students are learning to the best of their ability and still making progress.

During the week we received the NAPLAN results. Looking through each individual report I was pleasantly surprised with the results our students achieved. Our Year 3s performed extremely well, on average achieving results above the national average in all areas except for mathematics. On average our Year 5 students are at or just below the national average in all areas except for mathematics. In the coming days I will be accessing the school data online where I will be able to download reports on school and year level performance. The Leadership team and then the staff will analyse this data to identify the areas of strength and challenge for the students and then use this to guide and inform our curriculum planning for the year to come. Individual NAPLAN reports will be emailed to families over the next few days.

Term 4 is promising to be a very busy term, and depending on when we return to onsite learning it may prove to be even more jam packed than anticipated. The events scheduled to happen next term, including those postponed from Term 3 include; swimming, Year 3/4 Camp, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Year 5/6 Camp, School Concert, Prep Orientation, Year 6 Graduation and Christmas Carols.

A reminder to any families that haven't returned their re-enrolment forms to do so as soon as possible. We are currently planning and budgeting for 2022 and a critical aspect of this is knowing how many students will be at St. Augustine's next year.

We have have some inquiries about term dates for next year. We are in the process of creating the calendar for next year, as soon the term dates for 2022 are confirmed from Catholic Education, we will notify you of these.

I wish all dads, granddads and dads to be a very happy Father's Day. May the day be special, restful and peaceful spent with the family.

Quotes of the Week:

'Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.'

St. Augustine 

Kind regards,

Matthew Stead

Principal