Principal's Report 

 

Welcome

Dear members of the St Raphael's school community,

As this is the last newsletter before Easter, I would like to reflect on our Lenten journey as we prepare for Easter.

We began this Lenten journey back on Wednesday 14th February at our Ash Wednesday/ Beginning of School Year mass. The time in between has passed so quickly with many significant events and learning opportunities for the children throughout the school: Year 5/6 Leadership Camp to Bacchus Marsh (Week 2); selected children in Year 3- 6 have swum and won the Preston District Sports Association Swimming Carnival; a Welcome BBQ/ Picnic was held on Friday 9th February; Parent Information Sessions; Archbishop Denis Hart joined us on Saturday 17th February to celebrate Fr Simon’s Installation Mass; Parent/Child Confirmation Information Night on Tuesday 20th February; Sacrament of Confirmation Initiation Mass on Sunday 25th February; Twilight School and School Open Day tours; School Photos; School Education Board meetings; Landscape Redevelopment meetings; Parent/ Teacher Interviews; Harmony Day Pasta Lunch; Year 6 leaders attending the St Patrick’s Day Feast Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne; Year 1/2 excursion to Scienceworks; tours for prospective parents and visiting teachers from other schools; the Batman By-Election Polling Booth (BBQ, Cake Stall and Coffee stalls organised and run by our wonderful parent volunteers); and, our Year 6 children receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation last Saturday 17th March. What a big start to the 2018 school year!

This is the life of all primary schools - vibrant, happy and busy places! There is no such thing as standing still in education. You are either moving forward or going backwards. In an ever-increasingly chaotic and fast-paced world, we never seem to have the time to stop and reflect.

This is why a Catholic school is so important to all members of our community - children, teachers and parents. Lent and Easter is a time to stop, reflect and take time out to strip away the excess of our lives to enable us to focus more intensely on how God is revealed in our lives. The liturgical year provides a range of tools to enable us to engage more deeply in this mystery and Lent provides a rich opportunity for reflection and renewal.

Next Thursday we will break for our Easter school holidays. We will be finishing the term at 1 pm and we invite all parents and grandparents to join us at 12:15 pm in the school hall for our final school assembly to reflect on the true meaning of Easter - Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, his passion, crucifixion and his resurrection.

From the earliest times in Jewish/Christian history, there has been a desire to prepare for the feast of the Resurrection of Christ or the Pascha (Passover).

As you prepare for the Pascha, please take some time out for renewal -  for yourselves, your children, families, friends and loved ones - and please keep the true meaning of Easter at the forefront of your mind.

I wish you all a safe, happy and reflective Easter.

CIBO PER TUTTI!

We enjoyed a fantastic whole school pasta lunch on Tuesday in the school hall to celebrate Harmony Day and the launch of our new Italian language pilot program, Developing Autonomous Language Learners (DALL). The children enjoyed sitting together and eating freshly cooked pasta with the delicious sauce made by our Year 6s last week.

A huge thanks to our parent volunteers who cooked and prepared huge amounts of pasta (enough to feed over 300 people!) - Rose Drazic (Nathan Yr 1/2), Maria Mennillo (Kiara Yr 3/4 & Nicholas Yr 1/2), Bianca D’Alessandro (Milana Yr 5/6), Kelly Maughan (Zoe Yr 5/6, Evie Yr 3/4 & Toby Foundation), Fiona Garnham (Edward Yr 5/6, Emily 3/4 & Alex Foundation) & Jeremy Richards (Milana Yr 5/6) - all under the guidance of our fantastic sustainability coordinator, Catherine Talarico. A big thank you to Catherine's dad, Aldo and husband, Vince for assisting the Year 6s with making the sauce. Thanks to all of our teachers and Fr Simon for helping serve the pasta.

These authentic cultural learning experiences are invaluable for the children and we hope that we can have similar experiences on a regular basis throughout the year.

BATMAN BY-ELECTION

Thank you to all of the wonderful parents who assisted with the organisation and coordination of the BBQ, Cake and Coffee stalls last Saturday at the Batman By-Election. Thanks to the parents who contributed the freshly baked cakes.

PARENT SURVEY FEEDBACK

A big thank you to all of the parents who were randomly selected to participate in an anonymous parent survey at last Monday’s Parent/ Teacher Interviews. We surveyed approximately 39 parents as a ’temperature gauge’ to gain some insights and feedback from parents of children from Foundation  - Year 6 on a number of issues that you may experience as parents or you may feel is impacting your children's wellbeing.

As a school, we want to hear your concerns and we will be conducting regular ‘check-ups’ throughout the year to hear your feedback on a variety of issues that we can take on board and discuss with your parent representatives at our School Education Board (SEB) meetings.

This year we have joined an organisation called ‘Happy Schools’ and we are mindful of the things that may impact children on a day-to-day basis. We will also be surveying the children throughout the year to get their honest feedback on certain issues that they feel have an impact their learning or their social and emotional wellbeing.

I have already had a meeting with our Year 6 SRC leaders and they have expressed some concerns about our children’s ability to socialise, interact and play games at recess and lunch times. These behaviours are not reflected in the learning spaces when a teacher or adult is present but rather when children are ‘left to their own devices’. After recently talking to a number of principals in our local area, they too have expressed similar concerns that it is becoming a common problem for the children of today. With the advent of technology, more and more children are finding it difficult to develop the inherent social skills that many adults take for granted. An example of the issues includes: How to play fairly, accept the umpire’s decision, be mindful of what we say to others, be inclusive of others, it’s OK to disagree with someone. 

Take some time to have a chat with your children and ask them some of these questions.

BULLYING?

We are aware of the mixed parent reaction to Question 12 regarding perceptions of bullying in our school. It is important to us to receive your feedback and we will be proactive in addressing these concerns.

The following is an excerpt from the Victorian Government's Department of Education Victorian website:

What is bullying?

 There are some specific types of bullying behaviour:

 verbal or written abuse - such as targeted name-calling or jokes, or displaying offensive posters

• violence - including threats of violence
• sexual harassment - unwelcome or unreciprocated conduct of a sexual nature, which could reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or intimidation
• homophobia and other hostile behaviours towards students relating to gender and sexuality
• discrimination including racial discrimination - treating people differently because of their identity
• cyberbullying - either online or via mobile phone.

What is not bullying?

There are also some behaviours, which, although they might be unpleasant or distressing, are not bullying:

• mutual conflict - which involves a disagreement, but not an imbalance of power. Unresolved mutual conflict can develop into bullying if one of the parties targets the other repeatedly in retaliation.
• single-episode acts of nastiness or physical aggression, or aggression directed towards many different people, is not bullying
• social rejection or dislike is not bullying unless it involves deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude or create dislike by others.

At St Raphael's we have a zero tolerance towards bullying. Bullying is a word which is used frequently in our society and is a major social issue. Our children will be exposed to a world of social media and other forms of communication and need to be prepared for the possibility of dealing with bullying.

As a school, we have zero tolerance towards bullying. However, to enforce this stance, we need to be informed. If you have any concerns regarding any of the bullying behaviours described above that your child may have experienced then please inform your child's homeroom teacher and make a time to meet with them to discuss your child's concerns. The school can then deal directly with the issue, support you and your child, put strategies in place to prevent this behaviour from reoccurring and/ or provide appropriate advice for dealing with these matters.  We can only help if we are informed. We are here to work with you to protect and support your child.

DISCIPLINE @ ST RAPHAEL'S

Question 11 also raised some questions with the parents surveyed  regarding the discipline at St Raphael's and we will be looking at these results to address your concerns:

In the last 12 months, we have recently updated our school's discipline policy and we take a proactive stance on promoting positive whole school discipline - reward versus punishment.

This is not to say that all children will always do the right thing and that their behaviour is tolerated or ignored by the school. There are times when children will do the wrong thing and there are appropriate punishments for this behaviour. Parents are sometimes asked to come to the school to discuss their child's inappropriate behaviour or children may miss out on certain opportunities or privileges as a consequence of their behaviour. The whole intention of these disciplinary measures is for your child to realise that they've done the wrong thing and have let themselves down.

The children will be faced with having to make many decisions in their lives. As adults, we will not be standing right there beside them all day, every day to help them make the right decisions. Only they can arrive at the right decision and that is why the disciplinary measures at St Raphael's actively promote the intrinsic motivation of the children to make good choices rather than a discipline policy which is purely focused on poor decision making and punitive measures. 

I stress that our teachers are doing an enormous amount of work incorporating student wellbeing programs and initiatives into the everyday curriculum to promote a positive school-wide approach to behaviour management.  Our focus is on all of our children being happy at school, feeling safe at school, having respect for themselves and each other, being engaged in their learning and having the intrinsic motivation to do the right thing for themselves and each other.

We are constantly reminded whilst on excursions and from visitors to our school about the wonderful manners and behaviour of our children here at St Raphael's. Many teachers who come from other schools and emergency relief teachers all comment on the exemplary behaviour of our children. 

We welcome any parent who would like to make an appointment to show you the school's discipline policy and explain the disciplinary measures that we have in place to ensure that St Raphael's is a safe and happy school "where every face has a place at St Raph's".

The Raising Children website also provides up-to-date, evidence-based, scientifically validated information about raising children and caring for yourself as a parent or carer. They gather this information and translate it into everyday language with plenty of real-life examples.

Based on the evidence, the site describes and explains various parenting methods and options and let people choose for themselves, depending on what suits their circumstances. It gives people tools and practical ideas to apply in their own situations – we don’t tell them what to do. I encourage you to visit this website.

The following article is titled: Why children and siblings fight

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/fighting.html

SURVEY RESULTS

The following is some additional feedback we received from last Monday’s survey. In collaboration with the staff, SEB members, student leaders and SRC representatives we will be addressing some of the concerns and acting on your feedback throughout the year.

EARLY LIFE FOUNDATION TOUR

Yesterday we welcomed 44 teachers from around Australia who visited our school to observe our approach innovative and progressive approach to learning and teaching. Once again, this was affirmation of our approach and the dedication and commitment of our teaching staff. Thanks to our leading teacher of Walker Learning, Lorraine Uzunovski, for coordinating and hosting these visitors.

We are extremely proud of our growing reputation in the education sector and are pleased to also welcome a number of teachers from New Zealand next term who have been advised to come and see what we are doing here at St Raphael’s, West Preston.

CHINA: THEN AND NOW FOR LEADERS IN EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

The University of Melbourne and The Confucius Institute at the University of Melbourne offer a sponsored study program called China: Then and Now for Leaders in Education.

This opportunity has been extended to me and is, in part, due to the work we have done with Melbourne University on a number of projects and partnerships over the last few years. There are 15 principals from primary/ secondary, government/ Catholic/independent schools from across Australia who will be participating in this program.

The study program provides a sweeping overview of China, with trips to some of its most famous sights in four key locations – Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Beijing – to understand modern China’s historical context and future impact on world affairs.

This in-country professional learning for leaders in education will enable participants to understand modern China’s historical context and future impact on world affairs.

This trip, in particular, the Principal Forum in Hangzhou and lectures at the renowned Nanjing University, will compare and share educational initiatives with the Chinese education system and will provide a first-hand experience of Chinese-Australian relations.

Program Objectives:

• Develop participants’ knowledge and understanding of modern Chinese society and its historical context

• Enhance participants’ understanding of the Chinese education today, its reform and agenda; provide opportunities for participants to exchange views and share good educational practices with Chinese counterparts in the education transition via Principal Forum hosted by the District Education and Principal Shadowing Program

• Build school leaders’ intercultural understanding through interactions with Chinese people and observations of social practices

• Build the capacity for participants to implement the Australian Curriculum’s cross-curriculum priority of Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia across learning areas.

The program commences in the second week of the upcoming school holidays until Tuesday 24th April. I look forward to proudly representing St Raphael's on my journey and sharing my learning experiences with you all on my return.

PARENT ARTICLES

PLAY-BASED LEARNING CAN SET A CHILD UP FOR SUCCESS AT SCHOOL AND BEYOND

A great article in the Australian publication, School News. It is pleasing to read how academic research is finally supporting the progressive approach to learning and teaching that we offer here at St Raphael's. We are pleased to affirm that across the school our student academic results are supporting this approach. https://tinyurl.com/ybwu5r86

NAPLAN ARTICLE

An interesting article on NAPLAN/standardised testing in the latest edition of Education HQ Australia. We have long advocated that NAPLAN is an annual summative assessment and one form of assessment. NAPLAN should never be used to judge or compare a school’s quality of education or their approach to learning and teaching.

As you would be aware, at St Raphael’s, we use our NAPLAN results as an annual assessment tool but believe in the use of regular, rigorous formative testing (pre/ post tests & rubrics) as a much more valuable way to regularly inform and guide our teachers as to what each child knows and what they need to learn. https://tinyurl.com/ya5eotbq

SCHOOL FEES

A reminder that there is a $200 discount if school fees are paid in full by Monday 30th April. Whilst there is no pressure from the school for parents to pay the fees by this date, we do ask that all outstanding fees and levies for the 2018 school year are reconciled by the last day of Term Three (Friday 21st September). As always, if you are experiencing financial difficulties please make an appointment to meet with me to discuss your options.