Mrs Ryan's Fortnightly Reflections

What a fortnight we have had! With Mrs Ryan on Long Service Leave, it is obvious she is leading us all well as the routines have remained consistent and school has continued to thrive in her absence. This success does not simply happen on its own.  

This morning we celebrated the men who are present in the lives of our learners. Thank you for your support and know that we are thinking of you all on Sunday. Having our school filled with laughter, excitement and pure joy is a privilege we appreciate each year.   

The teaching and learning at St Mary’s has been in the spotlight the past two weeks with plenty to celebrate. Selected learners participated in ICAS where they were provided with the opportunity to showcase their strengths in Literacy and Numeracy, fostering continual learning and development in these key areas.  

We also welcomed members from MultiLit and Catholic Education Sandhurst into our classrooms to observe the implementation of MultiLit, MiniLit Sage (intervention for Yrs 1-2) and MacqLit (intervention for Yrs 3-6). The feedback we received from the MultiLit team was something we are extremely proud of. In particular, they noted the high engagement of our learners, the calm classrooms and the commitment of all staff in delivering this high quality, evidence based program throughout our classrooms. I thank our classroom teachers, ESOs and leaders for their support in this as we all play an important role. Our next step is to move our teaching and learning from ‘excellent’ to ‘outstanding’ by refining the very small details in our practice.  

If you would like to see inside our classrooms, please see more information about our upcoming Learning Walks in the Parents in Partnership section. 

Thank you to those who attended our first parent information session based on Dr Jared Cooney Horvath’s The Science of Learning. This session focused on Stress, Sleep and Tech. We had great discussions following the session, connecting what we are implementing at school with ideas for the home. If you were unable to attend the first session, you are still welcome to join the second session which takes place on October 15th at 6:45pm.  

A reminder to please complete the ORIMA survey if this has landed in your inbox. Families were chosen at random and we value your feedback. As a result of previous surveys, we have focused on parents as partners in learning. In saying this, I draw your attention to Compass as many year levels have locked in a time to invite families into the classroom to participate and celebrate the learning.  

The proposal for a Mini Canteen from our Learning Leaders has been a great success. Over the past two weeks, we have served Party Pies to our happy customers. Meeting each month with the Learning Leaders and hearing the voice of our learners is something Jasmine highly values. 

We have noticed an increase in the number of toys/precious belongings being brought to school. We ask that special key chains or small toys are left at home. If your child is bringing something in for ‘Show and Tell,’ please remind them to keep it in their bag or at the teacher’s desk. This will ensure others are not tempted to play with it which can result in accidental damage. Thank you for your support with this.  

Our final newsletter will be released in the last week of Term 3. We welcome all families to our final TERRIFIC Kid Assembly on Friday 19th at 12:30pm in the Brigidine Centre.  

Take care, look after yourself and those around you, 

Bec Lloyd, Acting Principal