Principal's Message

A massive thank you to our wonderful school community for making our Celebration of the Arts evening last Friday such a resounding success! It was fantastic to see so many families come together to celebrate the incredible creativity and talent of our students.

I especially want to acknowledge and highlight the exceptional Visual Arts learning led by Ms Jess Skinner. The students' artwork displayed throughout the main gallery looked truly amazing and showcased so much effort and imagination.

Our students also blew us away with their energetic STOMP performances! It was wonderful to witness how much their confidence and dancing skills have grown since last year, their hard work and enthusiasm throughout the 5 week program really shone through on stage. Our students were very lucky to have Miss Maddie guiding them through their performance. The highlight for me was the whole school dance! 

Introduction of School Bells at Mother Teresa

At Mother Teresa Primary School, we know that children thrive when their day is built on clear routines, predictability and smooth transitions. Earlier this year, we introduced music to signal the end of play time, highlighting for students that it was time to move to their 'lines', ready to begin their next learning session. 

Following feedback from parents, staff and students regarding some timing consistency issues across the day, we are taking the next step to ensure our schedule is clear, predictable and supportive for everyone. Starting next week, we will be introducing four clear bells in our school time table across the school day. 

The four bell times are 

1. 8:50 am - Morning bell
2. 11:00 am - Eating time
3. 1:40 pm - Eating time
4. 3:30 pm - Dismissal.

Why Bells and Predictable Routines Help Our Students

• Protects Learning Time: Clear morning bell ensure our first learning blocks begin promptly at 8:50 am. 

• Guarantees Dedicated Eating Times: When busy in the classroom, it can be easy to lose track of time. Fixed signals ensure every single student receives their full, dedicated eating time before heading out to play.

• Ensures Consistent Dismissal: An end of day signal will help staff and students finish  on time for a prompt 3:30 pm dismissal.

Vision and Mission - Parent session 

A huge thank you to the families who attended the Vision and Mission session with Mr Des Noack on Thursday. This was a wonderful opportunity for our families to gather and have their say in shaping our school. 

It is so wonderfully affirming to know how much care and involvement you want to have in the future of the school. I can't wait to share with you, in next fortnight's newsletter, about the selected values. 

Faith in Action - Mother Teresa House System 

A new house system is coming to Mother Teresa! A house system creates a multi-age "family" within our broader school, giving younger students role models to look up to while allowing older students to step into meaningful peer leadership roles. By working, playing, and celebrating together across different year levels, our students build strong relationships outside their usual classrooms, deepening their sense of belonging and ensuring every child feels connected, known, and supported.

Our Grade 6 students are currently studying various saints as part of their Religious Education curriculum ahead of their upcoming Confirmation. To tie their learning directly to our school identity, I have asked our Grade 6s to propose potential saints to represent our new school houses. These proposed saints will be individuals whose lives, virtues, and actions align closely with the selfless life and mission of our patron saint, St. Teresa of Calcutta. 

Once our Grade 6 students present their shortlist of proposed saints, our broader school community including all students, staff and families, will have the opportunity to vote on the final selections before the end of this term!

RE Symposium 

During Day 2 of the RE Symposium, a personal highlight for me was Professor Anne Kertz-Kernion's key note speech on  Catholic Women and Neuroscience. Anne is a theologian, author, retreat leader, and founder of Cards by Anne, whose work explores the intersection of spirituality, imagination, neuroscience, and everyday life. 

Anne spoke to us around the neuroscience of learning and how there is also a neuroscience to our faith. She highlighted the importance of connection and the relationships that help people flourish in body, mind and spirit. She shared that our faith and what we offer as Catholic schools is "the science of human connection". She spoke about 3 Neuroscience roots of our faith

1. Wandering mind = An unhappy mind

2. Hope is a practice 

3. The body keeps score 

Anne explained that with point 1, that as humans we need to learn to keep our mind still and that prayer is how we can do that. When we stop and participate in meaningful prayer with our god we are teaching our mind not to wander. In regards to hope is a practice, she spoke about how hope can be measured and that as people of faith we need to remind ourselves that hope is something that we have to actively practise as our minds are wired to look for the negative rather than the positive in our experiences. The third area, the body keeps the score, was in regards to how our physical health is so strongly lined to our mental health and wellbeing, and knowing that we need to find peace and stillness in our days even through breathing, humming or singing. 

Professor Kernion then referred to three women of faith who practised these three ideas: St Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich and St Teresa of Avila. St Hildegard was known as a Doctor of the Church having seen the Sacred and the sensory together.  She famously said 

"Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you've got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You're a world - everything is hidden in you."

Julian of Norwich whilst not a saint, was a 14th-century English mystic and anchoress, who is and was renowned for her radical message of God's unconditional love and her famous comforting assurance 

 "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well". 

St Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun, a prominent Spanish mystic and spiritual reformer who was known as a Doctor of the Church. Teresa noted that our faith should be seen as a joyful celebration rather than that of sombre, saying:  

"God walks among the pots and the pans!" 

As we enter the weekend, I will be reflecting on St Teresa of Avila's quote about finding God in the 'pots and pans' in the busyness of family life! 

Regards,

Jess