Galilee School News
Dear Families,
It has been another busy and thoroughly enjoyable fortnight at Galilee, with so many opportunities for our students to learn, celebrate and gather as a community.
Book Week
Last week, we celebrated Book Week at Galilee with a wonderful range of activities that brought the joy of reading to life across our school. This year’s theme, "Symphony of Stories," celebrates how diverse stories, voices, and characters blend together into one harmonious and powerful experience, much like instruments in an orchestra.
A particular highlight was our Book Week parade, with students and staff enthusiastically bringing their favourite book characters to life. It was wonderful to see the creativity, imagination and excitement across the school as our students shared their love of books and reading.
Throughout the week, students enjoyed a special visit from author and illustrator Chris Kennett, who inspired students with his stories, illustrations and insights into the creative process.
Students also took part in our much-anticipated book swap, engaging book-themed activities and a special assembly celebrating their love of reading. These experiences provided wonderful opportunities for students to connect with stories, authors and one another.
Dendy Athletics Carnival
Last week, selected students from Years 3–6 represented Galilee at the Dendy Athletics Carnival, competing alongside students from other schools across the region. Throughout the day, our students demonstrated wonderful determination, resilience and sportsmanship, giving their best effort across a range of athletics events.
There were a number of students who achieved strong results in their events and have qualified to progress to the next stage of the competition, which is a fantastic achievement. We look forward to supporting these students as they continue their athletics journey and wish them every success at the next level.
It was wonderful to see students encouraging and supporting one another, celebrating each other’s achievements and demonstrating fantastic Galilee school spirit throughout the day. Our students represented our school with pride and showed great respect towards their teammates, competitors and officials.
A special thank you to our PE teacher, Charlotte Drake, for her organisation and preparation in ensuring our students were ready to participate and represent Galilee. We would also like to thank the staff and parents who gave their time to supervise, encourage and support our students throughout the day. Your contribution helped make the carnival a positive and memorable experience for our students.
Year 5 and 6 STEM Projects
Today, we welcomed Nina Taylor and Josh Burns to Galilee to work with our Year 5 and 6 students. They shared their ideas and experiences around STEM, providing our students with an opportunity to hear about how STEM can be used to solve problems and make a difference in our community. It was a valuable opportunity for our students to connect their learning at school with the wider world.
Father’s / Special People Day and Footy Colours Day - Tomorrow
Tomorrow, we look forward to celebrating Father’s Day and Special People Day together at Galilee, with our annual Father’s Day BBQ at 7.45am, special activities in the stadium and a celebration liturgy in the stadium at 8.55am
This celebration is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together as a school community and recognise the fathers, grandfathers, father figures and special people who play such an important role in the lives of our children. We are grateful for the love, encouragement, guidance and support they provide each day and look forward to welcoming our families to Galilee for a fun and meaningful morning together.
It is also Footy Colours Day, so students and families are encouraged to wear the colours of their favourite AFL team and join in the fun! We look forward to seeing a sea of team colours around the school as we celebrate our shared love of footy and enjoy some friendly school spirit.
As always, thank you to our families for the many ways you support our school and contribute to the life of our community. We hope tomorrow provides a wonderful opportunity for families to connect, celebrate and enjoy some special time together at Galilee.
Parent/Carer Teacher Interviews
Our Parent/Carer Teacher Interviews will take place on Tuesday 8 September (Week 9), from 8:45am–4:30pm.Families have the option of attending their scheduled interview face-to-face in the Stadium or online.
These meetings provide an important opportunity for families to connect with their child’s teacher and discuss their child’s progress across all areas of learning, as well as their behaviour, engagement and effort. Teachers will share an overview of your child’s progress, current areas of focus and ways we can continue to work together to support their learning and development at both school and home.
We greatly value the strong partnership between home and school and look forward to meeting with families, sharing your child’s achievements and discussing how we can continue to work together to support their learning and growth.
MACSSIS Surveys
Each year, we invite Year 4-6 students, all families and all staff to complete the MACSSIS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Survey). The surveys provide our school with valuable feedback about the experiences of our students and families, including areas such as learning, wellbeing, engagement, relationships and the overall school environment. This feedback helps us to understand what we are doing well and identify areas where we can continue to improve.
We strongly encourage all families to take the time to complete the survey when it becomes available. Your feedback is an important part of our ongoing school improvement and helps us ensure that the experiences and needs of our students and families continue to inform our planning and priorities at Galilee.
The family log-in to access the MACSSIS survey will be emailed shortly.
2026 Fundraising
We have been truly overwhelmed by the outstanding fundraising efforts taking place across our school in preparation for the Gala. The enthusiasm, generosity and commitment shown by our families has been incredible to see, and we are incredibly grateful for the support of our school community.
This year, our fundraising focus has been on updating Maguire Hall. We have recently been fortunate to have MACS support an application for a grant to assist with the redevelopment of Maguire Hall and the lower level of the main building. If successful, this grant would provide an exciting opportunity to undertake significant improvements to Maguire Hall, as well as a number of classrooms within the main school building.
With this potential funding in mind, we have decided to broaden our fundraising priorities for 2026. Rather than focusing solely on major improvements to Maguire Hall, we will direct our fundraising towards minor, immediate updates to Maguire Hall, as well as new sporting equipment, marquees for sporting events and sports uniforms. These purchases will provide immediate benefits for our students and ensure that our sporting program is well resourced for the years ahead.
We are incredibly grateful for the energy and commitment our community continues to show towards our fundraising efforts. Every contribution makes a difference and helps us continue to provide the best possible facilities, resources and opportunities for our students.
Lockdown Practice next Thursday
As part of our ongoing commitment to student and staff safety, we will be conducting a lockdown practice next Thursday. As part of our emergency procedures, we practise our school’s emergency plans and protocols each term to ensure that students and staff are familiar with what to do in the event of an emergency. Students will be pre-warned about the practice and teachers will explain the purpose of the drill and what students can expect. We appreciate that a lockdown practice can feel unusual for some students, and staff will ensure that students are supported throughout the process. These regular practices help us to continually review our procedures and ensure that our school community is prepared to respond safely and confidently should an emergency situation arise.
Final Day for Term 3
Friday 18 September is the final day of Term 3. Students will finish at 1:30pm on this day.
GOSH, our out-of-hours care program, will be available from 1:30pm. If you would like to use this service, please book your child/ren through the TheirCare website.
Here is what is happening in the final two weeks of Term 3
Term 3, Week 9
Monday 7th September
-8am Running Club (All Welcome)
-Hoop Time Basketball for select students in Year 5 and Year 6
-Glee Club after school for students who have signed up
Tuesday 8th September
-Parent/Teacher Interviews for Prep-6 (normal school day for students)
-Chess Club after school for students who have signed up
Wednesday 9th September
-MAV Maths Games Day for select students in Year 4
Thursday 10th September
-Are you OK? Day
-St Mary’s College visiting our Year 4 students
-Lock Down Drill (Practise only)
Friday 11th September
-8am Running Club (All Welcome)
-Dendy Basketball Day for select students
-Prep 2027 Transition from 9am-10am
-Assembly at 8.55am Year 1 (All Welcome)
Term 3, Week 10
Monday 14th September
-8am Running Club (All Welcome)
-Glee Club after school for students who have signed up
Tuesday 15th September
-Italian Incursion "Cenerentola" for Prep-6
-No Chess Club today
Wednesday 16th September
-Year 3-6 Maths Games Club at lunchtime for interested students
Thursday 17th September
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Friday 18th September
-Last day of Term 3. Student finish at 1.30pm
We wish you and your families every blessing in the coming weeks,
-Amy Burns, Richard Harding and Holly Evans
We wish you and your family every blessing in the coming weeks,
-Amy Burns (Principal), Holly Evans and Richard Harding (Deputy Principals)