Principal's Report

Italian Day 

We’re looking forward to a fantastico Italian Day at St Finbar’s tomorrow! Students will enjoy a Luigi Zucchini Magic Show, Future Football soccer clinic, fun Italian-themed classroom activities and, of course, a delicious Italian lunch courtesy of Anna (for those who have pre-ordered).  Students are invited to wear Italian colours: verde, bianco and rosso, or their favourite soccer jersey.

A big grazie mille to Signora Sirianni for all her hard work and passione in planning what promises to be another great day of celebrating all things Italian.

Farewell Peggy 

After 19 years, Mrs Peggy McDonald will say goodbye to St Finbar's next week. Peggy started at St Finbar's in 2007 as a classroom teacher and has taught in Year 1, Year 3 and Year 6. She took on the role of Learning Diversity Leader in 2019 and has been Deputy Principal since 2023.

Peggy has made an enormous contribution to St Finbar's. Her work as Learning Diversity Leader has been incredibly important, and she has always been a tireless advocate for our students. She has worked hard to ensure that each child is supported and given the opportunity to succeed, and to ensure that the needs of individual students are understood. Peggy has facilitated literally hundreds of meetings with families, teachers and external professionals. 

Over her time at St Finbar's, Peggy has married Kevin, and we've celebrated the arrival of her three beautiful children, Sophie, Koby and Archie. I first met Peggy in 2012, and we have had a lot of fun together over the years, with weddings, baby showers and significant birthday celebrations. It has been lovely to work alongside Peggy for so many years, and I have particularly valued her support and friendship.

We wish Peggy all the best for her next chapter at the new Shelford Campus of Caulfield Grammar. She will certainly be missed around St Finbar's, both professionally and personally.

Andrea La Fontaine will take on some aspects of the Learning Diversity Leader role in Term 4, and we will soon begin recruiting for a new Learning Diversity Leader for 2027 and beyond.

Farewell Shane

Another farewell this week is Mr Shane Daly. Shane leaves for Colombia next week to await the arrival of his new baby.  We will all be eagerly awaiting the news of baby's arrival and, hopefully, lots of photos! I look forward to sharing this special news with our community in a future newsletter.

Shane's students are really going to miss him, as he has built strong relationships with each of them and has brought plenty of enthusiasm and humour to 4D.

We welcome Miss Aleisha Sutherland, who will be teaching 4D from Monday. Aleisha has spent some time getting to know the class and was able to meet each family at this week's Parent Teacher Interviews.

Staffing Changes

I'm delighted to announce that Nonie Kay will be taking on the role of Acting Deputy Principal as of Term 4. Consequently, we're currently looking to employ a Performing Arts teacher for Term 4.   Nonie brings a wealth of knowledge about our school, our students and our community to the role. She has worked incredibly hard as our Literacy Leader and I know she will bring the same care, energy and commitment to her work as Acting Deputy Principal.

Farewell (for now) to the Prendergast Family

We wish the Prendergast family all the best as they head off to Singapore on Saturday.  We've loved having Ava in Prep this year, and we'll be happy for Ava to join us again in a few years when you return to Australia

Dad's Footy Day

Dad's Footy Day was another resounding success two weeks ago. It is one of my favourite days of the year, with the children playing, the dads getting involved and parents enjoying the opportunity to catch up and spend time together.

A huge thank you to all of the dads who helped organise the day and, of course, to everyone who came along and got involved. These events don't happen without a lot of work behind the scenes, and we are very grateful for the time and effort that goes into making them such a success.

I've included two galleries of photos below. These amazing photos were taken, once again, by Matt Skehill. Thank you, Matt, for capturing so many wonderful moments from the day.

The dads have also been busy fundraising in the lead-up to Footy Day and have raised an incredible $12,661 . This is an outstanding achievement and a wonderful contribution to our school. Thank you to everyone who donated, supported the fundraising efforts and helped make the day such a success.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools - School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS)

The MACSSIS survey window is now open and will remain open until Friday 18 September.

So far, 25 families have responded, and we'd love to have at least another 50 families complete the survey. The average completion time has been around eight minutes, so it is not a huge time commitment.

Please refer back to the email I sent to each family on 3 September, which contains the survey link and the PIN number needed to access the survey.  The survey is completely anonymous, apart from indicating which year level/s the respondents are referring to.

Your feedback is really valuable to us. The survey gives us an opportunity to hear directly from our families about their experiences of St Finbar's and helps us identify the things we are doing well, as well as areas where we can continue to improve.

We really appreciate everyone who has already taken the time to complete the survey. If you haven't done so yet, we'd love to hear from you.

Take care,

Michelle Hill

Principal