Principal's Page

Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy Easter - The Lord is Risen

Let us Pray:      

Jesus, thank You for your sacrifice. 

Jesus, thank You for my life. 

We pray, That we’ll join you in heaven someday.

Amen

Parent Feedback Sought

As you are aware, the school underwent a school review process last year. One of the recommendations from this process was that we develop a Catherine McAuley learning

 framework which outlines what we value about learning and how we go about teaching your children. In order to develop this framework the school has engaged an educational consult to work with all stakeholders to develop a framework that reflects all aspects of our community. This consultant has worked with the staff during one of our staff development days in Term 1 and has again worked with the staff at a staff meeting. Early next term, he will spend two days working with the students. These days are 1st and 2nd May. On the evening of May 2nd he would love to work with a group of parents to get their perspective. If you are interested in being a part of creating a learning framework which will steer the educational direction of Catherine McAuley for the next 5 years, please come along to this workshop. It will be held in Kenna Hall on Thursday, 2nd May from 5:30. It should run for approximately 1 hour.

Kindergarten 2025

We have had a lot of interest in Kindergarten for 2025. If you have a child you wish to enrol in Catherine McAuley and you want to be sure that there is a place for your child, please get your enrolment forms in as soon as possible and make a time for an interview with the Principal.

Lunch Orders 

We have had may lunch orders appearing in the incorrect classrooms. We ask parents to

make sure that the correct class is on lunch orders - you need to change classes annually.

If child goes home sick after the lunch order has been placed or does not come to school on the day you have placed an order, please cancel the order through flexi-schools by 9.30am. If you do not cancel the lunch order, it will be made as ordered and the school cannot reimburse you the cost of the lunch order. 

The made up lunch order can be picked up if it has been placed and not cancelled or can be sent home with any siblings. Please respect the office staff, they have no control over the lunch orders.

PACE Meeting

Next PACE event will be The Mother's Day Bake Sale. This will be held on Wednesday, 8th May, time to be confirmed. A coffee van will also be onsite to allow mums to enjoy a sweet treat with a good cup of coffee. 

The sweet treats will be provided by our Kindergarten families.

A gentle reminder that the next PACE meeting will be held in Week 3, Term 2. They main items on the agenda will be:

-feedback from mothers day

-refining the process of events

-plan for upcoming events

-clarify our purpose

We ask all grade champions to be present if possible with feedback from their grades and to participate in the discussion around how we can refine our processes.

Process for Counsellor Referrals

Elisa Goodwin is the school counsellor who works at Catherine McAuley 5 days a fortnight. Elise works confidently with a number of children individually. This year she is also running small groups completing a program call Kool Kids. This program provides strengths based social, developmental, and early intervention programs for children and young people facing complex issues in their lives. It helps build resilience in young people dealing with these complex issues. Sometimes, teacher and school staff become aware of a students need for counselling or parents may feel your child would benefit from 1-1 counselling or the Kool Kids program. In these instances, there is a process that needs to be followed. Firstly, a referral needs to be completed for the student, by either myself or the wellbeing coordinator, Shannon Cain. Parents will always be informed of a referral being submitted and their permission sought to do this. Once the referral has been accepted, the child is placed on a list for counselling. A the time the counsellor has with us is limited we ask that parents respect the process so that the counsellors time is spent where it is most effective.

Return and Earn

Last Wednesday the Environmental Officers, Matilda and Josh, had a splendid time at the Wangarang Return and Earn with Mrs Flynn and Mrs Cain. They learnt a great deal of information and even found out that over 11 billion cans and bottles have been processed at Return and Earn.  These items were previously left out on the side of the roads causing environmental pollution. They had great ideas about recycling, and one of the ideas was at our Athletics Carnival to give each House a large recycling bag to put all their cans, water bottles and poppers in.  Each recycled item put in the bag earns a point for their House. One of the other activities we experienced was a smoking ceremony. This is an Indigenous tradition where they create a smoking fire and put smoke in their face and body. The Smoking ceremony is an ancient custom that cleanses both the spirit and physical body.