Community Engagement

Celebrating Achievement at Parent, Student, Teacher Learning Conversations

It was wonderful to see our Hall buzzing on Tuesday afternoon and evening with conversations, proud smiles and discussions about each students' progress.

These conversations are a vital part of our students educational journey.

We were so proud of our students as they confidently and proudly shared their achievements, goals for next semester and their favourite moments from the past two terms. Seeing their hard work recognised in these formal conversations motivates supports our students to keep striving and taking on new challenges. A highlight of these conversations is hearing the students speak about their own learning. Explaining what they did well and where they want to improve builds important self-reflection and ownership over their learning.

These three way learning conversations are an important way to strengthen the vital partnership between home and school. Research consistently shows that when schools and families work together, students flourish.

Remember, learning doesn't have to stop when the conversation ends! Keep the momentum going throughout next term by asking your child open-ended questions, such as, "What was your favorite learning/activity today?" or "What is one goal you want us to work next term?"

We are incredibly proud of the growth, resilience, and effort our students have displayed so far this year. Thank you for your continued partnership and for being your child's biggest advocate!

Year 5 & 6 Debating

We welcomed Dr Carina Garland back to St Roch's last Wednesday. She kindly responded to our invitation to be the adjudicator for the Year 5 & 6 debates last Wednesday. Dr Carina was generous with her feedback and definitely left the students understanding more about the complexities of debating.

We enjoyed two hours of clever debating where our Year 5 & 6 students showed incredible resilience as they overcame any nerves to present their part of the debate to a large audience. There was great team work on display as each team supported each other particularly when rebutting the previous teams argument. This was the culmination of a term of learning about debating and our students were very well prepared for each of their debates.

The students debated topics including 'Should video games be classified as an official sport?',

'Should plastic packaging on all food items be completely banned?', 'Should museums return ancient artifacts to the countries they originally came from?' and Should schools ban smartwatches?'

Enormous thanks to Miss Allen and to Mrs Jensen and our amazing team of Learning support Officers who work in Year 5 & 6 for supporting the students throughout this opportunity.

As she left, Dr Carina Garland commented that Australia is in safe hands if the caliber of our students is a reflection of the next generation. An impressive compliment indeed!

Open Morning Tours

We are looking forward to opening our classrooms this Tuesday morning for our final Open Day Tours for this term. We look forward to future tours in August. Please come along if you have the chance to see what a special place our school is to belong to, to learn and to grow within!

Future Open Day Tours

Tuesday 23 June 9.30am

Wednesday 5 August 9.30am

ICAS Assessments at St Roch's 2026

We are excited to be offering our students the opportunity to participate in the world-renowned ICAS Assessments again this year in August. This online academic competition is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing and Digital Technologies and supports our enrichment and extension program here at St Roch’s.

The ICAS English, Mathematics, Science and Digital Technologies assessments are open for students from Year 2 to Year 6 and ICAS Writing is open to students from Year 3 to Year 6.

Further details about the ICAS assessments including information about how to enrol your child through the parent portal will be sent to families later this week.

Teeth on Wheels

We are excited to This is a friendly reminder that Teeth On Wheels will be visiting our school for dental check-ups on Monday 20th July2026.

Early dental visits are crucial for your child’s long-term oral health. At this visit, Teeth On Wheels will help identify and address common dental concerns, such as:

Thumb-sucking– which can affect tooth development.
Teeth eruption– ensuring teeth are coming through correctly.
Bite issues– preventing misalignments that may cause future problems.
Hypoplasia– weakened tooth enamel that can lead to decay.
Decay and cavities – catching early signs before they develop into bigger issues.
Deep grooves and pits– which can trap food and bacteria, increasing the risk of decay.
Gum infections– preventing long-term damage to gums and surrounding tissue.

To ensure your child is part of this visit, please complete the consent form by clicking the link below:

Complete Consent Form HERE!

Once completed, the Teeth On Wheels team will Check your child’s eligibility for FREE care under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS). If your child is not eligible, Teeth On Wheels is offering a special deal of $125 for a full check-up, clean, fluoride treatment, and any required x-rays (which can be claimed through your private health insurance).

Important: The cut-off date for completing your child’s form is July 13th 2026.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact the Teeth On Wheels team at (03) 9338 1191.

Thank you for prioritising your child’s oral health!

Gardening Club

Gardening Club is an important component of our Wellbeing Program. Mrs Meseha provides time and space for students to come together in a purposeful and fun way to connect with nature and each other. Last week there was a tiny caterpillar to observe. Mrs Meseha has a true gift for setting up engaging activities involving mud, creativity and care for nature.

Gardening Club is held every Wednesday at 1.50pm and is open to all students from Prep - Year 6. We love watching our veggies grow!

Chess Club in Term 3

Chess Club will run throughout Term 3 and we are looking forward to having Zach continue as our coach. Have a look at all the fun being had at Chess club last week!

Registration for St Roch's is now open on the Chess for Schools website and Term 3 registrations are open here:

Congratulations to our Term 2 Chess Club Champions

We would like congratulate the St Roch’s Chess Club Champions for Term 2. These students have been attending weekly chess club sessions with Zach, our coach, throughout the term to build their skills. Each week they played a friendly game of chess with a partner and points were collected. Students received bonus points for showing respect, responsibility and resilience at Chess Club.

We would like to congratulate Hannah Setiawan who received first place and has been awarded the best and fairest trophy. Congratulations Hannah.

Congratulations to Henry McCann who has been awarded the silver Grasshopper Badge for second place.

And congratulations to Zachary Crocker who has been awarded the Bronze grasshopper Badge for third place.

Hannah, Henry and Zach will receive their trophy and badges at Tune in Tuesday tomorrow. Congratulations!

Singing Club Performance

The students of Singing Club delighted us on Friday afternoon with their performance. They sang a Neil Diamond medley and stole the show! Enormous thanks to Mrs O'Gorman who has been preparing the students over the past semester. Talk about shining your light, these students are tremendous examples of this. We look forward to m any more performances! Singing Club is held every Thursday at 11.10am in the PA Room.

Performing Arts Club, Gardening Club, STEM Club and Dance Club

It's all happening at lunchtime at St Roch's! We are pleased to be able to offer extra curricular activities for our students throughout the week during break times. We are very excited to announce two new clubs at St Roch's...Singing Club and Performing Arts Club.

STEM Club is led by Mrs Jensen and our STEM Leaders Luka and Conner on Thursdays on a fortnightly basis at 1.50pm.

Dance Club with Roxanne by Dance Fitness Victoria is held every Thursday at lunchtime at 11.10am and is open to all students from Prep - Year 4.

Please encourage to children to participate in any of these clubs should they wish to come along. The more the merrier!

Icy Pole Friday - Could be changing in Term 3!

Our School Captains Mia and George will be selling icy poles for a gold coin donation at 1.00pm in the playground this Friday afternoon. Stay tuned for a change in Term 3! Your donations help to improve our school. Thank you for all of your support to keep improving our school.

Upcoming Community Event Dates for your Calendar

Thursday 16 July - Elevate & Engage Senior Hub Evening - All parents welcome 6.00pm in the Senior Hub

Friday 17 July - Year 6 Assembly 3.00pm in the Hall

Monday 20 July - Teeth on Wheels Dental Van at St Roch's

Wednesday 29 July - Grandparents and Special Friends Morning 9.00am - 10.45am in the Hall. We are delighted to be hosting a book fair in the Art Room for grandparents and special friends to purchase to be donated to our beautiful school Library. Jefferies Bookshop in Malvern has supplied the books 2for the Book Fair.

Nadine Bolton

Deputy Principal, Learning Diversity Leader and Student Wellbeing Leader