A message from Denis

Dear Parents and Carers, 

We have officially made it past the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice was yesterday, June 20th.  This means the days will only be becoming longer and brighter as we make our way through the next couple of months of winter.  Each year, I wait for this day and then channel my key character strength of Hope to look forward to the longer, brighter and eventually warmer days to come.  They are coming, so just hold the line!

If you and your families are getting away this mid year break I hope that you enjoy safe travels and enjoy quality time together.

Be Ready 2024

My example of Be Ready this week comes from our staff.  As I have previously written about this year, St Mary’s is being reviewed in early Term 3.  Our staff have worked diligently to assess and gather evidence around our performance in the areas of:

• Religious Domain
• Leadership and Management
• Learning and Teaching
• Wellbeing 
• School Community

We have engaged in self and collegial reflection on our current practices and processes.  It has highlighted the many strengths of our work and importantly, identified areas where our focus needs to be during this next School Improvement cycle.

Being ready to receive feedback is a skill that we all need to work at.  It is a vital one if we are wanting to improve and be better versions of ourselves.  

Once you know better, you do better.  At St Mary’s we are looking forward to the challenge of being  ready to be the best educators and school we can for your children.

Reports

Next week you will receive your child(ren)’s first semester report for 2024.  This report will give you important feedback on their achievements throughout the first half of the year.  We regularly and critically review our reporting formats and presentation with the purpose of making them as accessible and useful to you as parents as possible.  

We have also been targeting more accurate assesment and moderation of achievement with our teachers.  You may have received a phone call or had a meeting with your child’s teacher already about their progress this semester.  Learning and development is measured both across a semester and the entire school year.  Students that may have not made the benchmark progress at this point of the year have a great opportunity to put in effort to ensure they make this progress in the second half of the year. 

Achievement at standard is determined by achievement  within a 6 month band (see diagram) as determined by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.  A student can be marked at standard either at the front of the yellow band or at the rear of it.  This means they are either at the higher end (front) or lower end (rear) of the standard band.

I wish to congratulate all of our students at St Mary’s on a terrific semester of learning and growing together.

Master Plan update

I have received the first draft and concepts for our Master Plan at St Mary’s.  I have used these drawings and plans to apply for funding to upgrade and make sustainable improvements to our Roseberry buildings.  

I look forward to being able to provide you with further updates in the near future.

Welcome Daniela Day

I would like to officially welcome Daniela Day to the team of educators at St Mary’s.  Daniela joins us as Head of Wellbeing and Inclusion at St Mary's beginning Term 3.  This role encompasses the Wellbeing and Learning Diversity Leader roles.

Daniela comes to use with great experience, having taught in the Special Education sector in her early career, worked as a Classroom Teacher, Target Teacher, Intervention Specialist, Graduate Mentor and Coaching Leader throughout her career.

Daniela will be an excellent addition to our team and a great benefit to the areas of Wellbeing and Learning Diversity at St Mary’s.

Pick ups and Drop offs

I have again received numerous messages about the challenges created in the surrounding streets during pick up and drop off times.  Please do not double park near the drop off bays, this creates blockages for traffic and dangerous situations for cars and pedestrians.  If there is no space in the waiting bays for pick ups or drop offs you are encouraged to circle the block or park your car in a permitted spot in the surrounding streets and walk in for pick up/drop off.

Please be particularly mindful of queuing across intersections and roundabouts.  Moonee Valley council have strict laws around this and are looking to enforce them.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay connected,

Denis Johnstone 

Principal