From the Principal

Dear Families

I hope you enjoyed the Long Weekend and you had an opportunity to spend time together as a family.

This week we are Celebrating Catholic Education Week.

This is an opportunity for our school to join all 334 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese to celebrate our distinctive Catholic identity, our achievements, and the role our school plays within our parish and local communities.

The theme for this year’s celebrations is ‘Forming lives of faith, hope and love in the light of Christ’.

Catholic education seeks to provide students with a high-quality education that is inspired by the example of Jesus Christ and fosters the development of the whole person, forming individuals with more than just skills, but with the virtues to live life as transformative agents in our communities.

Our school is planning a range of activities to celebrate the week:

• Tours for prospective enrolments.   This is an exciting time for our school as we welcome in our new families and begin to develop partnerships with them so our children can receive an education that meets their needs, academically, spiritually, socially and emotionally. 
• On Friday we celebrate St Patrick’s  Feast Day. St Patrick is the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He once said: ‘if I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples’. He recognised the value of education in evangelising children and young people, and spreading the gospel in our communities.  

Some of our students will attend the Mass of St Patrick for Schools held on Friday 17 March and celebrated by Archbishop Peter, followed by the Concert in the Park for primary school students.

The Creative Arts Exhibition, which showcases the wonderful artwork of primary and secondary students in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, will run from Tuesday 14 March to Saturday 18 March and is open to the general public. 

A reminder that Staff are participating in a Professional Learning Day on Friday March 24.

We are continuing to participate in our ReLATE initiative focussing on;

•  Mindset and Collective Efficacy
• Positive EducationStudent Perceptions of Teacher Feedback
• Digital Wellbeing

2024 Prep Enrolments

Our Prep enrolments are officially open for new families. St Anne's has an excellent reputation as a wonderful school community and enrolment positions continue to be in very high demand. I encourage families who have a child they wish to enrol for next year to submit an enrolment application ASAP.  Existing families are guaranteed a place, but you must submit an enrolment form. Please collect an enrolment pack from the office. We have school tours commencing next Friday for new families only. It is not necessary for existing families to attend the school tours.  

As always, if you have any feedback, queries or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, a member of our leadership team or myself at any time.

Harmony Week

Next week we celebrate Harmony Week. This year's theme is ‘Everyone Belongs’. It's about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. Harmony Day is celebrated on March 21 as it coincides with the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

At St Anne’s we have over 20 cultures represented amongst our families. Our children have many opportunities to learn from each other about their cultures and family stories. We will be celebrating Harmony Day by wearing a touch of orange. 

Adventure Playground 

A reminder to all parents and children that the Adventure Playground is not available for our children to play on before or after school. This is due to our OH&S regulations and a teacher not being present to supervise the children. This is also an OH&S regulation. Your cooperation would be most appreciated to ensure your children, including toddlers do not play on the playground 

School Advisory Committee

We welcome four new members to our SAC;

Sarah Loversidge who has a son, Thomas, in Year One

Rose Jelinic who has a daughter, Georgia, in Year Two and a son, Joshua, in Year Four

Hayley Giuliano who has a son, Luca, in Year Six, Ethan in Year Four and Ella in Year Two

Rachel Bingham who has a daughter, Amelia in Year Two and a son, Thomas in Year Three

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday and our focus will be reviewing our Child Safety Standards.

Positive Behaviour For Learning - PBL

This week we launch our PBL Team Shield.  When children are meeting our expectations they receive a card with our values written on it.  These cards will be collected and counted at the end of the week.  The Sports Team with the most cards will win the Shield at the end of the year.  We will also have end of term awards as well.  Our Sport Teams are named after significant people who have made an impact on St Anne’s and showed our school values at all times. 

MacKillop or Blue Team is named after Mary MacKillop who showed resilience and respect at all times as she began the Josephite order of nuns.

Feenan or Green Team is named after Fr Feenan who was very respectful and responsible as he was the parish priest who bought the land where our school now sits. 

Edmonds or Gold Team is named after the founding principal of St Anne’s. Carmel Edmonds was always respectful and resilient as starting a new school brings with it many challenges

Crowley or Red Team was named after Kevin Crowley was the first president of the PFTA. He was very respectful and responsible as he strived to build a community of parents who were willing to work in partnership with the school. His legacy lives on today.  

God Bless