Dear Families,

We hope that you have enjoyed the last two weeks connecting with your child's learning.

There have been many exciting events such as: Footy Colours, Father's Day, Cyber Safety, Dendy Athletics, STEM expo, excursions, CERES, incursions, assemblies, Italian Day...

Galilee is definitely the right school, if you want opportunities to partner in the education of your child.

For us to understand and receive feedback from families, it is important that every family take the time to complete the surveyed emailed last Monday.

On personal note, I have really enjoyed returning full time to Galilee over the last three weeks. Watching our students compete at Dendy Athletics with effort and spirit, was a very special moment. Our students behaved impeccably and performed to a very high standard. Mr Harding and myself attended an incredible Father's Day event at the Central Club Hotel. Attendance was high with everyone listening intently to Denis Pagan, former Kangaroos Coach & player, horse trainer and Galilee grandparent. Denis emphasised the importance of coaches allowing children to enjoy their sport. The STEM expo was attended yesterday by a very high percentage of families. Innovative and clever inventions were on display. It was another opportunity to feel immensely proud of the Galilee school community.

Building News

We thank our school community for the patience required in dealing with our closed basketball stadium over the course of 2024. I thank Paul Mapley who originally discovered the faulty waterproofing that led to flooding underneath the floorboards in our basketball stadium. We have also received invaluable and expert guidance by two of our parents, David Gloag and Eleanor McGrath.

It has been a complicated process involving our insurance company, the construction company CICG, the water-proofers and their insurance company employed as subcontractors by CICG, our School Advisory Committee and MACS.

The school leadership has done all we can to find a pathway forward to ensure that our stadium is fully rectified, without cost to the school, and in the quickest possible fashion.

Despite being disappointed at the lack of use of our incredible facility throughout 2024 I can announce that we have appointed a new construction company (John's Lyng).

The contract has been signed this week and John's Lyng has already ordered our special spotted-gum floorboards for the basketball surface. The process will take several weeks and is due for completion by the end of the school year. We are excited and look forward to regaining full use of the facility for our school community.

Uniform

Please take the time to read our Galilee Uniform Policy attached below.

Thankyou to the many families who are ensuring their children are dressed in the correct uniform each day.

Why do we have a Uniform Policy?

It helps to create a sense of identity (a place where we belong)
It represents our history as a school
By following the policy you are showing your child you value the school they attend each day
We showcase our amazing students when representing our school in the wider community
It requires discipline and organisation
Our uniform design was chosen by a selection of students, staff and parents to reflect who we are
Policies create greater clarity and structure for all

While almost all students follow the Uniform Policy (on school website) correctly, I recommend families familiarise themselves with it. Some areas for clarification are: the wearing of the correct plain colour sock, shoes with full leather upper (Winter/Summer uniform) and the school jumper (Winter/Summer only). The school jumper cannot be worn with the Sport Uniform, Socks should be in the correct colour without a visible logo and full upper leather shoes should be worn.

There is some confusion with what constitutes a leather shoe. The upper must be full leather (not mixed with other materials) with no logos-correct examples below:

Please see below examples that do not meet our uniform policy as they are defined as cross-trainers/runners:

We understand that circumstances occur wear a child will be in the incorrect uniform-please send a message to your child's teacher in this circumstance and timeframe.

Please note that the school will continue to support those who cannot financially afford the uniform.

Footy Colours and Fathers Day Report

Last week on Friday we had footy colours day. It was so good to see everyone in the their footy colours. Some people were wearing AFL gear, rugby gear and soccer gear. In the morning the gates opened up early. There was a kicking-target game, bouncy house, sausage sizzle and mini-cafe. Everyone there enjoyed but then it was a time to celebrate our fathers. During the morning, all the school and some of the parents gathered together at mass to celebrate our fathers. The preps were presenting at the mass. All of them were exceptionally good and super cute.

Well that’s it from the report on the Footy Colours and Fathers Day report. Thank you for reading the report written by Charlie (School Captain) in Year 6. (GO BLUES).

NAPLAN 2024

Below you can see graphs displaying both our Year Three and Five NAPLAN results in comparison to state and national means. The top of each graph in purple, is evidence of Galilee's mean results. In all 2024 tests, our results are clearly higher than both the state and national.

Reading and Writing results have been impressive for a number of years, in part due to targeted approaches (based on research) and directed by our Literacy Leader/s (previously Laura Cox) Holly Evans.

We are particularly thrilled to see strong results in Numeracy, following a targeted approach to Mathematics over the last few years. See more information in School News.

Spelling improved several years ago with the introduction of Smart Spelling. Grammar & Punctuation will be part of a future focus.

Congratulations to the students on these collectively high results!

Family School Improvement Survey

Dear Parents/Carers,

In 2024, our school is participating in Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). MACSSIS is an annual process whereby schools listen to the thoughts and feelings that students, families and staff have about how their school can improve. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

At Galilee, the feedback is used in our planning for 2025. Therefore it is critical, for data to be accurate, that all families complete the survey. Parent Reps are encouraged to send out reminders to their year level.

All families received an email last Monday with details on how to complete the survey. We require one survey to be completed by each family to provide us with valid data.

2023 Annual Report to the School Community

Galilee Regional Catholic Primary School is a warm, welcoming and engaging place for students, families and staff. We are lucky to have a wonderful community of families who we work with closely to support their children’s growth and development.

2023 was an extremely successful year at Galilee. In 2023, we saw outstanding student learning outcomes in Mathematics and English. We saw an enhanced STEM Program with students showcasing their designs at a competitive regional and national level. We witnessed students perform live on stage at our school concert, present their artwork at the Art Show and display excellent sportsmanship when competing in sporting events. We are immensely proud of our students and their achievements.

We are also proud of our teaching staff. We had a number of new staff join our teaching team in 2023. Each new staff member came to Galilee with extensive experience that has enhanced the quality of the teaching and learning program at Galilee. We also welcomed a new leadership team. The leadership team was made up of experts in their field who all enhanced our school culture and worked towards enhancing our continual school improvement.

Please open the document below to read the full report which can also be accessed on our school website.

News in Brief...

Wellbeing

Date: Term 4, Week 5 - Thursday, November 7th

Time: 5:30pm - 6:45pm

Location: Galilee Primary School

Click here to register

To find out more, go to Wellbeing.

Maths: You may have heard your child speak about Sweaty Brain Time when completing problem solving tasks at the start of the week. To find out more about this event and our Wellbeing Hub, go to School News.

Cyber Safety: This year, students at Galilee have been actively engaged in three terms of online cyber safety webinars run by Inform & Empower. To find out more and a parent evening, go to School News.

STEM EXPO: What an amazing night we had on Wednesday 4th September.

Thank you to the students for their enthusiasm , they were so excited to show their hard work to our Galilee Community. To find out more, go to School News.

Staffing News

Welcome back to Linda Florenca-Grillo from LSL.

Staff currently on Long Service Leave: Amy Burns, Rosa & Julie Ferguson.

We wish you every blessing in the coming weeks,

Simon Millar

Community

SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWS