Welcome to 2026

Dear St Anthony’s Families,

What a great start to the year we have had. I would like to thank you once again for the wonderful welcome I have received over the past week from the students, staff and parents of our school community.

There are a few things I have noticed in my first week. Firstly, the students smile - a lot! This is such a wonderful sight, especially in the mornings. They clearly love being here, which is a credit to our dedicated staff who work so hard to create such a positive and welcoming environment.

Secondly, I have noticed the way staff and families interact with one another. It is clear that our staff know our students and families well, and that care from both sides is shown often and genuinely.

When I reflect on my own values of respect, kindness, honesty and high expectations for everyone, I can see these reflected throughout the school and because of this, I am already feeling very much at home and I want to thank you all.

Contact me any time

I do love an email—but I love conversation even more. Especially when things feel a bit tricky at times, please know that my door is open. I am always happy to chat and will always try to make myself available whenever you need. You can contact me either via the school phone or email: rlameijn@santglen.catholic.edu.au

School Leaders

Congratulations to the Year 6 students who take on their leadership roles this year:

School Captains: Esha and Chiara

Sports Captains: Siena (Blue) - Lucas

Padua (Red) - Nathan

Xavier (Green) - Samantha

Nagle (Yellow) - Minana

Social Justice: Lily H and Lily E

STEM: Joshu and Moki

Arts Captains: Vivianne and Theresa

Student Representative Council - SRC

Congratulations to the following students who will represent their class at the fortnightly SRC meetings:

Year 1/2: Ezra and Reya

Year 3/4: Liam and Molly

Year 5/6: Jacqui and Manthan

School Captains: Esha and Chiara

The Year 6 Leaders and the SRC students received their badges after the Opening School Mass today.

Father Pat’s 90th birthday

On Sunday, the Parish celebrated Fr Pat’s 90th birthday. It was a wonderful Mass, followed by a great celebration in the Parish Hall. It was fantastic to see quite a few school families there.

Child Safety: ‘11 Standards in 11 Months’

Throughout 2026 our school will be taking part in the MACS Child Safety Campaign ‘11 Standards in 11 Months’.

Standard 1: ‘’Establish culturally safe environments in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children, young people and students are respected and value’’

In our page on Child Safety, you will find Number 1 of our 11 - ‘Working Together for Child Safety’ newsletter. Please, have a read and come and have a conversation with us if you have any question.

Nforma as our preferred means of communication

Most families would have seen the recent communication via the Nforma Parent Portal. This will become our main means of communication. As we are in a transition period, it might mean you will still get emails about certain things.

Please note, the newsletter will continue to be emailed to you as previously.

Parents and Friends

On Tuesday night we had our first PFA Meeting. I want to thank this dedicated group of parents for organising many events and supporting our school. We Welcome Sean Way an as our new PFA President, you will hear more from him soon. We are still looking for a Vice President, so if you are interested please let me know.

More information about many different initiatives will also follow soon, although, I do want to mention one thing, from one dad to another, we do really need some dads, stepdads, grandads, uncles etc to help organise the Mothers' Day breakfast in May…. Let me know if you can help!!!

‘Twilight School’ is now ‘Open Afternoon’

Based on feedback from some new and existing families at the school, ‘Twilight School’ (February 25 from 4pm to 6pm) has now been changed to ‘Open Afternoon’. This is to eliminate confusion about what it actually is.

The students will start school at 11am (care is available for those whose children need to be at school as normal) and we will be at school until 6pm (obviously, if this is not possible for your family, let us know).

All our current parents are invited to come along and have a look in the classrooms as well as prospective parents. We would love it if you could spread the word to those you might know with children in our 2027/28 Prep age bracket.

‘Picnic on the Green’

This year, the ‘Open Afternoon’, will be followed by our traditional ‘Picnic on the Green’ (from 6pm to 8pm). We ask all families to bring some food to share from the country of their heritage. Prospective families are invited to stay afterwards as well. We look forward to ‘showing-off’ our wonderful school to potential new families, sharing a meal together and celebrating the start of the new school year.

School Promotions

Each newsletter I want to highlight aspects of our school promotions campaign. This week I want to highlight our social media approach. We would love for you to get involved in our social media posts by remembering this:

A LIKE GOES A LONG WAY, A COMMENT IS GOLD!

Please follow our wonderful school on Instagram and Facebook (please note: this is completely voluntary)

Road Safety

As is always the case with the return to school, the roads, parking and school crossings surrounding our school are very busy.

Glen Eira Council has created a short, animated video that explains parking signs, how the school crossing operates and aims to promote safety surrounding our schools. It encourages students to walk or ride to school too, even if only from a few blocks away, to help ease traffic congestion, improve healthy activity and to help the environment.

To view the video please click the following link:

https://vimeo.com/795049475/01d1dc8db4

Sincerely your

Ru Lameijn

Acting Principal

“At the very heart of each Catholic school is a desire for the full flourishing of each student across religious, physical, cognitive, emotional and social domains.”

Horizons of Hope.