The Principal's Desk
Dear parents, students, families and friends,
Wow!! What a busy two weeks it has been. Cross Country Carnival last week, Swimming Carnival and World of Maths this Week. I really want to praise the students for their participation in the Cross Country and Swimming Carnivals. They all gave it a go and did their personal best. They also demonstrated encouragement for each other, support and teamwork. When we think back to the message of the NED program the students participated in last term (Never give up, Encourage others, Do your best), we could see this being enacted constantly throughout each event. Now, these events would not be possible or run smoothly without the help of parent volunteers. I would like to thank the following parents who helped at each of the carnivals:
Cross Country - Day, Kate, Kathryn, Mounica, Loreta, Sally, Rosey, Carl, Neroli and Gwen.
Swimming - Day, Tess, Tegan, Neroli, Carlo, Evonne
The results for the two carnivals are as follows:
Cross Country
1st - Blue - 934 points
2nd - Yellow - 562 points
3rd - Green - 535 points
4th - Red - 524 points
Swimming
1st - Blue - 3760
2nd - Green - 3305
3rd - Yellow - 3200
4th - Red - 2820
Currently, with only a couple events to go, the Colour House Competition looks like this:
1st - Blue - 7902 points
2nd - Yellow - 6669 points
3rd - Green - 6434 points
4th - Red - 5927 poin
Staffing Arrangements 2024
As we move towards the end of the year, we need to make preparations for 2024. Below is the staffing structure for 2024. You will notice that Miss Isabelle Maher is not included in the staffing for next year. Isabelle has requested to take a year of Leave Without Pay to spend time travelling on few overseas trips. In between travels, Isabelle will be doing some Casual Relief Teaching at various schools.
Mr Frank Lorenzon and Miss Naomi Cheney who have been part of our LSO Team will also be leaving us at the end of this year. Frank has been at St. Augustine's for many years and he will be greatly missed. We thank both Frank and Naomi for their dedication and hard work and wish them both the best of luck as they move into new opportunities in their lives and careers.
To keep us within our staffing budget Mrs Mazzeo will return to the classroom basically full time and I will be in Year 3/4 one day per week teaming up with Mrs Witchell. The funding we receive from MACS Head Office is based on the number of teachers required for the total number of students. It doesn't account for the individual years of experience per teacher. Teachers are on an incremental scale that increases with each year of experience. We also want to continue providing the students with the specialist areas of the curriculum which is also included in the staffing budget. This is a short term arrangement for just next year at the moment. If student numbers continue to grow we will receive more funding.
Currently we have 29 Preps confirmed for next year, so this means two Prep classes of 14 and 15. We have set a cap on class sizes across the school at 26 students.
Classroom Teachers
Prep - Jess Brennan
Prep - Dina Mazzeo
Year1/2 - Natalie Librizzi
Year 1/2 - Milan Bulic
Year 3/4 - Michelle Cvetkovska
Year 3/4 - Michele Witchell / Matthew Stead
Year 5/6 - Marissa Balbuziente
Year 5/6 - Olivia Jones / Danni Schubach
Specialist Teachers
Arts/Library - Barbara Ady
Italian - Natalina Paglianiti
Health & Physical Education - Tony Castellano
STEM - Greg Steers-Carter
Stephanie Alexander Garden Program - Tiziana Scimone
Curriculum Leaders
Jnr Literacy Leader - Natalie Librizzi
Snr Literacy Leader - Loretta LeBeouf
Numeracy Leader - Loretta LeBeouf
Religious Education Leader - Michele Witchell
Learning Diversity Leader / Mental Health Leader - Natalina Paglianiti
Wellbeing Leader - Tara Brennan
School Sport Coordinator - Marissa Balbuziente
School Leadership Team
Natalina Paglianiti
Natalie Librizzi
Loretta LeBeouf
Michele Witchell
Dina Mazzeo - Deputy Principal
Matthew Stead - Principal
Support Staff
Admin/Bursar - Catherine Santillo
LSO - Caroline Manuel
LSO - Sue-Ellen Grugic
LSO - Belinda Trajkovska
Upcoming events:
Monday 13th to Wednesday 15th November - Year 3/4 Camp at Sovereign Hill
Tuesday 21st November - Prep Orientation Program Begins - 9am Prep Classroom
Tuesday 21st November - Preparing For Prep Parent Info Session - 9.30am Library
Tuesday 21st Novemebr - Parent Committee Volunteer Thank you - 6.30pm Staffroom
Wednesday 22nd November - School Assembly - Italian Classes - 2.30pm Hall
Wednesday 29th November - School Assembly - Arts Classes - 2.30pm Hall
Friday 8th December - Year 6 Big Day Out
Tuesday 12th December - St Augustine's Christmas Carols
Wednesday 13th December - Whole School End of Year Fun Day
Thursday 14th December - Whole School End of Year Mass
Thursday 14th December - Year 6 Graduation Liturgy, Ceremony and Dinner
Friday 15th December - End of Term and Year 1.15pm Dismissal
A reminder for all Year 3/4 students to rest up over the weekend. Also don't forget to pack your bags ready for camp!!
Kind regards,
Matthew Stead
