From Our Deputy Principal

Newsletter  ~ Term 4, Week 4, 2025

Principal's Message:

Dear Parents, Carers, Families and Friends of St Mel’s Primary School,

Please find the following our second newsletter for Term Four.

St. Mel's School Fun Run ~ 

What a joy-filled day we had at our St Mel’s School Fun Run yesterday! The event was bursting with energy, laughter, and community spirit, and it was wonderful to see so many families joining in to cheer, run, and celebrate together.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the day ~ from our amazing students who gave it their all, to the staff and families who helped make it such a success. A heartfelt thank you to Leah, our Social Committee President, the event simply couldn’t have taken place without her time, effort, and incredible support. Thank you Leah! Funds raised go directly toward supporting our school, helping us continue to create vibrant learning & play spaces for our students.

It truly was a day filled with colour, connection, community spirit & SLIME! 

Sacramental Program ~ Our Time Together:

Last night, parents and carers gathered for a collective 'Our Time Together' session at St Anne's College, Kialla, to share in learning focused on the Sacrament of Reconciliation (forgiveness). These combined groups provide helpful modelling to our parents, carers and children in support of the 'Our Time Together' family groups being held within the parish in the coming weeks.  

Please keep our sacramental candidates in your thoughts and prayers going forward.

 For more information about our St Mel's Parish Sacramental Program, please contact myself here at school (ph: 5821 3163) or Mel Shiels at the parish (ph: 5831 2194).

No School Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th. November:

Reminder, there is no school for students on the following days next week:

• Monday 3rd November - Staff Report Writing Day
• Tuesday 4th. November - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday

School will resume for students on Wednesday, 5th. November.

Congratulations to former St. Mel's students who will lead our sister school, St. Anne's, next year, having been announced as the 2026 Year 12 leaders. We are so very proud of Lillian, Shrey, Sinead & Logan!

Magnify Sandhurst' 

Every Student - Every Teacher - Every School - Every Day!

Staffing Update:

Stephen 'Steve' Hicks, principal, continues on carer's leave. Michelle and Steve have returned from Melbourne, settling in at home and focused on Michelle's rehabilitation and recovery. Steve and I are in ongoing contact across a range of school-related foci. He and & Michelle are very grateful for the prayers, thoughts and support of our Executive Leadership Team, School Advisory Council, Staff Team, parents, carers, children and the broader parish community during this time.

Danae Napier, Deputy Principal, continues as Acting Principal.

Nanette Micallef,Year Four teacher, has accepted a teaching position from the commencement of 2026 at St Marianne Cope, Mt Atkinson. Wishing Nanette well for her final weeks at St Mel's and preparations for the relocation of her family to their new community. St Marianne Cope is a new school for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. 

Deputy Principal Appraisal Process:

In support of my ongoing professional practice and learning, I am currently engaged in a cyclical appraisal process. In recent years, Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd has initiated a formal appraisal process for Deputy Principals, similar to the process that has been in place to support Principals, their professional practice and learning, for many years. The process involves self-reflection, surveys and an appraisal panel of Deputy Principal peers, our principal, Steve and CESLtd School Improvement Leader, Paul Bissinella.  

2026 Staffing and Structures:

Planning for school staffing and structures for the coming 2026 school year continues with staffing vacancies to be advertised externally from next week onwards. We are seeking new teachers to join the St Mel's PS community from the commencement of the 2026 Victorian school year. We invite parents, carers and members of the St Mel's Staff Team to spread the word of our recruiting amongst family, friends and connections. The following available positions will be advertised on the Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd website, local paper and Facebook shortly:

• Teacher - Full Time Ongoing
• Teacher - Fixed Term Ongoing

• Deputy Principal

  NOTE: In line with Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd policy, the Deputy Principal role at St Mel's PS is being advertised externally, given the alignment with the end of the current appointment term for Deputy Principal and the vacancy of a Full Time Ongoing teacher becoming available with Nanette Micallef's departure at the end of this year. The next appointment term for Deputy Principal will be for six years, in accordance with CESLtd policy. Danae Napier, our current Acting Principal, is able to, and encouraged to, re-apply for this role within our community. 

Foundation Transition for 2026:

We encourage Foundation (PREP) families to attend each transition session, as these visits play an important role in helping children build confidence, become familiar with their new learning environment, and form positive relationships with teachers and peers. 

We look forward to welcoming our new 2026 Foundation students enrolled for next year as they experience primary school as part of their transition program, as follows:

Transition Session 1:  Wednesday 12th November   9.15am - 10.15am  

Transition Session 2:  Wednesday 19th November   12.15pm - 1.15pm  

Transition Session 3:  Wednesday 26th November   9.15am - 10.15am  

Transition Session 4:  Wednesday 3rd  December    12.15pm - 1.15pm  

Foundation (Prep) Parent Welcome Night ~ (Students do not need to attend) 

Wednesday, 3rd of December 2025 at 7 pm in the School Hall 

• Learn about our school 
• What your child will need to bring to school 
• What your child’s day will look like 
• What learning will look like  
• How to help your child transition to school.  
• Have a conversation with our Principal, Deputy Principal, educators and key people who will work with your child. 

Statewide Prep Orientation Day 2025 ~ 

Tuesday 9th December ~ 12pm - 1.45pm 

Year 5 & 6 Garage Sale:

Our Year 5/6 students are holding a Garage Sale this Thursday from 2:30pm – 4:30pm in the School Hall.

This wonderful initiative has grown out of their Source of Life unit and Mission Month focus on taking action to make a difference, both locally and globally. Students have collected and donated a range of pre-loved items from their homes and families to sell, with all funds going toward supporting local needs through Foodshare and global needs through Catholic Mission.

The Garage Sale is a beautiful example of our senior students putting their learning and faith into action, showing generosity, creativity, and a strong sense of justice.

Come along, grab a bargain, and support our students as they make a real difference in the lives of others!

Items range in price from 50c to $10, and students will have the opportunity to purchase items during school time by purchasing tickets, 50c per ticket. Please send money in a clearly marked envelope or come in and join your child and make some purchases yourself. 

5/6 Camp, Year 1 Long Day & Year 2 Sleep Over:

Preparations are well underway for our  Year 5/6 Camp, Year 2 Sleepover and Year 1 Long Day. Details in support of these activities will come out in advance of the dates to support parents and carers prepare their children for participating in each respective activity.

NOTE: Following a review of camps and excursions from this year onwards, the Year Two students will participate in a sleepover at school, which will involve Year One children staying later at school on this day, enjoying activities with the Year Twos, a meal and then going home to sleep. The Year One children will not be sleeping over at school. 

As many parents and carers will know from last year, in mid-2023 the new Catholic Education Enterprise Agreement was passed and introduced into our school system. Along with many changes to employment conditions for school staff this agreement included the introduction of Time In Lieu for teachers and support staff and a reduction in the allowable formal meeting hours.

This has had a significant impact on 'out of school hours' participation of staff, especially in relation to school camps and overnight stays (ie Sleep Overs).

Subsequently, the day/s following these activities now involve staff receiving their 'Time in Lieu' (ie not attending school for the overtime incurred on camp!)

This has added additional financial and organisation considerations for schools as we are also trying to keep the costs of these activities down for families.

As in previous years, acquitting the 'Time in Lieu' involves running an alternate program on the day, or days, following each activity with minimal staff supporting the children who come to school on the day following a camp or sleepover. Again, as in 2024, families electing to keep children home after these activities supports our arrangements. This option will again be offered in support of the  Year 5/6 camp, Year 1 Long Day and Year 2 Sleepover this term.

The support of our parents and carers following the Year 3/4 camp was wonderful and enabled us to significantly reduce the impact financially and organisationally. Very much appreciated.

Given challenges in accessing classroom relief teachers (CRTs) and our Leadership staff already taking on additional teaching roles this term, your support of post-activity day arrangements is greatly appreciated.

Term 4 ~ School Hats

As we move further into Term 4 and the warmer weather approaches, students are now encouraged to transition to their summer uniform as the weather permits. As a SunSmart School, it’s essential that all students wear their school hat when outside for play, sport, or learning activities. 

While our days are warming up, mornings can still be quite cool, so please make sure all jumpers and jackets are clearly named. This helps us return any lost items quickly and keeps our lost property pile to a minimum.

Thank you for your support, we look forward to learning & playing in this spring sunshine together.

Student Toilets: [Repeat]

To clarify, the toilets accessible from the yard are Student Toilets Only.

In the interest of Child Safeguarding, adults wishing to use a toilet whilst on school grounds are requested to use the toilets inside the School Administration Office.

St Mel's Uniting Outside School Hours Care - Vacation, Student Free Days and Before School Care: [Repeat]

Our new relationship with Uniting Vic Tas to operate the St Mel's Uniting Outside School Hours Care provision here at school continues to go from strength to strength with the introduction of NEW services within this provision.

Last holidays, St Mel's Uniting Outside School Hours Care offered a Vacation Program for nine days of the school holiday break. This new initiative has been well attended and will continue for the Christmas / New Year school holiday period.

Outside School Hours Care will also be offered on Student Free Days where our Staff Team are engaged in Professional Learning or Administrative Days, where it is appropriate to have students on site under the care of St Mel's Uniting OSHC staff.

Following a trial of Before School Care, for the first two weeks of this term, St Mel's Uniting Outside School Hours Care will continue to provide this service to our parents and carers.

With increasing numbers of parents and carers seeking a Before School Care option and increasing numbers of students arriving prior to 8:30am across the week, it has been decided to extend the current provision of Outside School Hours Care to meet this growing need in support of our working parents.

Offering yard duty supervision for an additional 50 minutes across mornings of the school week, within our staff yard duty roster, has been challenging for our school to sustain. The Before School Care provision will enable us to reduce the yard duty requirement by reverting to the 8:30 am school opening time each day. 

Where parents and carers require students at school prior to 8:30am, they will need to be registered with St Mel's Uniting Outside School Hours Care for a fee.

More information is available in the attached flyer.

Parents and carers seeking more information or wishing to register children for Vacation Care are directed to contact Uniting Vic Tas directly by:

             Phone: 1800 183 103

             Email: earlylearning@unitingvictas.org.au

School families who do not currently use the service during the school term, who wish to make use of this service, are invited to contact Uniting Vic Tas:

Information & Communication Technology: 

Interesting the recent announcement regarding the impact of technology on the learning, development and growth of children and young people. Our CESL Magnify approach draws on the broad evidence-based learning and teaching research and incorporates careful consideration in the use of technology, particularly in the early years of education (primary school).

A new Australia-wide law takes effect on 10 December 2025, Australians can expect to see age-restricted social media platforms taking steps to stop under-16s setting up or continuing to use accounts. Age-restricted platforms won’t be allowed to let under-16s create or keep an account. That’s because being logged into an account increases the likelihood that they’ll be exposed to pressures and risks that can be hard to deal with. These come from social media platform design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens and make it more likely that they will see negative, upsetting or manipulative content. 

While most platforms currently have a minimum age of 13 for account holders, delaying account access until 16 will give young people more time to develop important skills and maturity. It’s breathing space to build digital literacy, critical reasoning, impulse control and greater resilience. It also means there’s extra time to teach under-16s about online risks and the impacts of harms, as well as how to stay safer online and seek help when they need it. This will give young people a better chance to prevent and deal with issues once they turn 16 and can have full social media accounts.

Parents and carers may recall the ban on student worn 'smart devices' e.g., watches and certain fitness monitoring and measuring devices which have been proven to highly distract learners and negatively impact on their focus, concentration, retention, information storage and recall. Further information will follow on the impact of technology on learning as we review our current practices across the school and broader Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd system of schools.

Student Birthdays: [Repeat!]

We celebrate student birthdays as a school at our weekly assembly and in Pastoral Groups across the year. A reminder to parents not to send cakes, sweets, presents and other birthday treats to school.

NEW - Leaving at the End of Year? OR... Know of Families Yet to Enrol? 

Thank you to the families who have indicated they will be leaving the St Mel's Community at year's end. This information is very helpful as we continue planning for the upcoming school year. 

Also, if you know of families yet to approach us for enrolment, please encourage them to do so as soon as possible!

Enrolment Enquiries & Applications ONLINE: 

The NEW enrolment enquiry and application portal 'Enquiry Tracker' can be accessed via our St Mel's PS Website at: www.smshepparton.catholic.edu.au 

OR by clicking the following live link: https://www.smshepparton.catholic.edu.au/enrolment-application

School Dates:

Please check the Upcoming Dates & Events section of the newsletter regularly.

Please note: SIMON Everywhere and PAM remain temporarily unavailable. We are now able to send emails via SIMON and will continue to share updates and reminders through this platform while system issues are being resolved. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Thank you for your ongoing support of your child/ren and of our school community.

Wishing you a restful and joy-filled long weekend ahead.

What are you doing to fill your cup this weekend? To notice & find moments of joy ~ I'm planning on starting a new book in the sunshine! 

Danae Napier

Acting Principal

Did you know? ~