Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

St. Patrick's Festival!

Tomorrow is our St. Patrick's Day festival! I would like to personally thank our P & F Exec team who have gone above and beyond in getting this event together in such a short space of time:

Maryann Lucci

Marie Facciolo

Maria Hogan

Suzy Luppino

These amazing people have worked tirelessly over the past 5+ months to pull this event together for our community.  My thanks also to the many parent helpers who, without their support, we would be unable to run an event such as this.  Thanks to the incredible St. Patrick's Staff for their support of this event as well.

All children and adults are invited to dress up in St. Patrick's Day themed clothes on the day! 

We have many fun rides (Giant Super Slide, Aerial Bungee, Adrenaline Rush, Jurassic Adventure & the Music Trip) craft activities, face painting, animal petting zoo, disco with DJ Daidone, food stalls and more!  

This is certainly an afternoon/evening not to be missed!  As there will be children present, it is a strictly no alcohol event for everyone.

Check out our P & F page for more information.  

The booking link for everything is listed below:

https://www.trybooking.com/eventlist/stpats

Thanks to our major sponsor: 

Community Bank – Parkdale | 228 Como Parade West Parkdale VIC 3195

School Photos

Don't forget that school photos are scheduled for next Wednesday 20th March.  Please ensure your child is in full school summer uniform with correct shoes and socks on this day.  If you have Physical Education lessons on Wednesday's please pack a pair of runners etc. All students with long hair may have their hair out for this day only if they wish.  Spare student and family envelopes are available from the office if needed.

NAPLAN information for Year 3 & Year 5

My congratulations go to the Year 3 & Year 5 students and the Staff in the way they have approcached the NAPLAN testing schedule this year.  I was in the classrooms during the testing sessions this week and I was very impressed with the maturity of the students and calm atmosphere that was evident during all of the sessions.  Our final session (apart from some catch up sessions next week) will be Numeracy for both Year 3 & Year 5 tomorrow morning at 9am.

Stations of the Cross

Next week all classes will be experiencing the Year 6 students present the Stations of the Cross on our school oval.  Please see below when your child's class will be attending.  Parents are most welcome to attend as well.

Wedding Congratulations

It is with great pleasure that we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Brodie Ross, one of our school teachers, on his upcoming wedding to his fiancée, Alysia.

Tomorrow marks a significant moment in Mr. Ross' life as he embarks on this journey of love and commitment. On behalf of the entire school community, we extend our warmest wishes to Mr. Ross and Alysia on their wedding day. May it be a celebration filled with love, surrounded by family and friends.  Mr Ross will return to school next Thursday 21st March.

Sibling - Prep 2025 Enrolments and Open Days

Can I please remind all Families who will have a Prep Student in 2025 to submit their enrolment paperwork ASAP. Sibling enrolment interviews will occur at the end of Term 1.

Please check our enrolment timeline below.

The third of our official 'Open Days' will be held on Tuesday 26th March. 

As per our enrolment policy, current families will have priority enrolment, followed by baptised catholics in our boundries and then baptised catholics outside our boundries, if we have availablity, we can then accept other enrolments.  We are currently expecting to have 3 Prep classes for 2025 of around 23-24 students per class.    

Updated Staffing News

With the announcement that Ms Jennifer Smith will not be returning after Long Service Leave in Term Two, I can confirm the following staffing allocation for the remainder of the year:

• Mrs Joelle Diakrousis will manage the Learning and Teaching portfolio for the remainder of this Year.  
• Mrs Bianca Latto will stay on as Literacy Leader and Mrs Liana Mackay will continue to support Year 2BL as the Thursday and Friday class teacher.  
• Mrs Julianne Gibson will also continue to support Year 1KP and Year 1BT on Monday's and Tuesday's respectively.  

My thanks to these leaders and educators for their support of our school and children.

Early next term we will begin the process of interviewing for a replacement teacher for Mrs Eloise Pearson as she will be going on maternity leave at the end of Term Two. 

Victorian Catholic Primary Principals' Conference

Next week I will be attending the Victorian Catholic Primary Principals' Conference in Lorne - (Tues - Fri).  This is a great opportunity for me to meet with other Catholic Primary Principals across Victoria and to share professional development opportunities. This year the guest speakers include:  Adam Spencer, Ashley Fell, Craig Foster, Theresa Ardler, Mitch Tambo, Saroo Brierely, Jelena Dokic and Deborah Patterson.  I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with the community upon my return.  Mrs Joelle Diakrousis will be ably leading the school during my absence.

God Bless

Pat Berlingeri

Principal