Principals Report

We are thrilled to share that St Mary’s Playgroup will be launching next Monday, 16th June, from 2-3pm, with a modified format designed to support young children and families within our school and local Inglewood and Bridgewater communities. Open to all families with children under the age of five, our playgroup offers a warm and welcoming space for connection, learning, and fun.

During winter, we will offer a mix of structured and flexible activities. Our sessions will include one or more of the following: Gym Play to support motor development,  Arts & Crafts for self-expression, and engaging Story Time to build a love of reading. During the Term, children will also have the opportunity to interact with St Mary’s students, helping them become familiar with the school environment and build early friendships.

We ask parents to share this news with their friends as we can’t wait to welcome you and your little ones to St Mary’s Playgroup in 2025!

Winter Wellness Reminder

A gentle reminder that we’ve reached that time of term when winter illnesses tend to take hold.  Both students and staff are more susceptible to colds, flu, and other seasonal bugs during this period.  We kindly ask families to remain vigilant and to keep children at home if they are showing clear signs of being unwell.  This helps us maintain a healthy environment for everyone and supports the wellbeing of our entire school community. Thank you for your continued care and cooperation.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools 
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school. 

PROGRAM SUPPORT GROUP (PSG) MEETINGS – TERM 2

Program Support Group meetings for Term 2 will take place in Week 10 Tuesday, 24th June.  PSG meetings are a valuable opportunity for collaboration between families, school staff, and any external therapists supporting students with additional learning needs. These conversations help shape the goals and adjustments created by your child’s teacher to ensure learning is tailored and effective in the classroom environment.

Please note that meeting times have been thoughtfully arranged and are available for you to provide your designated time on this day between the hours of 8:30 am until 3:30 pm. Kindly request your time to prinicpal@sminglewood.catholic.edu.au 

While meetings are set as face-to-face by default, you are welcome to switch to a virtual meeting if needed, just reach out for assistance. If attending online, we will send you a link. Use the link for your scheduled time.

A reminder that all PSG meetings run for 30 minutes. These meetings are a key way for families and educators to come together to review and strengthen the learning supports in place for your child.

CESL Magnify Podcasts

If you haven't already listened to any CESL podcasts, I encourage you to take the time to listen to the following podcast.

This particular podcast explains in depth the thinking Magnify, how it originated and how we can do better for every student, in every classroom, every day. 

The 2025 Annual Report to the School Community, which has a lot of interesting information about what we have achieved over the past year, can be downloaded from the school website.  A  hard copy is available by request from our school administration building.

Kind Regards,