Principal News 

Yesterday we had nine students qualify for the Divisional Athletics Carnival. This was a significant achievement for our school. There were schools who have 400+ students who had no students, or one student qualify. So it is an amazing achievement for our school to progress to this stage with so many students. Annastashia from Year 6,  will progress to the regional finals in High Jump after finishing second. It was incredible use of technique that she demonstrated which she has learned over the last few months. When you compete at this level, most children are part of Athletics Clubs or representative sports where they are training at high levels. I was proud that our students tried their best, put effort in to training and technique. Congratulations to Amira, Sarah, Shadrack, Kamoch, Glen, Elizabeth, Aleayah and Siarra who competed. 

Congratulations

A special congratulations to Annastashia who has been selected to represent Victoria for Netball. What an amazing achievement. 

The Need For Practice

Practice has a bad reputation. However, cognitive scientists around the world speak of its importance. I had a good discussion with a Year 5 the other day who said we don't really need school. I was proud of him for voicing it. His reasoning was a youtube video where someone said that school isn't important because we learn to walk without it, and learn to talk! Research and experience shows this is right. However, the same research shows that this is not true for most things. 

An AI summary is pretty accurate, showing: 

Biologically Primary knowledge is learned effortlessly and unconsciously, like speaking a native language or recognizing faces, because our brains are predisposed to acquire it through evolution. In contrast, Biologically Secondary knowledge requires explicit, conscious instruction and effort to learn, such as reading, writing, mathematics, or complex cultural information, as our brains have not evolved to learn these skills naturally. 

The key element here is that learning takes effort. Learning is difficult as it requires memory. Memory is prone to forgetting. Therefore, we have to go over things repeatedly. I can learn to do most handywork through youtube, however, because I am not doing it all the time, it requires effort, relearning, and therefore is often unenjoyable.....until I have some success. Then we feel a little proud and that's where motivation comes from! 

This year, we have raised the game with our academics at school. Your children deserve it. What it causes though is some worry and anxiety, which we all feel when doing something new, or are challenged. What we need to do is reinforce effort and achievement. 

That is why I am incredibly proud of our students as a collective this term, as we are seeing evidence of the bar lifting. Next term, we will complete some standardised assessments to hopefully confirm our initial insights and evidence. 

I am proud of our teachers, lead teachers and growing education support staff team. Our advantage as a school is how many staff we have as a ratio to learners. We are increasingly served by some talented volunteers, who have expertise in their fields, to further support Reading, Maths and Art.  

I hope our students have a really good break, because our minds need it. Day One next term, it starts again, where we will again look to raise the bar with our learning. 

Pilgrimage

I will be away from the 4th of October to 15th October on a Pilgrimage with 15 Principals and 2 Priests from Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools. It is part of the Jubilee Year of Hope and we will have an audience with Pope Leo. I will visit Rome, Assisi and Loretto over 9 days. I look forward to this as an experience of both learning and faith development. 

Feast of The Holy Cross

Last weekend the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of the Holy Cross. It is a reminder to all Christians that in life, we face challenging times. We face suffering and many will face persecution. Our opportunity during these times is to demonstrate the perseverance, the courage and the dignity the Jesus showed during his time with and on the Cross. This is not to say it was easy for him, we hear his struggle. But ultimately, we often grow the most through our most challenging times. As a Principal, I am privileged to hear the challenges many face in our community and these discussions give me hope, but also drive me to be more effective in my work. 

Melbourne Cup Visit

All are welcome to come and have a photo with the Melbourne Cup on the 15th of October. We will have a very special guest who knows how to have big dreams, face adversity and ultimately, achieve greatness. These are the key messages we will be passing onto our students as part of the visit: 

Dream Big, Accept Challenges and You never know what can happen with Hard Work. 

Final Spots for Prep 2026

We have a handful of spaces available for Prep next year. Due to Building works, we have limited spaces, therefore, please encourage anyone you know with a 2026 Prep enrolment to contact us ASAP. If you are leaving our school, please let us know, as we have some new students joining and we need to manage our numbers.  

Doveton Show

Our students art will be on display at the Doveton Show. 

Our Dance Crew will be performing at 10:30am on the Main Stage. 

Thanks to Mrs LG for the work behind the dance, and Mrs Crist for all the  Art work. 

Term Finish and Start and Attendance Focus

Our students finish tomorrow, the 19th September at 1pm. School resumes for all students on Monday 6th October. 

Term Four School Closures will be 31st October and the 3rd and 4th November. 

We want to drive improvement with attendance for Term Four, because everyday of learning counts. Some rewards will come to classes with high attendance. We also understand students can be unwell, and therefore it is best for them to be at home, and many of our families have family overseas. However, the aim still must be, everyday counts.