Principal's Update

Dear Families,

Welcome to Term 3! It has been wonderful to welcome everyone back to school after the July holidays. It has been great to see students returning in such positive spirits after what was a much needed winter break. Term 3 is shaping up to be full of exciting learning opportunities and events. We are looking forward to the Year 5 Camp, the 100 Days of Prep celebration, Italian Day, and Book Week just to name a few. As this is a 9 week term, we expect it to fly by. I wish all of our students and families a fantastic term of learning, growth and community connection.

School Review: Over the past six months, Mark Workman from Valad Solutions has been working closely with our school to conduct our scheduled four yearly review. During Term 2, key compliance documents were submitted. The formal review took place on Tuesday 22 July and continued on Monday 28 July. As part of the process, Mark has spoken with students, staff and parents, and has observed teaching and learning in action across the school. We are looking forward to receiving the final review report later this term. We expect it will celebrate many of the things that make St Margaret's such a special school and also provide helpful insights into areas for future improvement. Once the report is received, we will begin work on developing our next four year School Improvement Plan which will set the direction for our continued growth.

Building Project Update: We are pleased to announce that Raysett Constructions has been formally appointed to lead our upcoming capital works project. Unfortunately, there have been some unforeseen complications in removing our portable classrooms. Due to the nearby tram and electricity lines on Raleigh Road, relocating the Year 6 portable classrooms became too complex and costly. As a result, the decision has been made to demolish and remove the Italian and Year 6 portables from the site. 

              During the school holidays, builder sheds were installed, and a fenced pathway was created to allow safe access to the site for workers. While we had hoped demolition of the old portable classrooms would begin earlier, we are currently waiting on permits from the local council. We expect this work to begin within the next three weeks. 

             In the meantime, we are managing the temporary loss of some of our outdoor space and adjusting playtimes accordingly. We are confident that learning programs will continue with minimal disruption. Please also note that the builder’s sheds have taken up some space in the shared school and Parish car park, reducing available parking by approximately 25 percent. We understand this may impact parishioners attending weekend Mass and appreciate everyone’s patience during this time.

Marathon Man: Congratulations to our Physical Education teacher Mr Daniel Hogan, who completed the Gold Coast Marathon during the school holidays. Mr Hogan began running just 18 months ago, and completed his first marathon in an outstanding time of 3 hours and 39 minutes. We are very proud of Mr Hogan’s efforts and are grateful to have staff who lead by example and inspire our students to set goals and strive for their personal best.

NAPLAN 2025:  We recently received the results of this year’s NAPLAN assessments, which were conducted in Term 1. We are very pleased with the results which reflect the combined efforts of our students, teachers and families. It is always encouraging to see positive growth and achievement, and we will continue to use the data to inform our teaching and support learning for all students. A table showing our results over the last three years is included below.

Cyber Safety: On Tuesday 22 July, all students in Years 3 to 6 attended an important Cyber Safety session led by Police Officers Derek and Campbell. The officers spoke about the importance of making safe and respectful choices when online, including topics such as digital footprints, online kindness, personal privacy and responsible device use. This is an increasingly important issue and it is critical that families are having similar conversations at home. Primary school aged children should not be using social media and we encourage all parents to stay informed and engaged with what their children are doing online. We are planning to offer a Cyber Safety session for parents in the near future and hope many families will be able to attend.

Inter School Sporting Success: We are proud of the many students who represented St Margaret’s in interschool sport last term. All teams played with excellent spirit and sportsmanship. A special congratulations goes to our AFL team who have progressed to the third round of competition after winning both district and division levels. This is a remarkable achievement given that we are a smaller school competing against much larger schools. The team will now compete in the regional finals for the Western Metropolitan region on 11 August. If successful, they will be among the top eight primary school teams in the state. We wish them the very best for this important day.

Student Success: There is much to celebrate among our students already this term. I would like to congratulate all students who have been elected as classroom representatives on the SRC for Semester 2. It is always encouraging to see students take pride in their leadership roles and have a say in how our school operates. I have also been lucky to have visits from some of our wonderful Prep students who have been sharing their writing with me. I am so proud of their learning and the joy they bring when sharing their progress. Well done to all.

God bless,

John