Staff News

We are well past the halfway mark for Term 2. Time certainly flies by, and the Semester 1 Examination period is also upon us, and even more frightening – preparations for the 2026 school year!

Staff Spotlight

This month I would like to introduce to you Mr Mitchell Tomkins – Teacher of Physical Education and Religious Education

Mitch is one of our Graduate Teachers, having completed his Bachelor of Teaching at ACU. Mitch has been a student in Catholic Education his whole life and both his parents are educators in Catholic schools.

Where was I born and where did I grow up?

Berwick

What is a unique/interesting part of my childhood?

I go for St Kilda – I learnt resilience at a young age.

My favourite food combo is …

KFC and Cobb Loaf

What I love most about my career is…

Being able to connect with students over mutual interests.

If I was stranded on a desert island, the 2 people I would want with me are…

Bear Grylls and David Attenborough

When I want to unwind and do some self-care I…

Play some basketball and snack.

I am most inspired by...

My dad

Professional Learning and Development

Middle Leaders Program

Last week, 8 of our Middle Leaders participated in a 2-day Marist Middle Leadership program, run by the Marist Formation and Development Team.

The theme of the days was:

Day 1: Sacred Heart, infinite Mind
Day 2: Touching the Heart

This program is designed for educators who hold positions of Middle Leadership in Marist schools. It is an opportunity to explore and deepen their leadership capabilities within the Catholic schooling context, as well as mapping their professional and vocational growth as educators.

It draws upon the Australian Professional Standards for Middle Leaders (AITSL2024) to build upon their understanding of teaching and leading in a Marist school with the enabling dispositions of listening, open mindedness, interpersonal courage, empathy, perseverance and resilience.

This program is practical, future-oriented and provides spaces for ongoing reflection, learning and action. Based on the three Marist Virtues of Humility, Simplicity and Modesty and the writings of Saint Marcellin Champagnat, these interactive sessions will engage with contemporary research and practice, enabling participants to explore their sacred role within the school community.

Next month, our Heads of House and some of our Education Support Managers will be involved in a Middle Leaders Program focusing on growing their skills. This program is built around three key leadership themes, blending explicit theory with interactive discussions, self-reflection, and practical coaching conversations.

These offerings are part of our strategic work in our Leadership Pillar:

3.3 Provide access to targeted professional learning for leaders. 

Leaders are engaged in professional development and learning. 
Targeted professional learning facilitates improved teacher practice.

Staffing and Recruitment

We are pleased to welcome Mr John Kama into the Science and Mathematics Learning Areas, teaching Year 7 and 8. John has over 20 years’ experience teaching in both NSW and Victoria.

We also welcome Mr Andrew Kaiser on Monday 2 June teaching Humanities at Years 7 and 8. Andrew has over 15 years of experience in teaching Humanities and English.

Part of these recruitments is to support us in covering staff who have Long Service Leave and Parental Leave. We will be back to being fully staffed next week and again want to express my gratitude for the high calibre of teachers we continue to recruit through the year when we have need.

Professional Culture and Growth

Last month I spoke to the importance of both teachers and parents coming to Parent Teacher Student Interviews prepared with questions or discussion points for your child’s learning in their subjects. If you had agreed to some follow up for your child and their teacher has not yet made contact, please follow up with an email regarding the follow up that needed to happen. It is important in all our work that we follow up with a phone call or email when something has been agreed upon.

This term our staff have been focusing on Teamwork. This is one of the four values that we, as staff of Marist-Sion College work with, along with Respect, Trust and Empowerment. We spoke about what Teamwork means to them and they workshopped within their respective teams the following questions:

What does it look like in your Learning Area?
What will we see if we team-work?
What do we see when we are not working as a Team?
What can we do better?

This may seem basic on the surface level, but it provides a crucial reflection piece for teachers. Time can sometimes be our worst enemy as we go about our busy days, rarely stopping to reflect how we work with each other and whether our practices are working in providing our students with a consistent experience and an experience that meets our Vision and Mission.

As a staff we often come back to this quote by Dylan Wiliam:

As we expect this of our students – to continue to strive to be better and try harder, we also expect this of our staff and in particular our teachers to role model this important

Mrs Georgie Beekhof

Deputy Principal – Professional Culture and Growth