Principal's Report

Next week I will be heading to Lorne for the biennial VACPSP (Victorian Association Catholic Primary School Principals) conference. I will be away from Tuesday to Friday. There will be at least 300 principals from all over Victoria in attendance. This year's theme is Nourish Your Purpose, and each day of the conference will focus on a different aspect of Principalship. There are some great keynote speakers locked in, including Dr Yemi Penn and Dr Preeya Alexander. Of course, there will also be the opportunity to network with colleagues from all other Victoria. 

Peggy McDonald and Laura Zeeng will be Acting Principals in my absence. 

Child Safe Standard 2 

Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.

I've mentioned before that St Finbar's is required to abide by the 11 Child Safe Standards. Child Safe Standard 2 relates to what we do at the leadership and governance level to ensure that we are prioritising the safety of all children. 

Some of the actions that we do at St Finbar's to ensure we are compliant with this Standard include:

• ensuring our MACS policies are up to date and accessible on our school website
• maintaining a Risk Register
• including Child Safety on the agenda of every staff meeting and School Advisory Council meeting
• ensuring staff undertake annual Mandatory Reporting training 

We regularly review our practices and are always looking for ways that we can improve what we do. 

CPR

Whilst on the topic of child safety, yesterday all of our staff undertook our annual CPR and Anaphylaxis training. This ensures that all staff are up to date with current best practice, and would know what to do in an emergency situation.

Thank you to Helen from Total First Aid Training who has worked with us at St Finbar's for many years now.

Congratulations 

Congratulations again to Bianca Antonio, who got married two weeks ago. It sounds as if it was a perfect day, and we are so happy for Bianca and Nick. I'm sure you'll agree that Bianca made a beautiful bride.

Colour Run

There is now only two weeks to go until our Colour Run.  This is one of our biggest fundraisers each year, and we rely on this money for some of our bigger P & F Projects. This year we are looking to install another shaded space on the playground for children to use on warmer days, but this does not come cheaply.  213 students have already set up profiles and started fundriaising, but we'd love to see more of our senior students getting involved. We are hoping to surpass last year's fundraising total  of $12,000. 

Parent Teacher Interviews

Last Thursday I sent an email to all families with the booking link for our Parent Teacher interviews on March 31st and April 1st.  Thank you to the many families who have already booked in a time to meet with your child's teacher. You can find the booking link here, or use the QR Code. 

Sibling Enrolments

It's hard to believe, but we are now starting the 2027 enrolment process, starting with sibling enrolments. If you have a child due to start school in 2027, and haven't submitted their enrolment forms yet, we ask that you do so soon please, using the following link:   St Finbar's Enrolment Information 

Sibling enrolment interviews will happen this term via appointment.

Team Kids

As the holidays are fast approaching, it will soon be time to book in for the holiday program. Even if you are not a regular user of Team Kids in the mornings or afternoons, you may want to take advantage of their holiday program.  We suggest that you register for Team Kids, and then you will begin to receive the emails letting you know when holiday bookings are opening.

You can find an outline of the St Finbar's holiday program below 

Traffic Management

We occasionally receive phone calls and emails from members of the public, expressing frustration regarding the number of cars blocking traffic as they wait to turn into St Finbar's at dismissal time.   We received another such email yesterday.  Please avoid blocking lanes of traffic on Nepean Hwy.  We realise it is frustrating if you can't turn into the school, but it is dangerous to block intersections. 

Around the Classrooms

I had the privilege of teaching 3D on Wednesday.  We had a great day together, and I was impressed with their attitude towards their work.  Here the students are working in groups to plan and write a persuasive text of their own choice. 

Take care and God bless,

Michelle Hill

Principal