From our Principal

St Roch’s School theme 2026:

"United in Faith, Sharing the Light"

Dear Families,

Welcome to Issue 6 for 2026 of our iNewsletter! We hope this newsletter continues to keep you up to date with all the news, events and learning that happens at St Roch's.

Professional Learning

At the core of our Catholic mission is the belief that every child is a gift and their happiness, safety and care are of utmost importance to us. We know that for a student to achieve their academic best they must first feel secure, seen and supported.

To ensure we continue to provide the highest level of pastoral care our staff engaged in a dedicated session of Professional Learning focused on student emotional wellbeing as well as staff wellbeing on Friday 24 April 2026. As a staff, we explored the complex landscape of student feelings and how we can better support our young learners in identifying and articulating their emotions.

A key focus of our learning involved the Zones of Regulation, a framework we are implementing across the school to help students communicate their internal needs. By categorising feelings into four colored zones, we empower our students to:

1.   Identify how they are feeling in the moment.
2.  Articulate those feelings using a shared, school-wide language.
3.   Respond with self-regulation tools that help them return to a state of readiness for    learning.

Inspired by the teachings of Jesus, who welcomed and cared for the whole person, our staff reflected on how we can more deeply respond to the individual needs of every child. 

When a student can name a feeling they are better able to manage that feeling. When they can manage their feelings they are free to focus on the joys of discovery and academic growth.

We are proud of the "wrap-around" care provided by all of our committed and dedicated staff who do not just teach subjects, but nurture young learners. 

We look forward to continuing this work with your children, ensuring our school remains a place where our students feel safe to grow, confident to learn and empowered to flourish.

We encourage you to use the same language at home to help your child develop their emotional vocabulary. 

Here is a quick guide to the colours of the Zones of Regulation:

The Blue Zone: Feelings such as being sad, sick, tired, bored, exhausted, hurt...

The Green Zone:  Feelings such as being happy, calm, focused, proud, okay, relaxed and ready to learn.

The Yellow Zone:  Feelings such as being frustrated, worried, excited, overwhelmed, annoyed, anxious, silly or wiggly. 

The Red Zone:  Feelings such as being overjoyed, angry, terrified, out of control, furious and wild.  

When your child is experiencing a big emotion try asking: "I can see your body is moving fast. Are you in the Yellow Zone? What can we do to help you get back to Green?" This simple question shifts the focus from behaviour to regulation, teaching them the resilience and responsibility we value so highly at St Roch's.

While our focus is always on the flourishing of our students, we recognise that the quality of our teaching is deeply connected to the wellbeing of our staff. To be the best for our students, we must first ensure we are nurturing ourselves.

On Friday our staff had the privilege of working with Meg Durham, a renowned wellbeing speaker and host of the *School of Wellbeing* podcast. During this dedicated Professional Development day, Meg challenged us to re-examine how we show up for ourselves so that we can show up more effectively for our school community.

Meg’s message was clear: wellbeing is not a luxury, it is a professional responsibility. She explored the idea that when teachers prioritise their own mental and emotional health, they bring a higher level of resilience, empathy and creativity into the classroom. 

By modeling self-care and emotional regulation, our staff are better equipped to guide your children through their own Zones of Regulation.

We discussed:

The Power of Presence: How being grounded and well-rested allows us to respond to student needs with greater clarity.

Self-Compassion: Acknowledging the demands of the profession and using Meg's strategies to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Collective Wellbeing: How a supported, healthy staff creates a more joyful and vibrant learning environment for every child.

In our Catholic tradition,  caring for our own minds and bodies as a sacred space is a profound commitment. By investing in our staff wellbeing, we are ensuring that St Roch's Parish Primary School remains a place of high energy, deep care and academic excellence.

We thank our families for supporting our staff in these moments of professional growth.

When our teachers flourish, our students flourish!

Thank you to the Leadership Team for supporting me with this day. To Nadine & Rachel for organising the food that nourished us, Louise for the lovely prayer that provided a spiritual opportunity, to Alex K, Toni and Nadine who led the session on Student Wellbeing, to Meg Durham for her valuable session on Staff Wellbeing as well as all of our staff for their encouragement, laughter and engagement throughout the day.

Staff News

I write to inform you that Alex Keisler's final day of teaching will be on Thursday 7 May (Year 5 Classroom Teacher & Student Wellbeing Leader).

We wish Alex, Jarahad and Rafferty all the very best as they welcome a new baby to their family. Sincere thanks to Alex for all of her work and her commitment to the wellbeing and education of Year 5 and all students this year, particularly her work with the SRCs and in Student Wellbeing. We are truly grateful for her dedication at St Roch's.

I am delighted to inform you that we have appointed Max Pinchbeck as the Year 5 Classroom Teacher commencing on Monday 13 July at the beginning of Term 3 2026.

We have also appointed Maria Porto as a Learning Support Officer to our team. Maria will commence on Monday 11 May and she comes to us with a wealth of experience and expertise. 

Special Events - Thank you! We look forward to celebrating our mothers and all women who nurture us in so many ways!

Future Open Day Tours

Today's Open Day was a great event with so many interested prospective parents and children who were escorted around our school by our Year 6 Leaders, Nadine Bolton & Rachel Gray together with current parents. Thank you to Jess and Roxy for supporting our tour this morning!! Our parents are truly a huge part of the goodness we see in our school!

Come along to one of our next tours!!

Thursday 30 April 9.30am - 10.30am

Friday 22 May 9.30am  -10.30am

School Photo Day

Friday 8 May - We look forward to our School Photo Day on this day! Please check your emails to ensure you have ordered and registered your children.

Condolences

Our prayers and thoughts are with Vink Curtain (Learning Support Officer) and her family on the passing of her beautiful Mum in Queensland last week.  May the memories of her mum comfort the family at this sad time.

Warmest regards,

Angie Mastoras 

Principal

All students attending St Roch's Parish Primary School have the right to feel safe.  The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school.

 

We acknowledge the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri people, the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today, and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

St Roch’s Parish Primary School

Glenvale Road, Glen Iris 3146

Telephone: 9885 7704

Email: principal@srgleniris.catholic.edu.au

Website: www.srgleniris.catholic.edu.au