Dear Parents,

Welcome to Holy Trinity and St Mary’s for the 2025 school year. I trust that you all enjoyed a well deserved holiday break.

It has been a pleasure to catch up with many of our students and families during our two assessment days and sense the excitement for the school year ahead.

An extra special welcome to our new Prep students, particularly our new families. We look forward to working with you for the next seven years of your child’s primary school education. It was a pleasure to welcome our new Prep students as they began their schooling with two half days of learning. They were very brave and quickly settled into the new environment. Mrs Taylor, Signora Formichelli and Mrs Richardson, our Prep Team, have been very impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and willingness to come to school.

We also warmly welcome the new families (other than Prep) who are joining our community in 2025.

On a staffing note, I would like to welcome Mrs Rita Sikacek to our school admin team. Rita will be responsible for our school finances and work closely with our admin team. I am sure you will make Rita feel welcome when you visit the school office.

The first week of school is always an exciting and busy time. It is a time to establish new rules and routines to maximise learning opportunities. Many of our students are working in new learning spaces this year. For many students this can be a time of uncertainty and heightened levels of anxiety. Our teaching staff are well aware that a carefully planned transition into a new school year will enable students to feel comfortable and flourish in their new learning environment.

For the first few weeks across all levels, there will be a strong wellbeing focus on building positive student and staff relationships, establishing routines and positive behaviour expectations. Our catchphrase across the school is `Ready to Learn’. I encourage you to talk to your child over the course of the next few weeks about the activities taking place in the classroom and help reinforce the importance of establishing new routines and relationships.

During the holiday period the normal household routine tends to change, with later bedtime, irregular eating patterns and, in some cases, long sleep ins. The beginning of a new school year is an opportunity for students and parents to establish routines for school and recreational activities and re-establish earlier bedtimes for children. The first weekend is always timely after the busy first week of school so I hope you all found time to relax and recharge the batteries for the coming weeks.

Principal Appointment Process

As communicated late last year, I have been appointed as a Senior Manager in the Eastern Region Office of MACS. I will farewell HT at the end of February to begin this new role. While I am looking forward to this new career opportunity, I have mixed feelings about leaving HT, as I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of this wonderful community. Once again, I appreciate the well wishes and look forward to enjoying my last few weeks as Principal. In my absence, Ms Natalie Ballinger will be Acting Principal and Mrs Anne Cochrane will be Acting Deputy Principal.

The position of Principal of Holy Trinity has been advertised, with applications closing later this week. Mr Peter Vanstan (MACS Senior Manager) will be facilitating the appointment process and is encouraging parents to provide some input to the selection panel via the following survey: Principal Appointment - parent survey

Swimming Program - Prep to Year 4 - begins 7th February

Our annual swimming program for students in Years Prep-4 will commence this Friday 7th February. The program will run on Friday until the end of Term One, with the exception of the 28th February and the 28th March. Information and permission forms have been sent via SIMON/PAM. Please ensure your child’s medical information and emergency contacts are up to date in readiness for swimming and future excursions.

Assembly - Friday 2.50pm

Our fortnightly assemblies will continue on `even week’ Fridays at 2.50pm. Last Friday we conducted a special assembly to present the Year 6 students with their leadership badges and their Year 6 jackets. We also used this opportunity to welcome our new Preps.

Assemblies this year will take place in the Gathering Space, formerly our DigiTech Lab. Our DigiTech and Performing Arts/Italian specialist classes have been relocated to the former Year 3/4 classrooms adjacent to the basketball court. Parents are most welcome to attend fortnightly assemblies. Please access the building via the glass doors near the library.

On most occasions, a class will be allocated to share their learning with our school community. Student of the Week and TORCH awards will also be presented. In addition to our fortnightly assembly, our students will gather at 8.55am every Monday morning for a brief flag raising assembly near the adventure playground (weather permitting). Parents are also welcome to attend.

Year 6 Student Leadership

This year, under our new student leadership model, our Year 6 students will be allocated a school term to lead our school. Eleven Year 6 students have been allocated as our Term One Leaders. I would like to congratulate the following students who have the responsibility of leading our school in Term One:

Vivienne, Ebony, Daithi, Spiros, Brodie, Thomas, Emily, Skye, Owen VG, Jackson & Mary

Beginning Year Mass - Sunday 9th February

All families are invited to attend our beginning year mass on Sunday 9th February, 10.30am, at St Jude’s Scoresby. This Mass will also include Staff Commissioning for the 2025 school year and a special welcome to our Prep students and families. The Parish is planning to provide a sausage sizzle following mass. Please RSVP attendance for catering purposes.

Parent / Teacher `Meet and Greet’ Sessions - Tuesday 11th & Thursday 13th February

These `Meet & Greet’ sessions will take place after school hours in your child's classroom. If you require an online meeting please email the classroom teacher. We encourage students to attend the short meeting with their parent(s). Further information and booking details will be sent via PAM.

Our Prep parents will not attend a Meet & Greet session but are invited to attend an additional information session on Tuesday 11th February from 6pm-6.45pm in the Prep classroom.

School Closure Date - Term 1

Our first school closure date for 2025 will be Friday 28th February. Please check out the `Important Dates’ section of the weekly newsletter to keep up to date with all that is happening at HT and SMC.

SunSmart!

In line with our SunSmart policy, all students are required to wear our school hat from the beginning of September until the end of April. Parents are required to supply sunscreen for their child (roll on sunscreen recommended). Staff will not apply sunscreen but will provide regular reminders for students to apply or re-apply sunscreen. When the weather exceeds 35 degrees or the UV rating is extreme, children will remain indoors.

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF)

Applications for the CSEF fund are now open. If you hold a valid, means-tested concession card or are a temporrary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. If you are the holder of a concession card and would like to apply please click below to obtain a CSEF application form and hand it in to the school office for processing.

If you applied in 2023 and were successful with your application there is no need to submit a form as an application will automatically be submitted on your behalf. Please see the Community News Section of the Newsletter for more information.

Staffing for 2025

Our staffing and classroom teacher allocations for 2025 are listed below for your reference so that you can reach out to staff members when required:

School Leadership

Principal - Mr Adrian Scutt (until 3rd March, 2025)

Acting Principal / Learning & Teaching - Ms Natalie Ballinger until further notice

Acting Deputy Principal / Learning & Teaching - Mrs Anne Cochrane until further notice

Religious Education & Digital Tech - Mr Denham Harvie

Prep-2 Learning Leader / Literacy Mrs Andrea Dowling

3-6 Learning Leader / Learning Diversity / Mathematics - Mrs Anne Cochrane

Student Wellbeing - Liz Humphris

Prep

Prep Yellow - Mrs Chelsi Taylor

Classroom Teacher Support - Signora Josie Formichelli

Year 1/2

Year 1/2 Blue - Mrs Steph Schauer (Mon-Wed) & Mr Justin Woodcock (Thurs/Fri)

Year 1/2 Yellow - Miss Olivia Cowie

Year 1/2 Green - Mrs Carly Booth

Year 3/4

Year 3/4 Blue - Mrs Breeann Schafter

Year 3/4 Yellow - Mrs Alex Gaffy

Year 3/4 Green - Miss Estephania Rodrigues

Year 5 /6

Year 5/6 Blue - Mrs Cassandra Bellofiore (Mon-Wed) & Mrs Andrea Dowling (Thurs-Fri)

Year 5/6 Yellow - Mr Rhett Masters

Year 5/6 Green - Mr Damian O’Bryan (Mon-Thurs) & Mr Denham Harvie (Fri)

Specialist Teachers (Tuesday - Thursday)

Italian / Performing Arts - Signora Josie Formichelli

Physical Education - Miss Liz Humphris

Visual Arts - Mrs Caroline Laming

Digital Technologies - Mr Denham Harvie

Teacher Intervention Support

Mrs Michelle Garvey

Library Technician

Mrs Wilma Honeysett

Learning Support Officers (LSOs)

Mrs Helen Richardson

Mrs Christine Stephen

Mrs Jan D’Angelo

Mrs Robyn Barberis

Mrs Zoe Doyle

Mrs Jan Markou

Mrs Narelle Cooper

Mrs Wilma Honeysett

Mrs Elise O’Carroll

Miss Stephanie Mihaloudakis

School Administration Officers

Mrs Rita Sikacek - Finance

Mrs Tania Fraser

Mrs Robyn Barberis

Looking forward to a great 2025 school year!

Warm Regards,

Adrian Scutt

Principal

Time to eXcel

Awards & Birthdays

Happy Birthday to all the students celebrating Birthdays!