Dear parents, students and families,

Last Sunday our Parish of St Anne's held their market day and I trust some of our families took the oppportunity to attend. Our Lapathon, which was to be held last Wednesday, was postponed and has been rescheduled to tomorrow. We are supporting the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hamper appeal for our local Seaford families in need.

On Monday we heard the sad news that local Dunkley Federal member Peta Murphy had passed away. She has been a great supporter of our school and, whatever your political persuasion, was an incredibly positive and supportive politician for our school. She will be missed at this year's awards ceremony and well into the future. Vale Peta. May the Lord keep you close.

Monday morning also saw our second annual Literacy Showcase which was an opportunity to celebrate with parents some of the learning your children have made in this area of the curriculum. It was extremely well attended and we trust it was a positive and rewarding experience for parents and students.

On Tuesday we held our final Orientation session for the 2024 Foundation students. It is the rest of the school's opportunity to get together with their 2024 class tomorrow and again next Monday between 12.15-1.40pm. Students are always really excited but can be somewhat nervous about this. Having two sessions allows them a greater opportunity to better get to know their classmates and teacher/s for the following year.

Staffing for 2024.

Senior Leadership Team

Principal: Rod Shaw

Deputy Principal/ Diversity Leader: Mrs Sally Thomas

Leader of Faith/ Wellbeing Leader/ Community Leader: Mrs Rikki Winduss

Learning and Teaching Leader/ Literacy Leader/ Sustainability Leader: Michael Sullivan

Numeracy Leader: Mrs Toni Chiodo

Curriculum Leaders

ICT: Miss Heather Eagling

Our House Spirit: Mrs Brooke Ary

Fire Carriers Leader: Miss Hannah O'Donnell

Class Teachers:

Foundation: Mrs Rikki Winduss/ Mrs Toni Chiodo

Foundation: Miss Heather Eagling/ Mrs Jemima Cullinane (nee Holmes)

1/ 2: Mrs Alexandra Reid

1/ 2: Michael Bright

1/ 2: Miss Kaleigh McKenzie

3/ 4: Mrs Gill Brown

3/ 4: Mrs Dorinnia Burns

5/ 6 : Miss Hannah O'Donnell

5/ 6: Mrs Ceri De Veer

Specialists

PE/Creative Arts: Mrs Brooke Ary

Italian: Signora Maria Morina

Performing Arts: Mrs Catherine McArthur

ICT: Miss Heather Eagling

Reading Recovery: Mrs Claire Burns

Library Technician: Mrs Lisa Brooking

Learning Support Officers (LSO's):

Mrs Lea Freeland

Ms Leonie Marks

Mrs Lisa Brooking

Mrs Angela Gough

Mrs Jackie Canavan

Mrs Candice Legge

Miss Madison Stevens

Office:

Mrs Michele Wain

Mrs Debbie Trower

As you can see there will be some changes from this year. We farewell Mrs Dani Coulson who will be leaving us to have her second baby and Mrs Tracey Di Paolo who will be taking leave for the 2024 year. We wish both of these staff all the very best for 2024 and appreciate all they have done for our school. Joining us are Mrs Claire Burns who will be looking after Reading Recovery for the First Semester. Claire has helped us regularly with this in the past so her return is warmly welcomed. Mrs Jemima Cullinane is also a very well known face here at St Anne's and returns to us with a new name after leaving us as Miss Holmes when she took maternity leave last year. Miss Madison Stevens joins our LSO team after finishing her training with us this year. Mrs Alexandra Reid and Mrs Dorinnia Burns appointments for 2024 have already been previously announced. We warmly welcome our new and returning team members.

Yesterday we held our annual Christmas Concert involving the nativity play and singing of traditional carols and other Christmas songs. Thanks to our parents for their support and with costumes, our staff for planning, preparation, practice and pack up, our School Advisory Committee for the sausages they had available and of course for Mrs Cathie Mc Arthur whose responsibility it was to oversee the evening. Luckily it was a beautiful night which made it all the more magic!

Today we held our third Advent liturgy. They are a beautiful and moving way of sharing how we are becoming prepared for the true Christmas celebration.

Tomorrow we celebrate our whole school end of year Mass. Besides being an important part of our faith to gather and show gratitude for our year it is also when we announce the 2024 student school leaders. The current leaders have the opportunity to hand over to the next generation as part of the mass. Parents and families are welcome to attend.

Next week is our final week for the students. Monday, as mentioned, we will have the final transition session for our 2024 classes. Our awards ceremony is on Wednesday at 2.30pm. Our awards are based around the notion of "being your best" rather than "being the best". Wednesday evening is the Graduation dinner for our Year 6 students followed by the Graduation Mass at 7pm in the church where families join their children. Thursday is the Year 6 Big Day out and their last day of formal schooling at St Anne's. Reports are also due to be made available on this day. Friday is the last day of the student's year and concludes at 1pm. Foundation- Year 5 students will have activities on the day. Year 6 students may attend if their families require them to do so.

God bless and have a great weekend.

Rod Shaw

Principal

School Attendance and Unexplained Absence

Please contact the school if your child is going to be absent by leaving a message on 9786 4736 and press 1. Please give details of your child’s name and class with a reason for their absence such as: unwell, appointment, holiday or family reasons. Alternatively an email can be sent to office@saseaford.catholic.edu.au with cc to the child’s teacher.

If you are running late, (after 9:00 am) please attend the office to sign your child into school and collect a late pass.

If you are picking up your child early you will need to collect them and sign them out from the office.

As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences:

Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a text message.

If parent does not contact the school after receiving the text message, the school will contact the parent by phone. If the parent is unreachable the emergency contacts will be contacted by the school.

If there is still no response, and the school feels that the child is in danger, the police will be contacted.

Ongoing unexplained absences or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in a formal conference being organized. Unresolved attendance issues will be referred to D.H.H.S.

This is a legal requirement.

Democratic Principles

The six (6) principles of Australian democracy include:

(a) elected government; and

(b) the rule of law; and

(c) equal rights for all before the law; and

(d) freedom of religion; and

(e) freedom of speech and association; and

(f) the values of openness and tolerance

Local Information & Out of School Activities

Local Information &
Out of School Activities