School News

Dear parents, families and friends,

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. Some days I am in late, some days I leave early and some days I am absent all day attending various meetings for committments and projects I am involved in in spport of our school, parish or the wider catholic school community (MACS). I currently sit on a number of Principal Reference Panels with MACS. One looks at the accreditation process for staff to gain and maintain their accreditation to work and teach in Catholic schools. Another focuses on the procurement of Essential Safety Services and maintenance to support and ease the burden on principals in running schools. This one has also led to St. Augustine's participating in a cleaning pilot to gather information and explore the possibility of MACS providing a system wide cleaning solution. You may or may not have noticed, but I and the staff have noticed the improvement in the cleanliness of the school due to the new cleaning service company that has been engaged through MACS. The last reference panel is focused on the next EBA to be developed when the current Award expires at the end of this year. In my spare time I have also been involved in a principal shadow inititave for aspiring principals and the executive committee for the Western Zone Principal Network. There is also all the extra meetings and work involved with the building project.

Below are some renders of the capital works refurbishment project of Building B, the St. Mother Teresa Building we are using for the final stages of approval. We hope to have a more comprehensive packaged, including a 3D Flythru available soon. As you can see the building will be completely transformed and updated to support and enhance contemporary learning and teaching. The design will also explicitly and implicitly express our Catholic identity, telling the story of St. Augustine's and our Catholic Faith both internally and externally. I am really excited by what we are going to provide for our students, especially an environment that is bright, safe, welcoming, clean, fresh and conducive to learning.

John Burland Concert

On Wednesday 4th June we were lucky to welcome John Burland to our school as he performed a concert for us. With audience participation John sung many of his classic songs as well as some new ones that he has composed for the Year of Jubilee. A great morning was had by all that attended and we look forward to having John visit us again soon in the near future.

Prep Maths 

Last week during one of my 'Learning Walks' I was in the Prep classroom during their Maths lesson. I was impressed with their knowledge of 2D shapes (obviously due to the excellent teaching they have received), their drawing and tracing abilities and their creativity in using squares, circles, rectangles and triangles to create wonderful pictures.

Athletics Carnival

On Wednesday 11th June we held our annual Athletics Carnival. Traffic chaos in the early morning did not prevent us from having a fantastic day. The sun shone all day long. The weather was mildly cool, there was no wind, perfect for a day of running around and competing in a number of events. I must highly commend all students for participating with enthusiasm and to the best of their ability. A very big thank you to Miss Marissa for all the hard work in organising and scheduling a very successful day. Also thank you to all parents who were able to help out marshaling the events.

Confirmation

On Sunday 1st June, the Feast of the Ascension, many of our Year 6 students received the blessing of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation Candidates from the three schools of the parish; Annunciation, Corpus Christi and St. Augustine's came together with candidates from the parish to be confirmed by Bishop Martin Ashe. The mass was concelebrated by Fr Werner.

Student Achievement

Two of our students in Year 4 have been working very hard to achieve their learning goal in reading. As a reward for this, Jimmy and Chloe were able to select a friend each (Jimmy also wanted to bring his big sister) to view the choir loft in the church. Of particular interest was the historic pipe organ.

Head Lice

There have been a couple of head lice cases reported lately. Please check your child's head regularly. If head lice are found please keep your child home and apply treatment. Your child will be able to return to school once your child has been treated. A reminder that all students that have long hair, usually shoulder length and longer must have their hair tied back.

Toilets

I spoke to the students yesterday about how the toilets are being used and treated. On Tuesday night I received a message from the cleaner that 3 out of the 4 boys toilets were blocked. He managed to clear two. On Wednesday morning I managed to clear the third blockage. The blockages are being caused by students putting full toilet rolls and stacks of paper towels into the toilet bowls. At the end of last year I had new toilet roll holders placed in all boys and girls toilet cubicles in Building B, the Mother Teresa Building, yet I am still finding full toilet rolls all over the floor in both the boys and girls toilets.

Parents, we request your assistance in teaching the children the appropriate behaviours for using the toilet. We also need you to teach your children how to go to the toilet and what to do. This is one thing that as teachers and educators we cannot do. I know that most of you have already done this, however, some of what we are finding in the toilets is leading us to believe that some students do not know how to go to the toilet, including how to sit still and positioned accurately above the bowl, how to take small amounts of toilet paper, how to wipe and finally how to flush when they have finished.

Important Upcoming Events

• Thursday 26th June, 9.15am - Whole School Mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart
• Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd July - Learning Conversations with normal dismissal times on each day.
  • Tuesday - 3.30pm to 5.00pm
  • Wednesday - 2.00pm to 7.00pm
• Friday 4th July, 1.15pm - End of Term 2
• Friday 8th August: 
  • 9.00am Classroom activities
  • 10.30am - Whole School Mass for the Feast of St. Mary Mackillop & Grandparents Day
  • 11.15am - Shared Lunch
• Sunday 31st August, 9.30am - Jubilee Mass: Back to St. Augustine's celebrating 100 years of St. Augustine's Church.

Below are the meeting minutes from our School Advisory Council and the Parish Schools Advisory Council meetings held during May of this term.

Matthew Stead

Principal