Principal's Report

Welcome to Baden

Welcome to our newest member of the LSO team, Baden Turner.  Baden is an ex-student of St Finbar's who graduated in 2017, and is now studying to be a primary school teacher.   He has been working in Team Kids for the past year, so he is already a familiar face to many of our students.  Baden will be with us on Mondays, Thursday and Fridays.

Post-Graduate Study at St Finbar's 

Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending my graduation ceremony for the Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education, which I completed last year. Since it was an online course, it was great to finally meet some of  my fellow students in person and celebrate our achievement together.   It also reminded me how fortunate we are to have a staff team that is deeply committed to continually developing their knowledge and skills for the benefit of our students.

We currently have a number of staff members undertaking further study alongside their work at school. Carlie Cochrane is completing a Graduate Certificate in Catholic Studies through ACU, while Caroline Farrelly is studying a Master of Education (Special and Inclusive  Education) through the University of Notre Dame. Callum Mills is completing a Master of Educational Leadership and  one of our LSOs, Alessia, has started Foundation Studies at ACU.  We are proud of the dedication our staff show to lifelong learning and the positive impact this ongoing professional growth has on our school community.  I'll look forward to sharing photos of their graduations when the time comes. 

Literacy Parent Helper Course

Each year we welcome parents to assist with our Prep and Year 1 literacy lessons. This year, our Literacy Leader, Nonie Kay, will be running short information sessions for parents who are interested in helping in the classrooms.

Our first session Literacy Parent Helper Course for the year will be held tomorrow,  Friday 22 May at 9:30am (straight after assembly) in the Staff Workroom. Nonie will explain some of the theory behind how children learn to read, provide an overview of the InitiaLit program, and run through important protocols for classroom helpers.  We encourage interested parents to attend.

New decodable readers

Our new decodable readers have been processed, sorted and in the classrooms.  A huge thank you to the Parents and Friends Association for their generous donation, which made the purchase of 600 new books possible. Our junior students can't wait to get their hands on these new books and practise their decoding skills at home.

Late Arrivals 

We've noticed an increase in the number of students arriving after the bell lately. This causes disruption in classrooms as children enter classrooms after the rest of the class have started their morning routines. To help all students begin the day feeling calm and settled, students should arrive in time to be in their classrooms and ready for learning by 8:50 am. Any students arriving after this time sign in at the school office before heading independently to their classroom. Encouraging children to walk to class on their own helps build confidence and independence. We also ask that any parent questions or concerns be communicated via email with the classroom teacher, rather than at the classroom door after the bell, so teachers can begin their morning routine promptly. Thank you for your support in helping us create a calm and positive start to each day.

Hurlingham Oval

To alleviate some of the pressure on our playgrounds, we will be taking a group of Year 5 and 6 students to Hurlingham Oval each Thursday Snack Time.  The added benefit is that this will allow our younger students more access to the basketball court areas here at school. Our first group of students went down today, and enjoyed the extra space for football and soccer. 

Take care and God bless,

Michelle Hill

Principal