Welcome!

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Thank you to all parents and carers who attended Learning Conversations with their child over the past two weeks. We hope these meetings provided a valuable opportunity to celebrate progress, discuss learning, and identify next steps for continued growth.

If you were unable to attend, the school office will be in touch to arrange an alternative meeting time. We highly value these conversations and encourage all families to participate. A strong partnership between home and school plays an important role in supporting every child’s learning, wellbeing and development.

Why Rules Matter

At St Peter’s, we want every child to feel safe, respected and ready to learn. One of the most important ways we achieve this is by having clear, consistent expectations for everyone.

Over the coming weeks, we will be explicitly teaching and reinforcing our four School Rules:

1. We follow adult instructions immediately
2. We don't call out
3. We keep hands, feet and objects to ourselves
4. We don't swear, tease or call people names

These rules support the positive culture we are building across the school through our Classroom Mastery work. They align closely with our school values and provide clarity and consistency for students and staff alike. They also build on our long-standing expectations of "no swearing" and "no hands on".

This week's Big Question is: Why are rules important?

Without rules, things can become confusing, unsafe and unfair. Rules help us care for ourselves, care for others and care for our learning. They make expectations clear, help create calm learning environments and ensure everyone is treated fairly. Most importantly, they allow every student to learn, play and participate safely.

Research consistently shows that interruptions to learning have a significant impact over time. Something as simple as students calling out or disrupting lessons can cost between three and seven minutes of learning every hour. Across a full school year, that can add up to many days, and even weeks, of lost learning.

Rules are not about being restrictive. They are about creating the conditions where every child can succeed. They teach responsibility, self-control and good decision-making, while helping students develop the habits, they will need throughout their lives.

When everyone follows the rules, our school becomes a safer, calmer and more productive place for all. We look forward to working in partnership with families as we continue to strengthen these expectations and support every child to thrive at St Peter's.

Sports Equipment at School

To help ensure our playground remains a positive, inclusive and enjoyable place for all students, we ask that sporting equipment is not brought from home. This includes items such as footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, cricket bats, tennis racquets, football cards, and similar items.

While students are often keen to share their belongings with friends, experience shows that personal sporting equipment can lead to disagreements about rules, ownership and who is included in games. We also want to avoid situations where items are lost, damaged or become the subject of disputes between students.

The school provides a wide range of sporting equipment for students to use during break times. This helps create a fair and consistent environment where all children can participate and enjoy play with their peers.

Thank you for your understanding and support in helping us maintain a safe, inclusive and positive playground for all students.

Feast of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop 

Last Saturday, 8th August, we celebrated the Feast of Saint Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint. Born in Melbourne in 1842, Mary MacKillop dedicated her life to serving others and responding to the needs of families living in some of the most remote parts of colonial Australia.

Together with the Sisters of St Joseph, she worked to ensure children had access to education and supported those experiencing poverty and hardship. Her courage, compassion and deep faith continue to inspire people across Australia today.

Saint Mary MacKillop is remembered for her commitment to following God’s will, her care for those most in need, and her trust in God’s providence, even during difficult times. As a school community, her example reminds us of the importance of kindness, service and perseverance in our daily lives.

Holy God, source of all goodness, you show us in Mary MacKillop a woman of faith who lived by the power of the cross. Teach us to embrace what she pioneered: new ways of living the gospel that respect and defend the human dignity of all in our land. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Parenting Ideas with Michael Grose

The suspense has been building!!! I’m sure you are waiting with bated breath for the 2nd Resiliency Robber. As mentioned previously, these tips come from Michael Grose who is well known as one of Australia’s leading parent educators. He advocates strongly about the need to build resilience in children so that they are better equipped to solve their own problems and develop their own personal resilience. He talks about seven common resiliency robbers that impact on children.

RESILIENCE ROBBER 2 - Parents take responsibility for their children’s problems

Sometimes parents can take too much responsibility for issues that are really up to children to solve. Here’s a clue if you are wondering what Michael is talking about: a jumper is something a mother puts on her son when she’s cold. Some well-meaning parents get children out of bed each morning, carry their bags to school and neglect to develop real independence in their children. They do this for all the right reasons. They want their children to have the best, but by doing everything for them they are stopping them from developing independence.

Stay tuned next week for more of these tips which not only apply to parents but to teachers as well.

I hope you have a great week!

Kind regards, 

Paul Bissinella 

Acting Principal