Galilee School News

Dear Families,

Harmony Day

Harmony Day is an opportunity for us to recognise and honour the many cultures, stories and backgrounds that shape Galilee. Rather than a one‑day celebration, it reflects the ongoing commitment we make to creating a school where every student feels a true sense of belonging. 

Our Year 6 leaders have taken a thoughtful role in this celebration, researching, planning and preparing a Cultural Spotlight to share with the school community. Their work will help deepen our understanding of the diverse cultures that enrich our school and highlight the importance of student voice in building an inclusive environment.

We look forward to coming together for our Harmony Day Parade at 8:55am this Friday. 

Progress Update: 2026 focus on Reading

As you may be aware, improving reading instruction remains a key focus at Galilee. This priority has been informed by our 2024 and 2025 student data, which showed strong performance in reading against state and national benchmarks, but also indicated that results had begun to plateau. As a school committed to continuous improvement, we are striving to build on these already positive outcomes.

To support this work, we have partnered with Australian Catholic University and Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools to ensure our teachers engage in high-quality, research-informed, evidence-based professional learning in the teaching of reading.

This term, we have been working to implement a more structured and consistent approach to literacy instruction across all classrooms. Teachers are using the Five Pillars of Literacy to guide reading instruction and the 6+1 Traits of Writing to support the teaching of writing.

Next term teachers will engage in fortnightly professional development with Australian Catholic University, to enhance their skills, knowledge and understanding of each of the Five Pillars of Literacy. We look forward to sharing the learnings from these professional development modules and seeing the impact this training makes in the classroom. 

Progress Update: 2026 introducing the Positive Behaviour Learning Program at Galilee

As a school community, we are continuing to deepen our work with the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) framework to support student wellbeing and create consistent, positive expectations across all learning spaces. PBL is an evidence‑based, whole‑school approach bringing consistency and a shared language to behaviour expectations across classrooms, the playground and all learning spaces.

As part of our PBL journey, students, staff and families have been working on defining core values that will guide our students’ learning experiences and shape the environment we want for Galilee. These values will form the foundation of our behaviour expectations moving forward.

We look forward to launching our new values and whole‑school behaviour matrix in Term 2. 

Alongside this work, we have also been focusing on a school‑wide behaviour expectation each fortnight. In Term 1, our focus areas were:

• Line‑up expectations
• Responding to rallying calls
• Entry and exit routines

This week, our focus is on moving around the school respectfully and safely, reinforcing the importance of calm, considerate transitions that support learning for all.

2027 Prep Enrolments – Now Open

Applications for our 2027 Prep class are closing on Monday 23rd March. As places are limited, we encourage families to submit an enrolment application as soon as possible. Enrolment forms are available on our website by clicking ‘Enrol Now’.

NAPLAN Testing – Year 3 and Year 5

We would like to congratulate our Year 3 and Year 5 students on completing NAPLAN testing.

NAPLAN got off to a shaky start last Wednesday when the online platform crashed nationally, affecting all Year 5, 7 and 9 writing assessments across Australia. Our Year 5 students handled the situation exceptionally well, calmly pausing their test and resuming it after recess without concern.

Our Year 3 students were not affected as they completed the Writing component of NAPLAN on paper rather than online.

Student Medical Information

All families are required to update student medical information on the Nforma Parent Portal (web browser or app). Accurate information ensures staff can respond appropriately to student needs. Thank you for keeping these records up to date.

St. Patrick’s Day

Galilee enjoyed a wonderful St Patrick’s Day celebration filled with colour, music, Gaelic football and community spirit. Students learned about Irish traditions and the story of St Patrick, who is also the patron saint of Melbourne. It was a joyful opportunity to celebrate culture and come together as a school community.

Fundraising

Our community’s generous fundraising efforts in 2025 targeted our play spaces this year and it’s been wonderful to see these improvements beginning to come to life.

Next week, parts of our existing play equipment will be upgraded to make them more user‑friendly and engaging for all children. Early in Term 2, even more exciting additions will arrive, including:

• Cubby houses for imaginative play
• Outdoor blackboards to spark creativity
• A mud kitchen for hands‑on, sensory exploration

These new elements will enrich break times, strengthen social connections and give students more opportunities to create, explore and play with purpose. 

Our major fundraising focus for 2026 is the creation of a brand‑new Flexible Learning Lab, a dynamic space designed to inspire every learner.

Imagine a space at Galilee that can shift in an instant from a buzzing collaboration zone to a calm reading nook, from a hands‑on project workshop to a presentation space where students proudly share their ideas. That’s the vision behind our Flexible Learning Lab and with your support, we can bring it to life in 2026.

By refurbishing Maguire Hall, we will transform it into this Flexible Learning Lab, a space designed for small‑group learning, whole‑class activities, creative projects, performance practice, STEM challenges, quiet study, parent/carer workshops and community gatherings.  

By contributing to our 2026 fundraising project, you’re helping transform an under‑used area of our school into a vibrant, student‑centred learning lab that will benefit every child for years to come.

Easter Fundraising Events 

We are excited to share two fundraising events we’re running in the lead‑up to Easter. Thank you for supporting our community.

Our Easter Raffle Fundraiser will be drawn on Thursday 2nd April. 

Tickets are $2 each and the raffle closes 5pm Monday 30th March We are continuing to collect East Raffle Donations in the front office. These donations will be bundled together to create hampers for our Easter Raffle. Thank you to the families who have already donated chocolate Easter eggs and other Easter related goodies. Donations from our community are greatly appreciated. Raffle tickets can be purchased through the Schools 24 app.

Hot Cross Bun Fundraiser in partnership with Brumby's Albert Park with the option to purchase traditional, double chocolate, fruitless or butterscotch, fudge & white chocolate hot cross buns. Orders for hot cross buns will close 5pm Monday 30th March and will arrive Wednesday 1st April.  Hot Cross Bun orders can be placed through the Schools 24 app.

The School ID for the Schools24 app is 25475963.

Mother’s Day Lunch

Ticket sales for our Galilee Mother’s Day Lunch will go live this Friday at 12:00pm, the link for ticket sales will be posted on Dojo on Friday.

Galilee Mother's Day Lunch will be on Friday 8 May, 12pm - 4pm at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron. Tickets are $130pp and include a three-course lunch, sides, a 3-hour beverage package, plus entertainment. The official Afterparty will be at Ellora from 4pm onwards and tickets are $20pp. 

Upcoming Term 1 Community Events

• Galilee Easter Raffle Fundraiser: Prizes drawn in the final week of Term 1
• Galilee Hot Cross Buns Fundraiser: Delivery in the final week of Term 1

Note: The Colour Run will not run this year. Instead, we are planning a special event with Luna Park for Galilee students and their families later in the year—more details soon.

Looking Ahead – Weeks 9 and 10

Week 9

• Monday: We welcome Maeve and Sam, ACU pre-service teachers to Galilee 
• Tuesday: Beachside Cricket
• Wednesday: 
• Thursday: 
• Friday: Prep- 6 Cross Country. No assembly

Week 10

• Monday: Last day for Raffle tickets and hot cross bun orders. 
• Tuesday:
• Wednesday: Hot Cross Bun delivery 
• Thursday: Easter Raffle 1pm.  End of Term 1:30. 
• Friday: Good Friday

We wish you every blessing in the coming weeks.

—Amy Burns (Principal), Holly Evans and Richard Harding (Deputy Principals)