From Our Principal
St Mel's is a proud Catholic Education Community, striving, learning
and achieving together through Christ our light.
Newsletter ~ Term 1, Week 2, 2024
Principal's Message:
Dear Parents, Carers, Families and Friends of St Mel’s Primary School,
Welcome to our first newsletter for the 2024 school year!
In this newsletter we have much to celebrate and be grateful for.
The majority of our learners returned to school last week on the first official day for all students on Wednesday 31 January, with a number of their classmates and school friends returning from overseas, interstate and/or more local extended holidays. It has certainly been a joy to see the children arriving at school, catching up with peers, playing in our passive and active outdoor spaces and/or sitting together catching up with one another, chatting to staff and/or their school friends' or class mates' parents/carers.
With the return to school, we have also experienced a return to familiar and new routines as our Staff Team and our young learners have quickly focussed on setting the scene for the year of learning to follow. This foundation work has commenced with an intensive, consistent and clear focus on our School Wide Expectations:
Do Your Best ~ Help Others Succeed ~ Respect Our School
These expectations apply to all children, staff, parents, carers, family members and visitors to our lovely school. Everything we say and do can be linked back to one or more of these School Wide Expectations. We will continue to focus on these concepts frequently in a variety of ways throughout the year ahead.
These School Wide Expectations will be taught, revised & practiced.
We will refer to them as we acknowledge one another's efforts to live out our School Wide Expectations every day! We will use these School Wide Expectations to pre-correct, remind, correct, discourage and follow up behaviour of concern!
Student Free Day: Friday 23 February (REMINDER)
There will be no school for students on Friday 23 February. Our Staff Team will gather in the St. Mel's Hall for a Professional Learning Day focussed on Behaviour Support facilitated by Dan Petro, Behaviour Analyst, in support of strengthening our knowledge, skills and application of a range of positive behaviour strategies aligned with our School Wide Positive Behaviour Framework and the Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd (CES Ltd) Student Behaviour Framework.
Our presenter, Dan Petro, has continually worked in our diocesan Catholic schools for well over 12 years, teaming closely with the CES Ltd Student Pastoral Wellbeing Team (the team I have worked in for the past 9 years). Dan is a leading Behaviour Analyst, working in Catholic, independent and government schools across Australia.
Our day will focus on increasing staff capacity to implement our School Wide Positive Behaviour Framework, systematically prevent and respond to student behaviour of concern and implement effective evidenced-based learning and teaching strategies designed to promote positive behaviour and discourage behaviour of concern.
This professional learning day is being sponsored and supported by the CES Ltd Student Pastoral Wellbeing Team.
I am grateful for...
... the hard work and preparation of our Staff Team for the new school year
... the positive response of our learners to their learning areas, learning experiences and expectations of staff
... the warm and friendly welcome I have received from children, parents, carers, parishioners, our Staff Team and the staff of our Kindergarten and Parish House
... the patience of those whose names I am still trying to learn (& remember)
... Fr. Rene and Fr. Ruel, our parish Rogationist priests, who have been so welcoming and an active presence in our Parish Education Community
... Danae Napier (Deputy Principal / Catholic Identity Leader) and Year 6 leaders who prepared and led our prayer gathering in celebration of our Feast Day on Tuesday
... the support of Classroom Relief Teachers from the local area who have supported us during recent staff illness and/or coverage of Specialist classes and/or teacher release
Thank you for your varied contributions to the start of our new school year together as an education community. I look forward to continuing to work together in support of our learners, and of one another, in the days, weeks, terms and years ahead.
Kind regards,
Stephen 'Steve' Hicks
Principal
