School News

Dear Families,

The past two weeks have once again been filled with lots of opportunities for our students and events for our families to participate in. In this newsletter we will reflect on what has been happening and look ahead to what is coming up.

Semester 1 Events

The Galilee community has always been an enthusiastic, passionate, inclusive and fun filled group of people who look for any excuse to get together. To support this, our calendar is filled with events and activities that encourage our students and families to get involved. To help families plan for and look forward to events and activities we have created a Semester One events and activities overview. We hope this overview helps you know what to expect and what to look forward to.

Shrove Tuesday at Galilee

On Tuesday we started the day with our first Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast. It was wonderful to see so many families gather on the playground before school to enjoy a pancake or two. Thank you to the incredible staff and parents who volunteered to cook, serve and sell pancakes.

We raised an outstanding $720.30 at our pancake breakfast. Half of the money raised will go towards Project Compassion and the other half will go towards upgrading our school playground. On the day, we were also able to donate pancake breakfasts to St Peter’s & Paul’s Church.

All money raised for the school will go towards upgrading our playground. We have a goal to raise $45,000 in 2025. Following the Shrove Tuesday pancake breakfast, we are now one step closer to achieving our goal. Thank you to everyone who bought a pancake to support Project Compassion and our school fundraising efforts.

Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent

On Wednesday we gathered at St. Peter and Paul Church for a beautiful Ash Wednesday service that our Year 5 students organised.

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent. Lent is a time to reflect on our lives and behaviour with a view to making small positive changes that make a difference to ourselves and to the lives of others. It is a time to simplify our lives and to give more. To give more of ourselves to our family and friends; to give more of our time to reflect and pray; and to give more of our resources to those who find themselves struggling.

Galilee Principal Appointment

The process for the appointment of the next Principal for Galilee is well and truly underway. This is an exciting chapter in the life of our great school. The position will be advertised this weekend and again next weekend. The panel who is discharged with the responsibility for making this appointment is:

Father Paul Cahill (Priest Rep)
Eleanor Duffy (Parent Rep)
Cathy Ferrari (Principal Rep)
Simon Fitzpatrick (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Rep)

As we enter this exciting period, I ask that the Holy Spirit guides all of the panel’s deliberations as we all work together to support and grow our school.

Staffing Update

We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude and congratulations as we celebrate the retirement of Colleen Giles, who has dedicated 16 years to teaching at Galilee and an incredible 49 years of service in Catholic Education. Following a year on long service leave in 2024, Colleen has decided to retire from teaching.

As she embarks on this new chapter in her life, we wish her all the best in her future endeavours. We are grateful for her years of service, dedication, and the lasting legacy she leaves behind at Galilee. Our community will be informed of Colleen's retirement in the Newsletter next week.

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome two new staff members who have recently joined our team: Rachel Keenan and Nada Abba, who are both joining us as Learning Support Officers. Rachel is Irish, plays Gaelic football and has extensive experience working with young adults with additional needs. Nada is originally from Iraq and has several years of experience as a Learning Support Officer in Melbourne Catholic Schools, and is a strong mathematician. We are excited for the skills and strengths they bring to our staff and the value they add to the school community.

Year 5 school camp

Last week our Year 5 students spent four days on the Mornington Peninsula learning how to surf and snorkel. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to step outside of their comfort zones to try new things and take on new challenges. We were very proud of our students who all exceeded our expectations in all areas of the camp.

Thank you Mikalia Greenan, Harvey Bidmade, Dan Booth, Helen Borger and Adrian Webster for taking such good care of our students at the Year 5 camp.

Open Morning at Galilee

Last Friday we opened our doors to prospective families. Student leaders ran a very successful assembly that showcased what we offer students at Galilee. Following the assembly, Year 6 students toured families around the school showing them into classrooms and answering questions. After the tour, families gathered on the rooftop for morning tea and a chat. We had over 80 people attend our Open Day. This is an extraordinary amount of people, indicating that families in our local area recognise that Galilee is an exceptional school.

2026 Prep Enrollments

Our 2026 Prep enrollments are open and filling fast. If you have a child who is due to start school in 2026 we encourage you to complete an enrolment form on our website as soon as possible. We have limited spaces available in Prep 2026 and we already have over 68 applications. We have started to meet with families who have completed an enrollment form. If you or someone you know is interested in Prep enrollment for 2026, please complete an enrollment form, found on our website, as soon as possible.

Galilee Parents Association

If you would like to volunteer to help with events or activities that we have planned this year (Disco, Gala, Mother’s Day morning tea, Father’s Day breakfast, Christmas Evening etc.) please contact Seb Greene sgreene@gsm.vic.edu.au. No experience is necessary and we are keen to hear about different ideas and ways of running these events. Many hands make light work so if you would like to get involved, please contact Seb.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

On Tuesday we gathered at St. Joseph’s Port Melbourne to witness many of our Year 3 students participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. It was a wonderful celebration. I would like to congratulate the Year 3 students and thank the families, teachers and Parish Priests for supporting the children as they have prepared for this special occasion.

NAPLAN

Next week our Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in NAPLAN Assessments. Students will complete a Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy Assessment.

NAPLAN Assessments provides parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance.

NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

NAPLAN results at Galilee have been improving over the past five years indicating that the learning and teaching programs at Galilee have had a positive impact on student learning outcomes. The graphs below show Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN data from 2024. These results are excellent and are a credit to our students, teachers and families.

Galilee Basketball Club - Help with uniform design

Over the past year, the School Advisory Council has been reviewing the role that basketball plays in our school community. Basketball is a very popular sport with a large majority of our students participating in community basketball competitions with before and after school training at Galilee.

Following the review, a group of Galilee parents and staff are now exploring the possibility of setting up a Galilee Basketball Club. Part of this work includes designing a basketball uniform. If you would be interested in helping to design a Galilee basketball uniform please join us on Thursday 12th March at 2.30pm. If you are interested and able to join us, please contact Amy by emailing your interest to principal@gsm.vic.edu.au. Please title the email Basketball Uniform.

St. Patrick's Day at Galilee

On Monday 17th March we will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at Galilee. Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in green. Students will be participating in a variety of activities based around St. Patrick and Ireland.

We are celebrating St. Patrick's Day at Galilee because he is the patron saint of Melbourne. St Patrick’s legacy was palpable in the early days of the Catholic Church in Melbourne. Our Cathedral was built and named after this great missionary saint—a testament to the rich Irish culture present at the time. As an Archdiocese, we continue to celebrate St Patrick for all he has brought to our city, but it is his missionary example in particular that we are called to imitate—by going out into the streets of Melbourne.

Harmony Week at Galilee

In Week 8, we will be celebrating Harmony Week with students participating in a range of activities throughout the week. On Friday 21st March we encourage students to wear the colour orange or dress in culturally traditional dress. More information about Harmony Day on Friday 21st March will be shared on Dojo.

What’s on our calendar for the next two weeks?

Term 1, Week 7

Monday 10th March

-Labour Day Public Holiday - Galilee is closed for students and staff

Tuesday 11th March

Wednesday 12th March

-Writing NAPLAN for Year 3 and Year 5

Thursday 13th March

-Reading NAPLAN and Language Conventions NAPLAN for Year 3 and Year 5

Friday 14th March

-Running Club at 8am

-Numeracy NAPLAN for Year 3 and Year 5

-Assembly at 2.50pm

Term 1, Week 8 - Harmony Week at Galilee

Monday 17th March

-Running Club at 8am

-St. Patrick’s Day - Students are invited to wear green on this day