Community Engagement

Tournament of Minds TOM - Deakin University 

We were delighted to have two Year 5 & 6 teams participate in Tournament Of Minds at Deakin University on Saturday morning. These students have been working together and preparing for the past six weeks with minimal input from teachers (as the competition requires) to present their STEM project to a team of judges. 

One of the most rewarding aspects of the experience has been watching students grow in confidence as they learn to trust one another’s ideas, embrace different perspectives and discover how much they can achieve when they work together and embrace each others strengths. We are always in awe of their presentations and their ability to communicate to such a high level. The students have built confidence, critical communication leadership skills, creative thinking, skills in collaboration, persistence, perspective taking throughout the time. 

Here's are some of the students highlights...

Dom - My favourite part was the Spontaneous Challenge. It was fun to be challenged without any adults present. As a group we had to figure things out on our own.  

Matthew - My favourite part was filming the 'small scale big screen' video. It was fun to edit a movie because it was a new experience for me. 

Richard - I enjoyed building the houses for the judges presentation. I also enjoyed recording the speech for the video. The Spontaneous Challenge was also fun. I liked trying something different.  

Scarlett - My highlight was finally performing the script we wrote because we had spent a lot of weeks preparing for TOM and it all went smoothly!  

Kathryn - A highlight for me was the judges feedback. It was very positive and they really enjoyed our video, especailly how funny it was. The judges could see how much we had practiced. 

Jacob - I liked arriving at Deakin University on the day, talking to friends and performing, and then doing the challenge with my friends.

Charlie - I loved the opportunity that we got to prepare for such a creative competition. I loved working as a team to achieve what we presented to the judges.  I loved spending time with my friends, learning my script and performing. 

Mariana - I liked going  to Deakin University.  I really liked the sessions leading up to the TOM and making the props. I also loved working with my team to have everything ready. It was a team effort. I was also great fun performing on the day. 

Leo - I enjoyed working as a team, preparing for the challenge, writing the script and presenting to the judges. 

Luka - I had so much fun last year that I did again this year. I like working collaboratively with my group to decide how we will respond to the STEM prompt. There are also lots of decisions to make and we have to be creative at solving problems. 

Grandparents Day - Book Fair Thank you!

We are so excited to share that our beautiful school Library received $1585.85 worth of books because of the incredibly generous donations from our Grandparents and Special Friends. 

We can't wait to cover them all and have them on display in our Library. 

The books were supplied by Jeffreys Book Store, Malvern.  A bookplate acknowledging each grandparents name and donation was inserted into each book. 

Sun smart Begins on Wednesday 

We will begin to wear our hats outside as the UV levels have reached 3. In order to keep our students safe from harmful UV rays and in line with our Sun Smart Policy all students and staff will wear a hat while outside from mid August to mid April. All students. Thank you to all parents for supporting this to be sun smart!

ICAS Assessments at St Roch's 2026

ICAS Science will be held on Wednesday and ICAS Mathematics Assessments will be held next Tuesday. We are excited to be offering our students the opportunity to participate in the world-renowned ICAS Assessments.  This online academic competition is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing and Digital Technologies and supports our enrichment and extension program here at St Roch’s. 

Year 2 - Year 6 will complete English, Mathematics, Science and Digital Technologies assessments and students in Year 3 - Year 6 will complete ICAS Writing.  

Gardening Club  

Gardening Club is an important component of our Wellbeing Program. Mrs Meseha provides time and space for students to come together in a purposeful and fun way to connect with nature and each other. Last week there was a tiny caterpillar to observe. Mrs Meseha has a true gift for setting up engaging activities involving mud, creativity and care for nature. 

Gardening Club is held every Wednesday at 1.50pm and is open to all students from Prep - Year 6. We love watching our veggies grow!  

Chess Club in Term 3 - Tuesdays  

Chess Club will be held on a Tuesdays Throughout Term 3. We are looking forward to having Zach continue as our coach. Have a look at all the fun being had at Chess Club! 

Registration for St Roch's is now open on the Chess for Schools website and Term 3 registrations are open here:  

Register Here - Chess For Schools

Performing Arts Club, Gardening Club, STEM Club and Dance Club

It's all happening at lunchtime at St Roch's! We are pleased to be able to offer extra curricular activities for our students throughout the week during break times. We are very excited to announce two new clubs at St Roch's...Singing Club and Performing Arts Club. 

Singing Club is led by Mrs O'Gorman on Fridays ant 11.10am. 

STEM Club is led by Mrs Jensen and our STEM Leaders Luka and Conner on Thursdays on a fortnightly basis at 1.50pm. 

Dance Club with Roxanne by Dance Fitness Victoria is held every Thursday at lunchtime at 11.10am and is open to all students from Prep - Year 4.

Please encourage to children to participate in any of these clubs should they wish to come along.  The more the merrier! 

Icy Pole Friday - Returning  in Term 4!

We look forward to Icy Pole Friday returning when the weather gets warmer in Term 4.   Thank you for all of your donations so far this year to keep improving our school. We genuinely appreciate your support. 

Tuesday 1 September - Book Week Celebrations & Character Parade 

Monday 14 September - Student Free Day 

Wednesday 16 September - Year 5 & 6 History Expo. All parents welcome. 

Nadine Bolton  

Deputy Principal, Learning Diversity Leader and Student Wellbeing Leader