Mrs Ryan's Fortnightly Reflections

“Change brings opportunity.” Nido Qubein

I hope we all enjoyed the mid-term mini-break and had the opportunity to rest and prepare for what lies ahead! We are approaching the halfway mark of the term, and in line with the festive season, time often feels pressing as longer days and social events pass us by quickly. This is similarly true for all things related to St Mary’s as we conclude the year, working diligently to get the best from our children while simultaneously preparing for the upcoming school year.

Thank you to our entire community for such a fabulous day last week. We celebrated our grandparents and special people, learned about how to be global agents of change with Socktober, and concluded with the fun of our colour run. I would like to extend my gratitude to all the families who supported the day, encouraged fundraising, and ensured that your child(ren) had everything they needed for such a great event. A special thanks to Andrew Christian for delivering the hay bales for our running track and to Dhungula Bakery for their generous donation of icing for our grandparents' activity!

In the coming weeks, various aspects of 2025 will be finalized. This will include staffing for 2025, our Magnify learning and teaching direction, learner peer selections for classes, some physical movement for classes next year, and a warm welcome to our Foundation 2025 learners as they begin their transition. We recognise that change and new beginnings can create unease among us; however, please know that all these changes are planned explicitly, utilising our school data and the highly capable staff that collectively lead St Mary’s.

Recently, we have observed trends of inappropriate behaviour in our primary school setting. We found that some of these behaviours are being imitated from TikTok trends. Such behaviours include calling out inappropriate words in learning environments and referring to body parts without proper understanding or context. I am hopeful that parents will engage in open conversations with their children about the use of such language and references to body parts, as these are only appropriate for school in specific learning scenarios, such as Life Relationships. Any child who intentionally disrupts a learning environment or compromises another's physical or psychological safety will be withdrawn from that space, and restorative processes will follow. Parents will be informed if and when this occurs. At a school level, we will also be exploring our language and space for our body parts and teaching what is appropriate and inappropriate developmentally for our children. This will be explored through our social and emotional learning lens over the coming weeks.

Currently, our staff are busy assessing and will soon begin reporting on all the children’s academic growth. The classrooms will participate in scheduled testing and assessments to accurately inform progression points, highlighting growth and future learning areas. I would like to acknowledge and thank the staff and parent team who contributed to the new reporting format, and we hope it provides you with an accurate account of your child as a learner. An optional learning conversation will be offered after reports for any parent wishing for further discussion. We know that there is still significant learning to take place before the end of the year, and parents are welcome to contact teachers through our designated communication channels at any time. A reminder that all parent/teacher meetings must be scheduled via appointments and will be held in the meeting rooms of the administration building.

I look forward to seeing you all throughout the remains of the term. 

Take care & God Bless, 

Jasmine Ryan 

Principal