Dear families,

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope all of our families enjoyed a relaxing and refreshing break over the recent school holidays. It has been wonderful to welcome our students back to school, and it has been particularly pleasing to see how quickly they settled back into their learning routines. The positive energy across the school last week was fantastic, with classrooms quickly returning to being vibrant places of learning.

Term 3 is often one of the most productive terms of the school year. By this stage, classroom routines are well established, strong relationships between students and teachers have been built, and there are fewer interruptions to the learning program. This provides an excellent opportunity for students to consolidate their skills, challenge themselves and continue making strong academic and personal growth throughout the term. We are looking forward to another exciting and successful term together.

Official Opening of the McAuley Building: Late last term, we proudly celebrated the official opening of our new McAuley Building. This significant milestone marks an exciting chapter in the history of St Margaret's and provides outstanding new learning environments for our students.

We were honoured to welcome a number of distinguished guests, including our local Member for Footscray, Katie Hall MP, along with representatives from Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools. The ceremony provided a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the many people whose vision, support and hard work made this project possible. It was a memorable occasion and one that our entire school community can be proud of.

Congratulations Mr Mammone: Congratulations to Mr Raymond Mammone, who recently received a School Sport Victoria Award recognising his outstanding contribution to supporting student participation in interschool sport. This award is a fitting acknowledgement of the enthusiasm, commitment and countless hours Mr Mammone dedicates to providing sporting opportunities for our students. We are incredibly fortunate to have him as part of our staff, and his passion continues to have a positive impact on the lives and experiences of so many children. Well done, Mr Mammone!

Divisional Interschool Sport On Thursday 25 June, several St Margaret's teams proudly represented our school at the Divisional Winter Interschool Sport Competition. Schools earn the opportunity to compete at this level by first winning their respective district championships, making qualification itself a wonderful achievement.

Our Mixed Football, Boys' Soccer, Girls' Soccer and Mixed Tee ball teams all competed with determination, sportsmanship and great pride in representing St Margaret's. While we were unfortunately unable to progress to the next stage of competition, every student should be incredibly proud of their efforts. Both our Boys' and Girls' Soccer teams were particularly unlucky, with their campaigns ending in penalty shootouts, a heartbreaking way to finish after outstanding performances. Congratulations to every student who participated. Thank you also to the many parents and family members who volunteered their time, transported teams and cheered on our students throughout the day. Your support is greatly appreciated. A special thanks to Rob Morley who stepped in to coach our boys football team on the day.

Our Feathered Visitors Some of you may have noticed that a pair of Masked Lapwings (commonly known as Plovers) have chosen to nest close to our school grounds. While it is wonderful to see local wildlife making use of our environment, these birds are extremely protective of their nests and young during the breeding season. We have sought advice from wildlife experts, who have recommended that we simply give the birds plenty of space while they raise their chicks.

We ask all students, families and visitors to avoid the nesting area wherever possible. Although the chicks are certainly very cute, the adult birds can become quite defensive if they feel their young are threatened. With a little patience and care, we hope both the birds and our school community can safely coexist over the coming weeks.

First Holy Communion Preparation: Our Year 4 students are currently preparing to celebrate the Sacrament of First Holy Communion on Saturday 1 August. This is a very special milestone in their faith journey, and we ask our entire school community to keep these students and their families in your prayers as they continue their preparation. We look forward to celebrating this important occasion with them.

Former Socceroo Visits St Margaret's: World Cup fever certainly continued at St Margaret's this week with a very special visitor to our school. On Monday morning, former Socceroo and A-League star Bruno Fornaroli visited St Margaret's alongside representatives from Avondale Soccer Club to conduct a soccer clinic for our students.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn new skills, participate in fun activities and meet a professional footballer who has represented Australia on the international stage. We sincerely thank Bruno and Avondale Soccer Club for providing such a memorable experience for our students.

St Margaret's Church Update: Many families would now be aware of the information published by St Mary's Parish regarding the proposed closure of St Margaret's Church. While no final decisions have been made regarding the future of the site, the Parish has indicated that, subject to further consultation, the current church building is proposed to close due to its significant structural challenges and poor condition .

For our school community, this news is incredibly sad, even though many have recognised for some time that the ageing condition of the church meant that difficult decisions would eventually need to be made. St Margaret's Church has been at the heart of our school's identity since the school was established. Gathering together as a school community to celebrate Mass in our parish church has been a treasured tradition for generations of students, staff and families, and it has played an integral role in nurturing the faith life of our school. Should the church close, it will not be practical for the school to regularly celebrate Mass at St Mary's Church. The logistical challenges of transporting over 450 students to another site mean that we would inevitably lose an important aspect of what makes St Margaret's such a special Catholic school community.

Our School Master Plan does include a future extension of the Multipurpose Room that would provide a dedicated gathering space capable of accommodating whole-school liturgies and, potentially, the celebration of Mass. While this vision remains an important long-term aspiration, it is unlikely to be realised in the short to medium term. Having successfully secured two significant Government grants over the past five years to deliver major capital works, it is highly unlikely that the school would receive further government funding for the next stage of the Master Plan in the foreseeable future.

On Saturday, representatives from the parish community gathered to discuss the proposed closure of St Margaret's Church. It was a deeply emotional and challenging meeting, reflecting the significance of the church to so many people over many decades. At this stage, no decisions have been made regarding the future use of the land or the timeline for any demolition of the existing church building. As a school community, we will continue to work closely with St Mary's Parish and the Archdiocese as these discussions progress. We remain hopeful that a solution can be found that honours the rich history and significance of St Margaret's Church while ensuring that our students continue to have meaningful opportunities to gather, pray and celebrate their faith together.

NAPLAN 2026 Results: The recently released 2026 NAPLAN results have provided another pleasing snapshot of student achievement at St Margaret's. Our students have once again performed very well, with results that continue the strong and consistent pattern of achievement our school has demonstrated over many years. While we are still waiting for the release of the State and National comparison data, our initial analysis shows that our students' performance is very much in line with the excellent results we have achieved in previous years. One particularly encouraging highlight has been the improvement in our Writing results. Writing has been a key focus within our 2026 Annual Action Plan, with teachers engaging in targeted professional learning and implementing evidence-based strategies to strengthen student writing across all year levels. It is extremely rewarding to see these initiatives already translating into improved student outcomes.

NAPLAN is just one measure of student learning, but it does provide valuable information that helps us evaluate the effectiveness of our teaching programs and identify areas for continued improvement. We will undertake a more detailed analysis once the State and National data becomes available. I would like to congratulate our students for their efforts, thank our dedicated staff for their commitment to delivering high-quality teaching every day, and acknowledge the ongoing support of our families. These results reflect the strong partnership that exists between home and school and our shared commitment to ensuring every child is supported to achieve their personal best.

Looking Ahead: There is plenty to look forward to over the coming weeks, with several exciting events on our school calendar. Our School Disco will be held on Friday 31 July, while our Prep students will celebrate their 100 Days of School on Thursday 30 July. We look forward to these wonderful opportunities for our students to celebrate, connect and create lasting memories. Please keep an eye on upcoming newsletters and communications for further details about these and other exciting events throughout the term.

God bless

John

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