Principal's Message
INQUIRY AND REVIEW PROCESS
Dear Parents / Carers,
Every Catholic School in the Sydney Archdiocese undertakes this process every five years. St Patrick’s Sutherland had its last review in 2019. The purpose of I&R is to provide support to Sydney Catholic Schools in self-evaluation and school improvement in line with expectations of the Education Act 2013, and other legislative, administrative and Archdiocesan accountabilities. The Archbishop’s Charter For Catholic Schools and the National School’s Improvement Tool are two documents that assist the Review Team reflect upon the school’s strategic priorities. The Review Team is made up of external educational experts, specialist advisers and other school Principals whose job it is to look at all the school data (e.g. NAPLAN results, Tell Them From Me survey responses, Teaching programs, student work samples etc) and validate that what the school is reporting is accurate. They will then offer their thoughts on the future directions that the school has indicated that we would like to head towards. This external team’s work culminates in a two day visit where they will talk to a selection of parents, teachers, students and Father Dan (Parish Priest), visit classrooms and interrogate the school’s data and self-review with the Leadership Team.
The Review team will then develop a Report for the Executive Director that includes commendations and recommendations. These recommendations will then be used to help inform the school’s next Strategic Plan.
Tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow afternoon I will be holding a PARENT FORUM to find out what you most value about this School and what could be done to make it even better. On FRIDAY 21 MARCH (pupil-free day) the school staff will be spending the day looking at the available data (academic, wellbeing, parents feedback) and developing a plan for the next five years. The school will also need to demonstrate how they have implemented the key improvement strategies that were recommended in the 2019 Review. This is what will be shared and discussed with the Review Team on Thursday 8 / Friday 9 May.
The key elements of the Report, including suggested improvements, will be shared with the community when it is finalised.
Steve Darcy (Principal)
VOLUNTEER INDUCTION
I will be holding TWO sessions, via zoom, for any parent / carer who wants to help out as a volunteer during 2025. Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) demands that this training is done every year. Only parents who have completed these sessions, and then have registered with SCS, are permitted to help out on excursions, in the classroom or at whole-school events and carnivals.
These sessions will be on TUESDAY 18 MARCH at 7:00pm and THURSDAY 20 MARCH at 1:00pm.
More information, including how to register, was sent home through COMPASS last Friday.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAYS
Just a reminder that NEXT Friday 21 March AND the following Monday 24 March are both Staff Development Days.
On the Friday the staff will be preparing for the Inquiry And Review Process, while on the Monday the teachers will be involved in some Network Professional development, working with teachers from a number of other local Catholic Schools as well as Advisers form Sydney Catholic Schools in the areas of Mathematics, Reading and Writing.
The school will be closed on both those days.
CAR LINE
Thank you to all those families who are able to display their SURNAME in the window of their car as they are lining up for pick up. This makes it so much easier for the teacher to keep the line moving each afternoon. The school is happy to provide a sheet of card to any family who needs one, to write their name on.
CONTACTING THE DIVERSE LEARNING NEEDS' TEAM
We understand that, at times, you may need to share sensitive information regarding your child's diverse learning needs. In such cases, where timely responses or confidentiality are required—such as when sharing diagnostic reports—we encourage you to use the following email address:
engage@stpsutherland.catholic.edu.au.
This email account is monitored by Lauren Augustus, our Diverse Learning Coordinator, and Jim Heelis, our Assistant Principal. They will ensure that your concerns are addressed promptly and communicated to the relevant staff members.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.