Dear Parents, Students and Friends,

Welcome to the 2025 academic year! A special welcome to those joining our St Peter’s College community for the first time. Whether you are a new Year 7 parent or a parent of a student in Years 8–12 commencing with us this year, we are delighted to have you with us.

At St Peter’s College, we often reflect on what it means to be a community. A thriving community is one where all members—students, parents, and staff—work together for the common good. Our most successful graduates are those whose parents are actively engaged in their child’s learning, supported by a school that fosters collaboration. We remain committed to creating an environment where students flourish, and this journey is one we take together with you. Once again, welcome—I look forward to sharing this year’s journey with you.

School Theme

Pope Francis has designated 2025 as a Jubilee Year for the Catholic Church, under the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” After a discernment process last year, our school community enthusiastically embraced this message, selecting “Be the Reason for Hope” (1 Peter 3:15) as our theme for 2025.

This theme calls us to action. It invites students to be leaders of hope, to integrate hope into their learning, and to bring hope into their friendships, classrooms, and broader community. It is a challenge to support those in need and to make meaningful contributions to the world around us. Throughout the year, we will explore this theme in various ways, including at school assemblies, in classroom discussions, and within this newsletter.

At our Student Welcome Assembly last Friday, students were encouraged to connect their personal goals with this theme. I challenge each of us—students, staff, and parents—to find ways to be the reason for hope in 2025.

Staff and Staffing

With the continued growth of our school, we are fortunate to welcome many new staff members this year. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to:

Teaching Staff

Katie Adelman, Michael Conti, Jasmine Diamantopoulos, Sehan Fernando , Sabrina Fischer, Veronica Guthrie, Madeline Harper, Dawn Heldt, Heather Jones, Ok-jin Lee, Allison Lin, Sarah Malcolm, Vicki Malmo, Melissa Nolan, Ridmi Perera, Owen Stephens.

We also welcome back Nicole Green from maternity leave

Learning Support Staff

Blake Armour, Farishat Begum, Adelayde Bonser, Emily Bridgeman, Nathan Chew, Nicholas Darbyshire, Lily Dinsdale, Ethan Height, Paige Kirby, Mavis Lee, Linfeng Liu, Faeza Karimi, Jasmine Minekus, Estelle Moughton, Tyriek Mousaco, Ellie Ryan, Holly Simmons, Ella Walsh, Dion Wheeler 2025 New Staff_Teachers

Contained within this edition is the complete list of staff, their role/s and qualifications. Please click here to access the list. For easy reference, we have also compiled a guide on who to contact for various queries:

Purpose	Contact point
Individual subject-based queries	Subject teacher
General pastoral and learning needs	Learning Advisor
Significant pastoral needs	House Leader
General enquiries	Office administration team
Finance enquiries	Finance team
Student Counselling services	Campus-based well-being team
Uniform enquiries	Kat Cini (Office Manager)
Enrolment Enquiries	Wendy Height
Pathways and Careers	Campus-based Careers Counsellors Melissa Dillon (Cranbourne) Robyn Cardamone (Clyde North)
Learning and Teaching matters	David Hansen – Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching
Library Services	Jennifer Bleakly
IT Services	IT Help desk
Campus Issues	Deputy Principal Head of Campus Julie Banda – Clyde North Jeremy Wright - Cranbourne

Priorities 2025

Each year, we establish key learning priorities informed by student outcomes and evidence-based strategies. Our primary goal in 2025 is to enhance student confidence in learning while empowering staff to ensure every student achieves success. Our key priorities this year include:

Collaborative Teaching Team’s driving school success.
Develop professional collaboration in teacher and leader practice
Develop inclusive practices through differentiation and cultural awareness through the school with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders; EALD students, neurodiverse students, and others experiencing marginalisation.
Increase the opportunities for leaders to develop and lead initiatives (that are aligned with College Priorities).
Continue to provide ongoing professional learning to assist staff to build Catholic schools as dialogical communities utilising recontextualised and dialogical approaches
Lesson routines are created and consistently applied in every classroom.
A focus on the development of more meaningful feedback.
A continued focus on embedding effective classroom and behaviour management strategies.

These priorities are designed to create an enriching, supportive, and high-achieving learning environment for all students.

Looking Ahead

As we embark on 2025, I look forward to celebrating the many achievements and milestones of our students and staff. This newsletter will continue to share important updates and highlights throughout the year, so I encourage you to take a few moments to read it when it arrives in your inbox every fortnight. Thank you for your ongoing support, and I invite you to join us in finding ways to “Be the Reason for Hope” in 2025.

Stay well, and may this year be one of growth, success, and community partnership.

Mr Chris Black

Principal

Wellbeing