St Finbar's Newsletter

Principal's Report

Dear Parents,

2023 Semester Two Reporting

On Monday December 11th between 9:00 - 11:00 AM, the Semester Two Reports for each student will be released to the community via the nForma Online Portal. 

 

What you need to do:

  • Check the email account that is attached to the email address you have provided the school, after 9:00 AM on Monday December 11th (this applies to new families also)
  • Check both the inbox and spam folder for an email from no-reply@nforma.com.au
  • In the email you will receive a direct link to the portal for your family as well as a temporary password 
  • Click on the link to the portal and enter the temporary password
  • You will be prompted to create a new password 
  • You should then have access to the portal which will include the 2023 Semester Two Report as well as any previous reports that have been distributed via the portal. 

It is recommended that this process be completed on a desktop/laptop computer rather than a smartphone or tablet (however, this is not essential). nForma strongly suggests that all access is cleared and recreated with a new temporary password each semester to enhance the level of security for such confidential information. We will be following this advice each semester and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

If you have any difficulties accessing the portal or your child’s report, please contact Callum Mills at cmills@sfbrightoneast.catholic.edu.au.

 

Please be mindful that a high volume of emails and requests can come through once the reports have been distributed. The school will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible regarding your request. 

 

Thank you to Callum Mills, our Teaching and Learning Leader, for all the work that has gone into getting our reports ready.  

 

Our Year 6s Final Week 

Our Year 6 students have a busy week ahead as they prepare for their graduation and subsequent departure from St Finbar's.  It is a momentous time for our Year 6 students and we aim to make the coming days as memorable for them as possible.   We are especially looking forward to tonight's graduation which begins with Mass at 5pm, dinner with parents in the hall and a student disco.

 

Please note the following dates for the Year 6 student activities: 

  • Thursday 7th December - Year 6 Graduation Mass and Dinner
  • Tuesday 12th December - Year 6 Big Day out @ Gumbuya World
  • Wednesday 13th December  - Year 6 v's Staff Annual Basketball Match
  • Friday 15th December - Last Day of School for all students -  traditional Year 6 Send off starting at 12:45pm

2023 'Up Day' and classroom allocations

Tomorrow (8th December) all returning students will be meeting their new classroom teacher and classmates between 9:15am and 11am.  Any students who will not be returning to St Finbar's next year will be supervised by non-returning staff during this time.  New students who are starting with us in 2024 will also be joining us tomorrow.  The full 2024 staffing schedule will be published in next week's newsletter.

 

Mrs McDonald talks more about Up Day on the Deputy Principal page of this newsletter. It is often a day of big emotions, and some students may be disappointed if they are not placed in a class with their best friends. If this is the case,  we do ask that you see this is an opportunity to build resilience in your children and encourage a growth mindset. 

 

Changes to Parent Conferences for 2024

This week a proposed change in the timing of our parent conferences was put to the School Advisory Council and was approved.   Our Parent Information evening will remain on January 31st, followed by an Open Morning on February 9th.

 

We will hold Parent Teacher meetings towards the end of Term 1.  By this stage,  all assessments will have been completed and it will be an opportunity for teachers to discuss each student's learning goals for the year.

 

Our second round of parent meetings (normally referred to as Student Led Conferences) will now take place at the end of Term 3.  We see this change as a chance to bridge the gap between our Term 2 reports and Term 4 reports and an opportunity to discuss goals for the final term of the year. 

 

School Advisory Council AGM

On Tuesday evening we had our School Advisory Council AGM for 2024.  A special thank you goes to our outgoing chairperson Caitlin Chapponel and SAC member Luke Gattuso whose time and contributions over the past three years are greatly appreciated. James Davies has been elected SAC president for next year, and Ash Diamond will take on the role of secretary. 

 

 

Italian Day recognition 

St Finbar's was featured in this week's Il Globo newspaper. You can test your Italian language skills be trying to read the article below. Thanks again to Mrs Lena Sirianni who organised Il Globo to attend our Italian Day celebration and interview some of our students. 

Year 5 Leadership

This week Mr Anderson and I had the privilege of speaking to the Year 5 students about their Leadership roles for 2024 and "interviewing" them for their preferred roles.  Their articulate responses to our questions, ideas for their leadership portfolio and the passion with which they spoke ensures that our Student Leadership program is in good hands next year. 

 

Our Year 5 Leadership day last Friday was very successful with students needing to put some of the core leadership qualities into action - teamwork, persistence, cooperation, resilience were all displayed, followed by a sense of achievement when they had completed the task. 

 

 

 

Thank you and God bless,

Michelle Hill,

Acting Principal