St Anne's Primary Sunbury Newsletter

From The Principal

Stephen Arthurson

Dear Families,

 

Catholic Education Week

 

This week we have been celebrating Catholic Education Week, which occurs in Melbourne each year around this time due to the connection between St Patrick’s Day on March 17th and the heart of Catholicism in our city, St Patrick’s Cathedral.

  • Enrolment tours in all three Catholic Primary Schools in Sunbury have been taking place, inviting families to become part of the wider Catholic education system across Melbourne.
  • Our RE Leaders, accompanied by Cath and joined by students from over 250 other Catholic schools, joined in a celebratory Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral today. They carried our St Anne’s banner in an entrance procession with pride.
  • If you wish to read a bit about the history of St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Archdiocese has published this article which is well worth exploring.

 

Uniform

 

We are getting close to the final stages of our uniform refresh. Noone has been very supportive in this space, helping the School Council Uniform Subcommittee consider the latest developments in design, with a strong focus on comfort and durability. For those wondering, our school colours and logo are remaining the same. We are essentially modernising uniform items that haven’t changed for 15+ years.

  • Noone will be conducting a Parent Info session here at school at 6pm next Thursday, where they will explain the process and seek input on a couple of key items. To attend, please register here.
  • A reminder that students will not be expected to be in the new uniform until mid-2026, and that students currently in Years 5 and 6 will not be expected to purchase any of the new items (though they are most welcome to). However, any stock sold by Noone from the start of next term will be from the new range.
  • We thank all families for their patience as we have wound down the supply of our old uniform in preparation for new stock.

 

Cybersafety Project

  • Last week, our students had their annual visit from Trent, one of the co-founders of  the Cybersafety Project. Trent helps us to make sure that all students are equipped with the tools, attributes and attitudes to be responsible digital citizens.
  • Each year level focused on the following (further details can be found at the bottom of this page)
    • ​​Prep - S.T.O.P - Thinking about how you feel online
    • Years 1-2: S.T.A.R.T. – Taking Control
    • Years 3-4: Digital Resilience – Building Strength & Empathy
    • Years 5-6: RISE UP – Showing Responsibility & Integrity
  • Keep an eye on the posts being shared by Caitlin for information about upcoming parent and family webinars. We highly recommend these for everyone, regardless of your child’s age.

 

NAPLAN

 

Over the last two weeks, students in Years 3 and 5 have completed NAPLAN tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Mathematics. NAPLAN, which stands for National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy, is undertaken by all students across Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

  • In recent years, the tests have gone from being fully paper-based (meaning all students in a year level sat exactly the same test) to being done online (which means the test is adaptive, adjusting question difficulty based on whether previous questions were right or wrong).
  • Test results should come to us in July or August, and are then sent out to families. Given this delay, the results aren’t particularly useful in informing teaching for individual students, instead tending to confirm what is already known.
  • Cohort and school/state comparison data is typically more useful, as it allows us to see trends and patterns that can inform our overall practice.

 

School Advisory Council - Callout for ideas

 

The School Advisory Council (SAC) is meeting for the first time in 2025 on Thursday April 3rd.

  • If you have suggestions for the SAC, there is an email address sac@sasunbury.catholic.edu.au that is monitored regularly, or you can email me or approach one of the members directly. Their details are displayed in the Office foyer.

 

Prep 2026

 

Our Prep 2026 Open Day tours commenced this week and continue next week.

  • We have approximately 40 siblings who will be joining us next year. If you have not yet submitted your enrolment forms, please do so as a matter of priority.
  • We have had about 100 new families booked in for our tours, which is a great reflection on the work our amazing staff are doing here at St Anne’s, as well as the positive way in which community members speak about our school. I thank you for your ongoing support in this space.

 

Please continue to reach out with questions, compliments or concerns,

 

Warm regards and God’s Blessings,

 

Stephen

sarthurson@sasunbury.catholic.edu.au