Principal's Panorama

Dear Families of SMOTA, 

Week Seven has been an absolute whirlwind! 

🩷Congratulations 🩷

A huge congratulations to Amber, Logan and Case on the safe arrival of their daughter/sister last Wednesday.

Little Sadie is an absolute button! 

All of our love and prayers from the SHAs at St Mary of the Angels.

Parent Learning Walk and Talk

 It was an absolute delight to have parents who joined us for our Term 1 Learning Walk and Talk last Monday. Your willingness to spend time in classrooms observing learning alongside us is greatly appreciated.

These walks provide an opportunity for families to find out about and to see teaching and learning in action across the school. 

During the visit, participants observed classrooms with a focus on what students are learning, how they know they are improving, and how teachers are supporting that growth through clear learning intentions and feedback.

It was particularly encouraging to hear your feedback about the significant shift in pedagogical practice that is occurring across the school. 

The growing consistency in teaching approaches, classroom expectations and visible learning practices is something our staff have been working very intentionally towards, guided by our Annual Improvement Plan and the work of Dr Lyn Sharratt.

Your positive comments affirmed the dedication of our skilled helpful adults and the commitment they show every day to ensuring high-quality learning experiences for all students. 

We are immeasurably proud of the progress being made and grateful that you were able to witness this work firsthand.

Thank you again for your partnership and support of our school community, we look forward to seeing you at the next one, please encourage others to come too!

Centacare

 At St Mary of the Angels, we have a close link with Centacare as our counselling service provider.  Our 2025 practitioner Jesvin, has moved locations which provides us with the wonderful opportunity to welcome Milli to Guyra.  Milli has been working with Centacare for a number of years in their support programs and has now moved into the school counselling service.

We wish Milli all of the best as she services Armidale, Walcha and Guyra. 

Milli will have her first day here in Guyra on the 19th March, if you feel your young person would benefit from support through our counselling service, please contact the front office or myself to access the forms for referral.

NAPLAN Years 3 and 5

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) has been finalised for students in the Writing and Reading testing.

Our next testing sessions will next take place on Monday 16th March and  Wednesday 18th March. 

A reminder to all parents and carers that students in Years 3, and Year 5 who are enrolled at St Mary of the Angels are expected to participate in all 4 NAPLAN tests. These tests must occur in a certain order, it is imperative that your child attends all testing days in order to maintain our schedule within the allocation of the NAPLAN Platform.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of our school and its mission.

Blessings until next time!

Zoe Nugent

Principal