Principal's Report

Dear Families,

Multi-culturalism and immigration have greatly influenced our country over the past century. Recently, I visited Italy and experienced the incredible food, people, scenery and history. Italy is famous for its pizza and pasta (and much more) and they are part of the staple diet of most Italians. As a child growing up I loved a book titled: "Busy Busy World."

It is incredible to see the monuments that I dreamed of as a child. Today our children see pictures, videos, virtual reality all on digital devices. Our world is much more accessible today but nothing can quite replace the experience seeing and experiencing a place 'in person'. Thank you to Mrs Petrarca, Mr Martello, Mrs Gerecke and Nona (Grandma of Olivia and Georgia) who tried to teach me some Italian language prior to the trip. Only basic language was required as I found most Italians fluent in English and gracious and patient in communication. At Galilee, we have a large amount of families who descend from Italy and many other countries; each of them has contributed to the wonderful multi-cultural society we have today in Australia.

What is Leadership?

Watch the short clip below to hear the views of others.

Currently a range of leadership positions have been advertised amongst staff such as: RE, Level Leaders, Maths, English etc. Applications are due shortly before appointments are to be made. At Galilee we have a strong staff culture where a large portion of staff will apply for leadership roles. Staff also have opportunities to lead through participation on teams. Although we have a whole-school direction, all staff see themselves as leaders and capable of making a difference to the lives of the students.

Staff with all types of experience will apply, knowing that we all have the capacity to learn and to assist others. The primary reasons for entering leadership are to make a difference to the learning of the students and for personal growth.

Leadership roles for 2020 will be announced later this term in the last newsletter along with teacher placements.

Student leadership roles will be expanded for 2020 and Miss Biggs presented the new roles this week to the Year 5 students.

NAPLAN

In 2018 our students again produced very high NAPLAN results but Spelling was one area that was identified as a future focus. As a result, we introduced SMART Spelling as a whole-school approach. Data collected by Miss Cox, English Leader, from classroom teachers has shown growth across all year levels. Although NAPLAN testing was completed in early May, we have analysed the results particularly in Spelling. The results show a dramatic improvement with growth in students from Years 3 to 5. We have a significantly higher amount of students achieving Higher Growth and a reduced amount with Low Growth. Theses results are after one term and we are expecting even better results by the end of 2019. It is wonderful to see how a new initiative has had an impact upon the learning of the students.

School Improvement Surveys

Last term students (Years 4-6), staff and parents were invited to participate in school improvement surveys. Below I will outline a summary of the results. 

Earlier this week results have been sent in from the School Improvement Surveys (CEMSIS). Congratulations to everyone for their contribution to Galilee that has led to the results.

The results are displayed and compared very differently to past surveys.

Results are compared to Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM) schools average scores.

Key differences:

• students surveys are from Years 4-6
• student results are separated into each year level
• staff questions are very different with some responses separated into LSOs and classroom teachers
• parent data is also seperated into each year level
• results are compared to CEM average and not to previous years' results (first year of survey)

Key results:

• staff data is very high with 11 out of 13 categories above CEM average
• although a different tool, we hasve seen an increase in staff data from 2018
• student data is very high collectively
• student data at or above CEM average in 7 out of 9 categories, again a judged  increase from last year
• parent results lower but at or above CEM average in 3 out of 7 categories, a judged increase from last year
• exceptionally high results from parents in P-2

How will it be used?

• Community Conversation with parents
• Staff to use when planning for 2020

The results are how the students, staff and parents perceive our school so congratulations. The results are high, they point to practices that we should continue but also areas of development.

Prep Transition

On Monday we welcomed our 2020 Preps to participate in their second successful Transition session. The children enjoyed craft and tracing activities. The next session will be November 11.

Parent Morning Tea

Thank you to the many parents who were able to attend the Parent Morning Tea on Monday.  It was wonderful to see you all there, engaging in conversations with one another. Thank you to Carmen Carnovale, Community Partnerships/Marketing Leader, for organising it.

Our next Morning Tea will be a Parent/Volunteer Helper Thank-you on 25 November at 8:30am.  We hope to see our much appreciated parent/volunteer helpers there.

World Teachers' Day

Yesterday we celebrated World Teachers' Day. The day is a great opportunity for everyone to recognise and appreciate teachers and the important role they play in shaping the next generation.  Thank you to the Galilee students for preparing certificates for all the staff and to the parent reps who put on a delicious morning tea.

Swimming at MSAC

This week the Year 3-6 students participated in their intensive swimming lessons at MSAC.  A reminder that swimming for 3-6 students will continue tomorrow and there is another session on Monday . No lunch orders for Year 3/4 on these days.

Prep-2 swimming lessons will begin Monday 28 October-Friday 1 November.

Galilee Art Show

On Thursday, 24th October we will have our 2019 Annual Galilee Art Show where each child at our school will show off 4 to 5 pieces of their art work. The Art Show is being held in the school in the Maguire Hall  between 5pm and 7pm . Please see the School News and Information page for all details.

Community Conversations

Due to survey data being released later than expected, the Community Conversations session scheduled for Monday 28th October from 9am-10am has been postponed. We will announce a new date next week and look forward to exploring this data with you in the coming weeks.

Many thanks in advance and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Carmen Carnovale

Community Partnerships and Marketing Leader

Simon Millar

(Principal of Galilee)