Principal's Message

I always enjoy Monday morning yard duty on the first day back of a new term. There is always a buzz of excitement. The students love telling me their holiday adventure stories of interstate holidays, movies with friends, sleep overs or relaxed family time. 

It is the excitement and eagerness of the students returning back to school that I always find rewarding. They are genuinely happy to be back. 

During the holidays I like to meet up with my old teacher friends. When teachers get together they love to talk about their schools, mostly positive sometimes negative. One of the many discussions over breakfast was about their entitled and rude students at their school. They spoke about how unmotivated their children are and how they basically ignore you in the yard. They then proceeded to tell me that the parents weren't much better either! 

All I could think of was how lucky we are at SMDP. Not only do our students like us, they want to be around us. They are well mannered and look up to us. They feel part of something special. 

This connection with our students doesn’t just happen. It is actually not an accident or just luck. 

It is through our staff's hard work to build relationships, trust and empathy with each student. It is our staff taking the time to get to know them. 

It is our consistent implementation of our Ways of Working (our schools rules), so every student knows what is expected of them and understands the consequences if our expectations are not followed. 

It is engaging them through an exciting curriculum and by giving them a voice. It is making our learning visible so that our students understand what they are learning and why.

It is building partnership with you, our parents and guardians, so we have a shared understanding that we are all on the same side and have the same purpose. That is, for our students to feel success, as a learner and as a friend. 

So when I told them over breakfast that I was actually excited to get back to school to see my students and staff, I actually think they thought I was mad. 

Looking forward to sharing another successful term together. 

Dan Ryan

Principal

St Martin de Porres Primary School is committed to creating an environment where the safety, wellbeing, and participation of all children within our care is paramount. 

2023 - School Closure Days

Listed below are our school closure days for 2023. These are student-free days. Staff use these days to develop their learning further and keep informed with current practices and procedures. 

NOTE: These dates may be subject to change that may be outside of our control.