Mrs Ryan's Fortnightly Reflections

Welcome to Week 7 everyone! We are definitely experiencing Winter at its finest. Cold, icy mornings and sunny afternoons! Thank you to the families who are ensuring the students are  comfortably dressed for the weather! 

We are at the pointy end of the term where teachers are assessing our students and writing reports. We continue to be challenged by illness of both staff and students and as much as splitting classrooms and having emergency teachers regularly, I am very grateful for the patience, understanding and flexibility of all in our community. 

We have come to the end of a hugely successful Reconciliation Week where we were reminded and re-energised for our ongoing commitment to reconciliation and justice. Having been able to learn, celebrate and collaborate around this was a great reminder of the need for St Mary’s to continue to deepen our cultural understandings and ensure this is lifelong learning for our community. Mrs Taylor and Mrs Thorpe have great plans to guide our learning in this area. 

As a school, we have identified the need to revisit, relearn and re-educate our staff and students on our positive behaviour management strategies and expectations. As we reflect post-Covid we are experiencing the need to re-teach some school norms and expectations. Teachers and students are collectively composing classroom expectations and explaining the learning responsibilities we all have while at school. Staff moving forward will also be provided with professional development to ensure we are skilled at supporting our social and emotional needs of our students. While our current Behaviour Management policy clearly articulates the majority of what we do, we look forward to evolving these practices and sharing it with all in our community soon. 

The leadership team has completed the enrolment process for our Prep intake for 2023. All second stage enrolments have been shared with successful families and I am pleased to share that we welcome 43 new families with another 45 existing forming our 2023 year. At this stage we are at capacity for our 2023 year but recognise that some families' circumstances change and they may not accept the place. We continue to hold a waiting list for when these changes occur. 

This week we officially welcome Father Novie to our school community. Even though Father Novie officially took over the St Mary’s parish in April, he has been on leave visiting his family in Cebu in the Philippines. He has now returned and ready to start his ministry in the parish of St Mary’s and our school. I know that our school community will warmly welcome Father Novie and keep him in our prayers during this time of transition. Today we held a New Beginnings mass where we Mr Brendan Atley, St Mary’s Leadership team and Father Novie all started new beginnings. Thank you to those in our community who could attend. 

As a school, we are trying to increase the information we share with the community via PAM. We are striving to put as much day to day detail on our Daily message board for families so we are all well informed. A great idea is to read and check this platform regularly with your child so they too are prepared for what is happening at school. 

I am taking a short period of leave, and will be absent until next Wednesday. If anyone needs support or communication during this time, please contact Alex Daly in my absence. 

I hope all of our families enjoy the extra day we have on Monday for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend! Enjoy your family time and I look forward to seeing you all in Week 8. 

God Bless and Stay Well. 

Jasmine Ryan 

Principal