Principal's Report
Dear Parents and Carers,
A highlight of the past week has definately been our Wellbeing Day which was facilitated by our Senior Students as part of their Little Feet Big Footprints initiative. We are sure your children would have returned home filled with excitement and stories about all that took place. I recieved a lovely from a father who shared with me that his son came home declaring "best school day ever!"
Here are 2 reports from representatives of our Senior Students (Thea and Charlie) to provide a review of the amazing day.
Wellbeing Day by Thea
Wellbeing Day was full of fun, smiling faces and of course wellbeing. The day started off with a whole school assembly in the hall. Each house colour talked about what activity they would be doing and Charlie and Laila talked about why we were doing the Wellbeing Day and what charity we were raising money for (which was Very Special Kids.)
After everyone knew what was happening in the day, the preps-year4s broke off into their house colours and headed to their first activities. The activities consisted of relays from the red house, a scavenger hunt from the blue house, Just Dance in the hall with the gold house and an obstacle course from the green house. The year 5/6s stayed at their coloured house to run the activities while the preps-year 4s rotated around to each of the activities, They went to three of the activities in the morning and one in the middle block.
It seemed to me that everyone had tons of fun and really enjoyed the day. At lunchtime there were healthy icy-poles for sale and just before lunchtime we had a whole school mindful meditation.
Wellbeing Day was a big success and I know that lots of people got a lot out of the day. As a school, we raised a grand total of $646 that will go to kids in need. Wellbeing Day really showed us how lucky we are to be fit and healthy!
Wellbeing Day by Charlie
The day had come , the day all five sixes were preparing for weeks . The four house colours had come up with four activities . They were Just Dance , Running Race Relays , Obstacle Course and a Scavenger Hunt . I’m in Gold house, we organised Just Dance. Some of the songs were Rasputin, Waka Waka, Y.M.C.A and many more .
While we were preparing before the Wellbeing Day, Louis had a moment of genius. He would bring his LED lights to make it more like a disco. As the day started off, it was quite loud but as the day went on, it calmed down as the groups came along. The challenging part of the day was calming down people at the end of sessions.
The day was a success, I was just amazed how tiring it was. The day for me went better than expected, no one was sitting down and doing nothing. Everyone was dancing and giving it their all with their skills. In my opinion, the fruit icy pole was the cherry on top for the day!
Staffing 2023
We are nearing the end of a highly successful year and many plans have already been put in place regarding 2023. We are incredibly blessed at St. Cecilia's to have such a highly professional, accessible, capable and kind staff. Next year, as you know, we are saying farewell to both Hollie French and Clint Johnson.
Please see this link below with the details I shared last week regarding Hollie and Clint.
This allows us to welcome some new staff in 2023.
So next year we would like to introduce and welcome:
Mrs Julie Drum: our new Visual Arts Teacher
Mrs Katherine Aldcroft: our new Physical Education Teacher
Mrs Fiona Tyrell: teaching on a Wednesday and Friday in Grade 1
We will share more information about our new staff early next year.
We have had minimal changes to staffing once again, allowing the consistency and confidence in our teaching and learning to continue to thrive. With Jacqui Chalkley stepping back from both her Visual Arts and Religious Education roles to return as an experienced Grade 3 teacher, we are able to welcome some different staff into these roles. Mrs Annmaree Hoy will commence as our Religious Education Leader next year and Mrs Julie Drum will begin her role as our new Visual Arts Teacher. Mrs Katherine Aldcroft will commence in 2023 as our new Physical Education Teacher.
We are enormously excited about these new roles and very much look forward to next year.
Meet the 2023 Team
Principal and Deputy
Principal - Mr Marty McKenna
Deputy Principal - Mr Matthew Mooney
Leadership Team
Mr Marty McKenna
Mr Matthew Mooney
Mrs Annmaree Hoy
Mrs Kate Sutherland
Mrs Marnie Chapman
Mrs Tracey Toner
Religious Education Leader
Mrs Annmaree Hoy
Student Wellbeing and Learning Diversity Leader
Mrs Kate Sutherland
Literacy Leaders
Mrs Marnie Chapman
Mrs Tracey Toner
Numeracy Leader
Mrs Kate Sutherland
ICT & Digital Technologies Leader (STEM)
Mr Matthew Mooney
Foundation Team
Mrs Annmaree Hoy (Mrs Trish Revere on Wednesday)
Mrs Marnie Chapman
Year 1 Team
Mrs Libby Watkin (Mrs Fiona Tyrell on Wednesday)
Mrs Jacqueline Everitt (Mrs Fiona Tyrell on Friday)
Year 2 Team
Mrs Pauline Kilduff (Mr Matt Mooney on Wednesday)
Miss Helen Lloyd (Mrs Carmel Brownhill every second Friday)
Year 3 Team
Mrs Tracey Toner and Mrs Kerryn Aikman
Mrs Jacqueline Chalkley (Mrs Carmel Brownhill every second Friday)
Year 4 Team
Mr Gavin Griffith (Mrs Kate Sutherland on Thursday)
Ms Joanne Hurley
Year 5/6 Team
Ms Louise Jury (Mrs Trish Revere every second Friday)
Miss Fiona Walsh (Mrs Trish Revere every second Friday)
Learning Support Officers (LSO's)
Ms Caterina Cerrina
Mrs Donna Evans
Mrs Teresa Galgani
Mrs Antonella Gray
Miss Bella Lascock
Miss Robyn Mustey
Mrs Voula Theonas
Mrs Allison Tucci
Intervention Support
Mrs Irene Poulton
Gifted and Talented Leader
Ms Caterina Cerrina
Specialist Staff
Music - Mrs Stefania Miller
Art - Mrs Julie Drum
PE - Mrs Katherine Aldcroft
French - Madame Cecile Dutrieux
Library Leader
Mrs Teresa Galgani
Administration Team
Mrs Sharon Simpson
Mrs Lucy Csaplar
Mrs Dipal Dayaram
OSHC Leader - Camp Australia
Majo Prieto Romero
ST CECILIA’S ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
Monday, 28th November 2022
Please note that this year we have moved from a twilight event to a day event.
The children are very excited and have begun preparations for the 2022 Athletics Carnival. They are very much looking forward to it and cannot wait to compete for their house colours on Monday.
Students will need to arrive at school at normal time of 8.30am on Monday 28th
● Years 3-6 students will travel by bus to the track at 9.10am ready for a 9.45am start.
● Years P-2 will travel by bus from 10.25am ready for an 11am start
The following students will be captains for their house colours this year:
O’Connor (Red) House Leaders: Bez Chieng, Lucy Reed, Lilly Hogan, Isabella Pititto, Thea Styring, Archie Sutherland & Hamish Walker
Mackillop (Green) House Leaders: Hugh Davies, Leo Distefano, Jack Gallagher, Sabrina Porto, Samson Story, Lucy Wilmot, Michael Alberts & Mietta Mason
Wurundjeri (Gold) House Leaders: Laila Harris, Will McKenzie, Jack Birnie, Charlie Campagna, Ivy Foster, Finn Hase, Stephan Merigoux, Louis Papoulias
Joseph (Blue) House Leaders: Ben Hitchcock, Alice Hoy, Chloe Moss, Sarah O’Doherty, Millie Moss & Laura O’Hara
This year we have moved from a twilight event to a day event. This will allow all of our students to be able to get a bigger and better athletics carnival experience as well see the event operate in our general school hours.
This is a compulsory school event and all children are expected to attend
● Students will need to arrive at school at normal time of 8.30am
● Years 3-6 students will travel by bus to the track at 9.10am ready for a 9.45am start.
● Years P-2 will travel by bus from 10.25am ready for an 11am start.
● Parents will be required to pick their children up from BILL SEWART ATHLETICS TRACK from 3-3.30pm
● The Athletics Carnival should conclude by the end of a normal school day.
NB ( If you are unable to collect your child from the running track, could you please organise with another family or please raise with your child's classroom teacher so arrangements can be made.
Being a day event, children this year will be sat in the grandstand under the shade cloths to protect themselves from the sun. We ask parents to stay out of the designated areas marked for the children and staff and use the remaining areas for seating.
The teachers and parent volunteers who are helping, will supervise the children on the day. The students will require a named bag with a water bottle, a healthy snack and lunch to eat during the carnival. They will keep these in their designated areas.
NB The children will need to be responsible for their own belongings (hats, sunscreen, water bottles, healthy snacks)
Our Parents Association is putting on a sausage sizzle at lunch time for the students. Students are asked to bring a morning snack, drink bottle and lunch (the sausage sizzle can form part of their lunch if you wish).
They will also provide a sausage in bread for any parents and family members who plan to be at the Sports Day as spectators at lunchtime, as indicated in the recent google form.
IMPORTANT: Only parents who have offered to help on the day and who have been contacted by Mr Johnson may enter the track and field area during events. Please be reminded that all volunteers must register at the registration tent - Lanyards can also be collected from there. PLEASE NOTE: All parent volunteers must have a current WWCC.
● It is very important that all children bring hats and sunscreen to the carnival and wear their correct school sports uniform.
● They may bring along streamers and banners to help support their team.
Attention Foundation to Year 2 Parents
Junior students will be joining the senior students in the late morning around 11am and will remain at the carnival until its conclusion. This year juniors will do their novelty relays, sprint race and also a “Field Event Taster Circuit” in the afternoon.
Sports Day Parent Helpers
To help the day run smoothly, I need the assistance of many parents. If you are available to help on this day, it would be greatly appreciated. Could you please email me at cjohnson@scgleniris.catholic.edu.au informing me with which job you would like to help. I will allocate jobs on a “first in, first served” basis.
All parent volunteers need to have a current Working With Children Check. If you have not already registered your WWCC at the school office, please show your card to our office staff and they will record your details on our database. Please note that all volunteer parent helpers will need to sign in at the registration tent on the day and receive an identification lanyard for safety reasons.
We are looking forward to a fantastic day!
Thank you to Mr Johnson for all of his organisation!
Safety for our Students
As we near the end of the year, I urge all families to continue to be vigilent on the roads around our school, particularly at drop off and pick up times.
The narrow roads around St. Cecilia's can get extremely congested (particularly in the afternoons) and I ask you to continue to follow our ongoing, safe arrangements regarding where to park and where not to park.
Please convey these protocols to anyone from your extended family (or carers) that might be picking up someone, as we often find that it is those visitors to our school that are unclear what is permitted.
A further reminder that using the small driveway entrance at the back of Father's house on Malvern Rd is not permitted for drop offs. We still have some parents using it to drop off and pick up and then back into traffic. We have had several near misses.
Thank you all for continuing to keep the safety of our students our highest priority.
Christmas Puddings for St Vincent De Paul
Miss Mustey has once again this year liaised with St Vincent De Paul to organise a Christmas Pudding Drive. Families are invited to purchase and bring in a Christmas Pudding to donate to St Vincent De Paul who use them to make Christmas hampers to give to those families in need. It is a very simple way we can give to those in need at Christmas time. Puddings will be collected over the next couple of weeks in classrooms.
Twilight Christmas Carols
Date: Wednesday 7th December
Time: 5:30-7pm
St. Cecilia’s Primary School
Bring your own picnic and rug and enjoy an evening of carols presented by the community of St. Cecilia’s Primary School.
Featuring every year level singing a song, special guest performers and a visit from Santa Claus!
Election News
Please find attached a letter regarding funding for Catholic education in Victoria ahead of the upcoming state election tomorrow on Saturday 26 November 2022.
Have a fantastic weekend everyone,
Marty McKenna
Principal