Mrs Ryan's Fortnightly Reflections

Catholic Education Week was everything it is meant to be! Crazy, chaotic, celebratory and filled with community connection! Thank you to every member of our amazing community who came along, took part in a tour, dressed up their child or attended our much needed Mother’s day gathering! It is a week where we all go above and beyond for the amazing students in our care! It is a week where I am a particularly proud Catholic leader as I can easily define, witness and be a part of what makes us so special. 

Our Year 6 staff and students took part in a hugely successful camp to Melbourne where the itinerary was jam packed and explored many amazing sites and experiences. Thank you to the staff who spent time away from their own loved ones to be a part of a well overdue camp. The behaviour report was fantastic and it was lovely to hear our students go out of their way on their return to thank their teachers! It is always worth the while. 

This week we are focused on the academics of our Year 3 and 5 learners as we, like all of Australia take part in Literacy and Numeracy NAPLAN. We are already super proud of our Year 3 & Year 5 students who are not letting the test overwhelm them, rather, just give it their best. NAPLAN is only one measure we use to track a student’s learning and we use multiple formats to have a more accurate analysis of a student's strength and  growth areas.  

Last week the Leadership team invited our Year 6 Students to take part in a writing competition that could share their thinking, advice and reflection of life at St Mary’s. Included in our newsletter are two letters that I proudly share with our community from; Ted Limbrick and Elisha Fonseka. As you will see, two impressive advocates for our school. 

This week our staff in consultation with CES Ltd completed a succinct and aligned Annual action plan. This annual action plan ensures we are accountable to explicit goals for the year which drive our improvement. The plan will be shared with the School advisory council at our next meeting and the list of goals shared on our website in the near future. 

St Mary’s this year launched our online enrolment process. It has been hugely successful to date and we know moving forward will be time efficient for staff and families. Thank you to the many people in the community who have enrolled at the Stage 1 level. Stage 1 Applications close on Wednesday 18th May at 5:00pm. Following this, families with Prep 2023 students will attend an interview to further support families with their start to school. Currently we have over 60 applicants which is pleasing. As we are entering a new process of enrolment, it is vital that all existing families also complete the online enrolment by Wednesday please. If anyone has any challenges or questions, please do not hesitate to contact the office. 

There is a true buzz in and around school! I think it may be due to opening our gates, welcoming our families back in and also celebrating with the wider community what we have to offer. Thank you all for supporting our school so positively! I hope the opportunity to have you all in and around continues.  

God Bless and Stay Well

Jasmine Ryan 

Principal