Principal's Report

Dear Members of the St. Cecilia’s School Community,

As we approach the midpoint of the academic year, I wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the parents who have generously volunteered their time and skills to support our school community. Your unwavering dedication and selflessness makes a profound impact on the success and well-being of our students, and for that, we am truly grateful.

It is often said that the true measure of a community lies in the generosity and kindness of its members. Your willingness to give of yourselves to benefit our school is a testament to the incredible spirit of our parent body. Whether you have assisted in the classroom, served on special committees like the Parents Association, contributed to the Annual School Fair, or participated in organising or participating in the various special events throughout the year, your contributions have not gone unnoticed.

Every day, we witness the power of your involvement in shaping the culture and environment of our school. Research consistently highlights the positive influence that engaged parents have on their children's well-being and sense of belonging. When parents are able to actively participate and contribute to the life of the school, it fosters a deep sense of community, support, and shared responsibility. It creates an atmosphere where our students can thrive, grow, and develop into well-rounded individuals.

Beyond the practical assistance you provide, your presence in our school sends a powerful message to our students. It shows them that their education is a collaborative effort, with teachers, parents, and the wider community working hand in hand. Your involvement demonstrates the value we place on education and reinforces the importance of active engagement in the learning process.

As we move forward, I encourage all parents to seek out opportunities to get involved within the school. There are numerous ways to contribute, whether it be volunteering in the classroom, participating in committees, organizing events, or offering your unique skills and expertise. Every contribution, no matter how big or small, has a significant impact on our school community.

I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to each and every one of you who have generously given your time and skills. Your commitment to our school is truly inspiring, and it is through your collective efforts that we can create an environment where our students thrive. Let us continue to work together to provide the best educational experience for our children.

Thank you once again for your invaluable support.

Parent Teacher Interviews and School Reports

Our Parent Teacher Interviews will take place

Thursday, June 22 between 2:00pm and 8:30pm.

To facilitate this, we will finish early and ask that students be collected at 1:20pm.

If you are unable to arrange for your child to be collected at this time, staff will be available to supervise them until 3:30pm.

If you havn't already done so, please complete this Google Form, if you require supervision for your child during this time.

The purpose of these meetings are as a follow up to your child’s Semester 1 report which will be sent out online at the beginning of final week of term.

They are an opportunity for you to discuss your child’s progress with their classroom teacher and see how together you can best support them as they move forward in to semester 2

For these interviews we will have the same hybrid format that was used for the beginning of year ‘Meet and Greet Interviews’, with the first block of appointments to be online and the second block to be in person to support as many parents as possible in being able to attend. 

All Interviews booked between 2:00pm and 5:00pm will be online.  

All Interviews booked between 5:20pm and 8:30pm will be in person.

All classroom teachers will be in the hall to facilitate the in person meetings.

Interviews are strictly 10 minutes and back to back. Therefore we ask that you be punctual and understand that meetings will need to finish as scheduled. If you require more time with a particular teacher, please arrange a separate meeting by contacting the school.

If you are booking multiple interviews, we ask that you leave at least a 10 min gap between interviews if possible.

Booking Window

Appointments will:

Open - Tuesday June 6, at 7:00am

Close - Monday June 19, at 6:00pm

Please Note:

Due to some staff being unavailable, the following teachers will have parent teacher interviews scheduled early in term 3, the details of which will be sent out at the beginning of next term.

1K - Jacqueline Everitt

2H - Pauline Kilduff

3D - Jacqueline Chalkley

IMPORTANT: 

Booking Meetings Using School Interviews Online

To book your interview times use the link below. 

Bookings will open 7:00 am Tuesday June 6.

https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/xc45u  

This will take you to our School Interviews Online website

When you click FINISH your selected bookings will be emailed to you immediately. If you do not receive your email, please check your junk-mail, or enter the event code again and check your email address spelling. Update your details if the email address is incorrect. 

DO NOT DELETE the email you receive. Keep it somewhere safe. You may need to refer back to it at a later date.

REMEMBER TO ADD YOUR APPOINTMENTS TO YOUR CALENDAR

If you need to view, cancel, change or print your bookings:

Click on the link in the confirmation email you received after you made your bookings

OR return to www.schoolinterviews.com.au  and enter the code xc45u and the email address you used when making your bookings.

Joining Online Meet and Greet Meeting on the Day

To join your meeting/s you will need to use the link below that corresponds with your child’s teacher and class.

To access these meetings, use the links below:

FF: Annmaree          https://bit.ly/FFceciliapti  

FG: Marnie               https://bit.ly/FGceciliapti  

1J: Libby                  https://bit.ly/1Jceciliapti  

2I: Helen                  https://bit.ly/2Iceciliapti  

3E: Tracey                https://bit.ly/3Ececiliapti  

4L: Gavin                 https://bit.ly/4Lceciliapti  

4C: Joanne              https://bit.ly/4Cceciliapti  

5/6B: Louise            https://bit.ly/56Bceciliapti  

5/6A: Fiona              https://bit.ly/56Aceciliapti  

Teachers may be concluding an earlier meeting and may take a moment to allow you into the Meet. If this happens, please be patient.

If you experience any difficulty accessing the meets via the links above, please call the school on (03) 9809 2142.

If you book an online timeslot, you will also receive the link meeting link in your confirmation email. Please also note that if you have a PSG meeting scheduled for you child, you do not have to book an additional parent teacher interview.

All the teachers are really looking forward to discussing your childs’ learning and progress.

2023 AUSTRALIAN MATHEMATICS COMPETITION

Dear Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 Parents,

The Australian Mathematics Trust has invited St Cecilia’s to take part in the 2023 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) on

WEDNESDAY 3RD AUGUST 2023

First run in 1978, the Australian Mathematics Competition is Australia’s longest running, largest and most well-known maths competition for school students.

The AMC contains unique problems designed each year by leading educators and academics to challenge and extend your students’ problem-solving skills. Topics covered in this competition include: basic arithmetic, fractions and ratios, algebra and pre-algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics and probability and problem-solving (including enumeration).

This challenging competition is open to all children in Years 3 to 6. The children are asked to answer 30 questions within a 60 minute time limit.  We will be completing the competition online. The cost to enter the competition is $8.00 per student.

If you would like your child/children to enter the competition, please register and make payment of $8.00 through CDFpay by Friday 14th July 4pm 2023. 

If you have any questions, please contact Kate Sutherland at ksutherland@scgleniris.catholic.edu.au 

Tournament of the Minds

Creative minds solving big challenges!

Tournament of Minds (TOM) is a collaborative problem solving program. 

Students develop capability in critical and creative thinking as they learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, clarify concepts and ideas, seek possibilities, consider the alternatives and solve problems. 

Critical and creative thinking involves students thinking broadly and deeply using skills, behaviours and dispositions such as reason, logic, resourcefulness, imagination and innovation in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school.

Students undertake one of the four discipline groups: STEM; The Arts; Language Literature; and Social Sciences. 

Team members work together for six weeks - without assistance from teachers, parents or peers - to develop a creative way to communicate their solution to a panel of judges and an audience, working within pre-determined parameters, complex criteria and the deadline of Tournament Day. 

This year, St Cecilia’s entered two teams of seven grade 5 and grade 6 students in the Tournament.

This week our teams started working together towards the tournament day.

We wish them well!

Social Media @ St Cecilia's

Another way of keeping up with what is happening at St Cecilia's is by following us on Instagram (@stceciliasgleniris). We often post photos of what learning has been happening in our classrooms, photos of events such as camp and reminders of what is coming up in our school and community. Thank you to two of our staff members (Fiona Walsh and Bella Lasscock) who have taken over coordinating our social pages. They are doing an outstanding job! Check it out!

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone, 

Marty McKenna

Principal

St Cecilia’s School