Deputy Principals' Report

Dear Parents and Friends,

Every Monday afternoon all year levels across the school participate in Social Emotional Learning (SEL). For the last four weeks, the focus has been on our core St Finbar's values. In particular, each class has explored the value: "We all have the right to feel safe and happy at school".  Visiting the classes I witnessed classes role-playing feeling happy, surprised amongst other emotions. In another class, students were filling each others' buckets. Other classes were recording their strengths, and another year level was exploring the zones of regulation; green- joy, yellow - worried, red - angry and blue - sad or tired.  It is great to see the students being highly engaged in their SEL.  Our next unit is centred around 'People Bouncing Back'. The students will explore concepts such as resilience, persistence and courage.  These align with our school values of 'We value honesty' and 'We work hard to try and achieve our best'. 

Meet the Teacher sessions 

As we head towards the end of our fourth week of the school year, the strength of our St Finbar's community has become obvious in the welcome shown to the many new families in Prep and other levels across our school. It is great to hear the comments about how friendly and welcoming the children and parents have been.   We strive to make this school a place where people can truly feel at home and have a genuine sense of belonging. These first few weeks are an important time of building those connections and establishing important relationships.

All families have had the opportunity this week to meet with their child's teachers. The intention of holding these meetings so early in the year is to share information that will support the students in their learning and wellbeing throughout the year.   At St Finbar's we believe that education is a partnership between home and school and like to have open communication between parents and teachers.  Teachers are always open to meeting to discuss any concerns that you may have but we do find that a phone call or meeting in person is preferable to an email, especially in regards to academic or wellbeing concerns.

Year 3 and 4's Visit from the Mayor

This term the Year 3 and 4s are learning about local government as part of their Civics and Citizenship unit.  They have been learning about the roles and responsibilities of local government. Today they were lucky enough to have a visit from Councillor Clarke Martin, Mayor of Bayside Council, who was more than happy to answer the children's questions about his position. 

New Psychologist - Ellie Nicolay 

We warmly welcome Ellie Nicolay, our school psychologist to St Finbar's this year. Ellie has a wealth of experience and will be a great asset to our community. Ellie will be at school on Mondays to work with our students, starting Monday 10th February.  If you would like more information please contact Cathy Ferrari - Wellbeing Leader - cferrari@sfbrightoneast.catholic.edu.au or call school. Please read Ellie's biography below. 

Bio: Ellie Nicolay 

Ellie is a psychologist who has a strong interest in supporting the wellbeing and positive development of young individuals and is passionate about working with children. She holds a Masters in ‘Educational and Developmental’ Psychology from Monash University, and has had experience working in primary school, secondary school and private clinic settings. Ellie provides a holistic, family-centred approach to therapy and draws from a range of evidence-based treatments including cognitive behavioural therapy, play therapy and mindfulness. She believes that a collaborative approach involving the child, their parents, teachers and other allied health professionals, is integral to achieving the best outcomes. In her other world, Ellie is also a Mum of three adolescent boys, and enjoys family time as well as reading for pleasure, cooking and walks with her Labradoodle Oscar.  

Cathy Ferrari and Michelle Hill

Deputy Principals