Principal's Report

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

End of Term Reflection

Wow – what a term! As I reflect on it, it certainly was not the term I was expecting particularly with the extended lockdowns. Nevertheless, I think it is always important that we continue to remain positive and also cherish the ‘small things’ in life as eventually we will come out of lockdown and begin to have a ‘new covid-normal’ life! I certainly look forward to this day and just as importantly, welcoming all of the children to school!

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, there have been countless predictions about the world after COVID-19. Thinking about possible futures often helps shed light on recommendations for wise management of the present.

Congratulations to all of our community for working so magnificently together to support our students in these unprecedented pandemic times.

As we head towards the school holidays may I once again sincerely thank:

Our students, your children, they never cease to amaze us with their passion for learning and commitment to overcoming all obstacles to ensure they not only continue their learning journey but also be the global citizen that we expect of them.
Thank you to our wonderful parents for working in partnership with us throughout the term. The quality of the engagement in learning, the quality of the relationships between home and school and the quality of the amazing parenting we have seen is a testament to you all. We cannot thank you enough for all you have done as we recognise how difficult it must be to have to partake in remote learning with your children whilst trying to achieve your own working goals. The challenges you have faced this term have not been unnoticed. I thank all those parents who have managed to reach out to the classroom teachers and support staff and offered their thanks and appreciation. You have no idea how much this means to our staff.
All of the incredible staff for their fabulous commitment to ensuring the children’s learning is not compromised whilst also being incredibly mindful of the children’s wellbeing. I would like to express my gratitude to the staff working both remotely and onsite for the fantastic work they have done. You have kept the wheels turning in the most difficult of situations. So to Kerryn, Jon, Carmel, Caterina, Jacqui, Marnie, Anna, Lucy, Alena, Cecile, Donna, Jacqui, Hollie, Teresa, Helen, Antonella, Gavin, Annmaree, Jo-Anne, Clint, Louise, Pauline, Helen, Chloe, Robyn, Sharon, Kate, Voula, Tracey, Allison, Fiona, Libby, Karen and Father Kevin- my grateful thanks cannot be measured.

This lockdown appears to have been more difficult than the previous 5, but you have all done an amazing job.

As we commence the school holidays, may I encourage everyone to put their iPads and chrome books in cupboards and not take them out until next term! I write this as I am extremely concerned about the impact screen time is having on the wellbeing of the children and also the quality of family time. Enjoy some time outside hopefully and use this time to reset and rejuvenate. I look forward to hearing all about adventures the children accomplish throughout the holidays!

Term Four

At this stage we are not aware if the children will be able to return to school for the beginning of Term Four or if we are to continue with Remote Learning. We will all be listening with keen interest on Sunday for some further clarification and updates. I will then inform you all of the next steps.

Naplan

You may have heard in the media recently that Victorian students have recorded the country's highest NAPLAN results this year, despite the significant challenges presented by the pandemic and remote learning.

I am pleased to report that our students continue to perform incredibly well across the three key areas of Reading, Writing and Numeracy and we remain on track to be able to meet all benchmark growth targets. Student growth has been, and continues to be our focus, so it is pleasing to see everyone's efforts having an impact. There is more analysis to be done so that the school can target resources to support this ambition.

CONGRATULATIONS to our incredible students for their continuous efforts and positive engagement in their learning. Congratulations also to our parents for valuing education and working with us to ensure that each child is nurtured and encouraged

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS

Tournament of Minds (TOM) is an International educational program developed for creative students across all sectors of primary, intermediate and secondary school education. It provides a dynamic approach to learning, whilst developing students’ enthusiasm for experimentation, problem finding and problem-solving.

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 one Team of seven grade 5 and grade 6 students in the Tournament.

Our Team, The G.O.A.Ts (Greatest Of All TOMs), showed exceptional resilience and commitment, working on the STEM challenge solution with excellent teamwork skills.

Well done everyone on a great effort!

A very big thank you to Mrs Caterina Cerrina for her leadership and passion in guiding our students through this event.

FAIR UPDATE

Whilst we obviously cannot predict the timeline of when things will be open and resume with some normality, we still have plans around certain events and if conditions change - then we want to be ready.

We want to provide an update to our St Cecilia's families regarding the status of the 2021 School Fair.

Due to current restrictions, we have made the decision to postpone the Fair (currently planned for 23 October) to a later date.

The proposed new date is Saturday, 4th December. We believe this gives us the best opportunity to be able to run an event.

The hope is to run a Family Fun Day on this date with rides, food trucks and other activities for the kids. At this stage this event may only be open to St Cecilia's families to assist with social distancing requirements.

As you can appreciate, this situation is changing frequently. We will keep working within the requirements in place, however we are very committed to having an event, where we can get together before the end of the year.

Watch this space over the upcoming month for further details.