Principal's Message

Good afternoon Parents and Carers,

In choosing a Catholic school, parents enter a partnership with the school in which there is shared privilege and responsibility for the child’s faith formation, learning and wellbeing. There is a shared goal that all children and young people in Armidale Diocesan schools are safe, valued, respected, cared for, and esteemed and supported as learners.

At St Philomena's, we recognise that the partnership between family and school centres on the child/youngperson, who has voice in the partnership and whose learning, wellbeing and spiritual development are the reason for the partnership - as taught and modelled by Jesus, our children and young people are at the heart of the Kingdom of God (Luke 18: 16).

At times, the true strength of this important partnership can be tested or challenged when communication and or decisions need to be made with families to address (and support) students demonstrating areas of concern involving safety, respect and enagement (more specifically lack of engagement) in learning. Through strong partnerships underpinned by open and honest dialogue, strategies can be identified and implemented to eliminate, minimise and support our students. Students (children) make mistakes. In many ways that's how they learn. However, it's the repeated low level unproductive behaviours we (in partnership) need to address (as teachable moments) to ensure we continue to provide a positive culture for learning where students feel safe, valued, respected, cared for, and are provided with rich learning opportunities to grow and feel successful.

The iplementation of the Living Well, Learning Well Framework, developed in partnership with the Catholic Schools Office, provides guidance, scaffolding and support as a means of strengthening the Family/ School partnership. Below is an extract from the Living Well, Learning Well Framework that outlines how our families support and nurture this valuable partnership:

I am Safe:

Supporting policies, practices and protocols that keep people safe
Quickly informing the school when aware of a risk to safety
Supporting and teaching help-seeking strategies to children and young people
Assisting children and young people in the replacement of unsafe (and unproductive) behaviours

I am Valued, Respected and Cared for:

Supporting policies, practices and protocols that ensure people are valued, respected and cared for
Quickly informing the school when aware of a risk to a child/young person’s sense of being valued, respected and cared for
Modelling in the family the ways people are valued, respected and cared for
Supporting and facilitating positive relationships with school staff and other families in the school community
Recognising and supporting the link between strong school attendance and connection to school
Understanding how family engagement in schooling contributes positively to the learning, wellbeing, faith development and life opportunities of children and young people

I am a Learner:

Supporting policies, practices and protocols that enhance student learning
Recognising and supporting the link between strong school attendance and successful learning
Engaging in ongoing, productive conversations about learning with students, teachers and school leaders
Recognising high family regard for learning, a literacy-rich home environment and a high regard for the work of the school as powerful positive influences on student learning and wellbeing outcomes

Although our world may look and feel different, some things remain unchanged, and I believe the old saying that 'it takes a village/community to raise a child' remains true even today. Therefore, it is important that our families recognise that positive partnerships between families and school strengthen the school community and improve learning, wellbeing, faith development and life opportunities for all children/young people in the school.

As Term 1 draws to a close (where has the time gone!), and we prepare for the Easter break, I would like to thank our school community (staff, parents and students) for their positive support and engagement in the school. Although COVID still presented a number of challenges for us throughout Term 1, interruptions have been kept to a minimum and a sense of 'the new normal' has meant that high quality learning for our students has been priority number one.

I look forward to seeing many of our families tonight at the P&F Movie Night from 6pm, and if I don't see you, I wish your family a restful and blessed Easter break.

God bless,

Jamie McDowall

Principal