Principal News

Dear members of the St Raphael's school community,

• Father's Day/ Special Person Celebrations
• School Concert
• Parent/Teacher Interviews - Week 10 
• School Advisory Board (SAB) Positions Available
• Community Liason Committee (CLC) Positions Available
• Welcoming our Community Back
• Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS)
• Important End of Year Date Changes
• Parent Voice Gathering
• MACS NCZ Principal Immersion Experience
• 2022 School Fees Due

Father's Day Celebration

We look forward to celebrating with all of our Father's/Special persons next Friday, September 2. The celebration begins at 2:00 pm with a BYO picnic and ends at 3:30 pm. Entry will be via the Breen Street Gate. Activities will be dispersed around the schoolyard for children and Dads/ Special people to participate in sports, board/open-air games, construction, lego building and much more. Assembly will then be held in the school hall. 

Please note:  Students must wear their full school uniform.  

We invite all children to join their Father's/Special persons by bringing their footy/sporting club jumper or jersey in their school bag and wearing it over the top of their school uniform during the time of celebration between 2 - 3:30 pm. Students must wear their school uniform.  

We are looking forward to seeing you for this special community celebration!

We trust that all Dads/ special persons have a great day on Sunday. 

School Concert

The children are all finalising their dance routines in preparation for our upcoming school concert, Dancing through the Century, on Friday, September 9, at Loyola College, Watsonia. Dance is an integral part of the Physical Education curriculum, and Inner Dance West Dance Company have done a great preparing the children throughout the term during the physical education lessons. We thank our parents for assisting with costume and set design. Special thanks to one of our Dads, Simon Perrotta, who entrusted us with his 1967 Ford Mustang GT for filming at school yesterday.

It will be a great event, and we are so pleased that we can once again hold school concerts and welcome our school community back together again.

Parent/Teacher Interviews - Week 10 

A reminder that our parent-teacher interviews will take place in Week 10 (Monday 12th - Thursday, September 14). We remind all parents to make sure you book your interview timeslots on PTO.

Meetings will be of 10 minutes duration. 

Please access the system as follows:  

Go to the school's home page: 

https://goo.gl/Mu61rU

School Advisory Board (SAB) Positions Available

On August 24, we held our last School Advisory Board (SAB) meeting of the current parent SAB members. 

On Tuesday, October 11, we will hold an AGM, and all positions will become vacant, and nominations for SAB positions for 2023 will be available to all parents in our school community. 

Roles on the SAB include:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Parish representative
• Two parent representatives

To nominate for any of these positions, send a nomination via email to principal@srpestonwest.catholic.edu.au with the heading SAB Nomination. 

The body of the email should state "I would like to nominate for the position of  _________________________ (insert one of the positions listed above) on the SAB". 

Please also include a brief overview of your skills, experience or qualifications that you can bring to this role on the SAB.

Please include your phone contact number. The school will be in touch with you, and voting will take place at our upcoming AGM. 

There will be a transition period where the current SAB members will guide and work with the newly appointed members before the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

We encourage all parents, especially our new parents, to get involved with this essential advisory committee. 

The SAB is a fantastic way for parents to meet and actively assist the school with whole-school improvement and decision-making. 

Community Liason Committee (CLC) Positions Available

We will also be forming a new Community Liason Committee (CLC), comprised of parent volunteers (maximum 7) and staff members. The CLC will be responsible for upcoming whole school community events and community connections. We will invite parents to nominate for the CLC by sending a nomination to me via email at principal@srpestonwest.catholic.edu.au with the heading CLC Nomination. 

The body of the email can state, "I would like to nominate for a position on the CLC". Please include your reasons for applying and a phone contact number. The school will be in touch with you, and we hope to have this finalised by the start of next term.

Welcoming our Community Back

As we emerge from the ongoing restrictions of the last 30 months, the school is keen for our parents to reconnect as a school community. We want to invite parents to enter the school grounds at drop-off and pick-up times. However, we remind all parents that the gates will only be opened when we can have a teacher on duty in the yard to adequately supervise and ensure all children's safety during school hours.

Starting next term, we would like to offer fortnightly opportunities on Fridays for parents to enter and sit on the school grounds to chat with other parents from 2:30 pm onwards. This will be on even weeks when assemblies are held. Entry will be via the Breen Street gates. Parents may wish to attend the fortnightly school assemblies in the school hall from 2:45 pm. We continue to ask that parents refrain from entering the actual school buildings as we are still required to have all visitors inside the school buildings sign in at the front office.

A group of eager parents are looking to run a Monday and Friday morning coffee and chat until 9.30 am on the school grounds. Our Year 5/6 children are also working on developing various business ideas as part of their Financial Literacy Projects. Starting next term, these ideas include coffee shops and other business ideas that will provide parents opportunities to gather socially before and after school. More details to come on these exciting initiatives.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS)

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) are  (August 29 – September 16 2022)

Each year, we engage and gather data from our students, staff and families through MACSSIS, the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys.

MACSSIS is a set of surveys built specifically for Catholic schools in Melbourne by the Learning Services team at MACS, in partnership with researchers at Learning First and wide consultation with principals in our schools. 

The MACSSIS survey platform is operated by an independent supplier, ORIMA Research Pty Ltd. The platform meets high security and privacy standards for handling student and school data.

This year, students, families and staff are invited to participate in MACSSIS via our secure and purpose-built online platform. The online platform is where the school Principal and the school's leadership team will access the summary reports that visualise the results of the student, family and staff surveys. 

This invaluable feedback details our progress as an effective school community and is backed by evidence-based research and best practice.

We ask that families complete the survey anytime over the next two and a half weeks. Families will be individually emailed a link, login code and password. Surveys can be completed across a range of mobile devices and different web browsers. Notification of the survey will be communicated via the school newsletter and Skoolbag. 

All participation is strongly encouraged, welcomed and 100 per cent voluntary. The surveys are not a test; they are an inclusive way to support the work we are already doing to improve our school and provide feedback on the whole school's improvement.

Our community's feedback is critical to understanding how our school is performing

MACSSIS is a key data source guiding ongoing work to improve our school. 

Important End of Year Date Changes

There are some important date changes for the end of the 2022 school year.

Having recently completed our quadrennial school review, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools have allocated our school an additional pupil-free day.

To avoid unnecessary disruption to the children's learning in the remainder of this term and next term, the school's leadership team has decided to bring forward the children's last day of the 2022 school year from Monday, December 19 to Friday, December 16 at 1 pm. This scheduled final day for the children's last day of the year was always awkward, with the children coming back for one day only on Monday, December 19. 

Theircare will be open on Monday, December 19.

The Yr 6 Graduation Presentation & Graduation Liturgy will now be held on Thursday, December 15 at 5 pm, and our Carols Night will now be held on Tuesday, December 13 from 5:30 - 7 pm.

Parent Voice Gathering

Thank you to the parents who attended our parent voice gathering in the staffroom last Tuesday, 30 August. It was wonderful to sit and chat, receive parent feedback, address some parent concerns and have an opportunity to explain some of the decisions made throughout the school to ensure that information is accurate and informed. 

In the spirit of community partnership, we hope to have more of these informal gatherings throughout the remainder of the school year. 

MACS NCZ Principal Immersion Experience

Over the last 18 months, I have been one of thirty principals in the North Central Zone (NCZ) Network of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools who have participated in monthly professional development on Indigenous awareness and education. 

The North Central Zone (NCZ) Network encompasses all Catholic primary schools from St Joseph's, Collingwood out to St Mary's, Whittlesea.

Throughout the last 18 months, we have had incredible opportunities to work with Aboriginal Elders, human rights activists, Constitutional lawyers, educators, artists, musicians and sports people. 

As part of this ongoing program, we will be travelling to Darwin from Thursday 8th - Friday, September 17, for an immersion experience in the Tiwi Islands and remote Indigenous Communities throughout Arnhem Land and the Top End. 

Unfortunately, this means that I will miss our upcoming school concert. 

I am looking forward to this immersion experience and spending time working in schools in these remote Indigenous communities. The experience will culminate in a visit to Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann AM, who lives in Daley River, Northern Territory. 

Dr Mirriam was awarded the 2021 Senior Australia of the Year. 

In 1975, Miriam-Rose became the Territory's first fully qualified Aboriginal teacher. As an art consultant for the Department of Education, she visited schools through the Top End, advocating for the inclusion of visual art as part of every child's education.

Miriam-Rose later became the principal of the Catholic school in her home community before being appointed to the Federal Government's advisory body, the National Indigenous Council. In 2013, she established the Miriam Rose Foundation to bridge the divide between Aboriginal culture and mainstream society – driving reconciliation at a grassroots level.

Throughout her professional and creative life, Miriam-Rose has remained dedicated to maintaining the cultural independence of her people and being a spokesperson for the Aboriginal worldview. Recognising her leadership, she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia medal and an Honorary PhD in Education from Charles Darwin University.

My principal network colleagues are all honoured and excited to have this rare opportunity to work with such a well-respected Indigenous educator on Country. Mirriam-Rose will guide us through her word, concept and spiritual practice of Didirri, which means Inner Deep Listening and Quiet Still Awareness.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with the whole school community in the coming weeks.

2022 School Fees Due

A reminder that all school fees and levies must be finalised by Friday, September 16.