Welcome back to Term 3! It was wonderful catching up with everyone this week after my return from extended leave.
Listening to students’ holiday stories, revisiting our Joey’s Facebook and Term 2 newsletters offered a fantastic snapshot of the great opportunities our teachers and parent community provide for our students. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Jessica Koenig for doing such a wonderful job in the Acting Principal role while I was away. I would also like to acknowledge Mrs Kristan Nichols for stepping up into the role of Assistant Principal, Learning & Teaching; Mrs Fiona Hayward for taking on the additional role of Leader of Learning; and Mrs Maria Wilson for undertaking extra duties and responsibilities. Thank you also to the hardworking staff for their dedication and commitment in supporting all our students last term.
While I was away, I had the chance to celebrate my milestone birthday by visiting Iceland and Norway. As part of a faith renewal experience, I completed a self-guided pilgrimage along a section of the Italian Camino, known as the St. Francis Way, from Assisi to Rome. I also explored many historical sites of religious importance in Italy and Malta during this journey. I am eager to share some of my experiences with the school community in the coming weeks.
Today we enjoyed a wonderful day with our grandparents and parishioners joining us for a beautiful morning led by our Year 1 and Year 5 classes. Thank you to Mrs Lorna Aldridge, Mrs Vanessa Peck and Miss Nellie for all the effort that went into today’s liturgy.
Grandparents are extremely important to primary schools like ours. We have many grandparents involved in various ways, whether in the canteen, running “Knitting Nana’s” sessions, at pick-up and drop-off, helping with sports, or dropping off forgotten lunches. Thank you for everything that you do. We truly appreciate it.
Today, students in Years 3 and 5 will be bringing home their NAPLAN results. These reports provide a snapshot of your child’s progress in literacy and numeracy and are just one of the many ways we monitor learning and growth at school. While NAPLAN offers valuable insights, it’s important to remember that it’s only one part of a bigger picture. We encourage families to view the results alongside other classroom assessments and learning experiences. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your child’s progress, please don’t hesitate to reach out to their classroom teacher. We’re here to support every step of the learning journey.
A warm welcome to our new students, Kerby Brown (Yr 5), Phoebe (Yr 2) and Antonio (Kinder) Daniel, and Mikaela (Yr 3) and Aaliyah (Yr 2) McGaughey, who have joined our school community this week and late last term! We're all excited to have you here and hope you have all settled in. Thank you to all our students who made them feel very welcome.
We look forward to our Families joining us for Family Faith Night on Saturday 2nd August. Gather some friends and come along. Please RSVP on your child’s compass page.
On Monday 11th August, we will hold a Well-Being Night. There will be education sessions for parents, and a movie and popcorn for the kids with pizza dinner supplied for everyone. Children are encouraged to wear their Pyjamas, Oodies and Ugg Boots so they can slide straight to bed when they get home. Alternative warm clothes are fine. Parents don't need to wear their Pyjamas, unless you are game!
Plan:
5:30 Parents drop children to Library (Movie/Pizza and Popcorn)
5:35 Parents gather in the hall for dinner/tea/coffee
5:45 Explain how the night works to parents
5:55 Session 1 - parents choose from one of the 5 speakers
6:20 Session 2 - parents choose from one of the 5 speakers
6:40 Session 3 - parents choose from one of the 5 speakers
7:00 Pick children up from the Library- go home