I love having the chance to share with you all that is happening in our school. I hope that the long weekend was spent in a wonderfully air-conditioned space. What a hot weekend! I remember being a child growing up in Queensland and the hot and humid summers we would have. I think most of my afternoons after school and on weekends were spent running through the sprinkler.
Last Friday we held a pupil free day so that staff could gather for our staff retreat. The focus for this year’s retreat was “Head Heart and Hands”, reflecting on the life of Mary MacKillop, her story and how does her vision and mission of 1866 translate for St Monica’s in 2024. Paul Murphy, retired principal and CESA consultant and historian guided our day as we explored this question and the values that were evident in her life’s work then and how we can immesh them in our work today. Staff contributed significantly to the discussions and from here, we take these conversations with us as we rewrite our Vision and Mission statements.
Like all schools throughout Australia, NAPLAN is upon us. The teachers have worked with the students to prepare for these tests without making it into something too dramatic or stressful. Whilst the results do provide us with some useful information, in exploring the data we also take into consideration the other data that we collect from formative and summative tasks we ask the children to undertake. We also have school and system-based assessments to utilise. NAPLAN results, school and individual summaries, are shared with schools generally at the end of Term 3.
As parents, we are the most influential teachers of our children. I know that at times, this may not feel the case, but research shows that children will trust the information that their parents give them over any other individual or group in their network. I say this because I am asking for your help in modelling positive road safety behaviours. We have a few parents who don’t use the school crossing and are not being mindful of our neighbours and their properties at drop off and pick up times. The “Kiss and Drop” zone straight outside our back gate is only for passenger loading and the driver must always stay within the car. If your child is not there for collection, please be respectful of other parents and move forward or do a lap of the block. A teacher will always stay with a child. The council monitors our crossing and parents’ parking regularly and I am sure that you don’t want to give them any extra money.
I have had some feedback from parents regarding the sizing of our school uniform. In working with Permapleat and the school board, one of the new options for the uniform that will be available shortly is a skort for the girls' formal uniform. An image of the skort has been included for your reference and the cost of this is $36.50 and can be purchased from Vinnies on The Parade. The material is a lovely stretchy fabric and the bike shorts that have been sewn into the design make for easy and flexible movement. If you have any questions, please speak with Annette in the front office.
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