Dear Parents/Carers,                                                                        

Welcome to a new academic year. I trust that you and your family were able to celebrate Christmas in a special and joyful way. Although last week was the first week of term for the students, Tuesday 4 Feb (Week 2), the teachers were back  on Friday 31 January (Week 1) which makes this week officially the third week of the school year, not the second week. Sometimes calendars and the better good of all decisions just complicate things!

We particularly extend a warm welcome to our new kindergarten children and families new to our community. We also welcome our new staff members; Mrs Dona Connell (Year 3), Mrs Emma Shaw (Year 2), Miss Victoria Andrievski (Kinder), Miss Natasha Herceg (Year 4) and Mrs Brooke Sweeney (SSO).

We are a “can do” community and I’m sure all will experience the beauty of St Paul’s hospitality which was so very evident when I came to the school at the beginning of 2018. 

I would like to share with everyone our focus areas for 2025. Some, you may notice, begin to happen very early this term, others will become more evident as the year progresses.

We will implement considerable teacher training in the area of the new English (embedding) and Mathematics (implementing) Syllabus. We are also continuing to focus on student attendance and engagement with a focus on high impact teaching strategies and those elements that constitute the core work of teachers. You will hear regularly our school goal for this year - “high expectations”

In the week beginning Monday, 10 March - Friday, 14 March 2025 (Week 7), parent teacher meetings to discuss student progress in reading and Mathematics through the PAT assessments are planned. At this meeting each parent will be given a data report that maps your child's progress in Mathematics and English to take away. From this meeting, it is a wonderful opportunity for you to know clearly, early on in the year, focus areas that the teacher will need to work on with your child.

These meetings are only 15 minutes in duration and should a further in depth meeting be required, this can be arranged after these initial meetings.

May the year be a good beginning for all as we walk together with the primary focus being the needs of all the children and the better good of all. Sometimes I have to step outside my immediate context to make the best decision that will have the greatest positive impact on the learning needs of the children. You will need to do the same or keep this in mind when challenges come your way concerning school life. This is why, making a concerted effort to build trust relationships with your child’s teacher, right from day one is critical. Quite often a child’s understanding of a matter can be skewed by their realm of experience, understanding and maturity, and if both the teacher and parent have made a concerted effort to create well respected relationships between class and home, most things can be easily resolved through shared problem solving. I experienced this in both a positive and challenging way last year, so let us commit to using this statement: “My child has come home and told me this……….., I felt I needed to come and seek clarity from you.” This, rightly, is the same expectation you should have of us. Such words are invitational and speak of a genuine wish to work in partnership.

Go Gently,         

Michael Reardon
Principal

New School Attendance Policy

Last year, as a school we spent considerable energy on improving student absence. Our plan is to continue to monitor this closely and there is a new policy and procedure required by all schools in the diocese to implement. 

A key change is the following:

Previously;

School issued a certificate of extended leave - approving overseas holidays or other personal matters.

Change to this procedure;

School responds by issuing an Acknowledgement of Extended Absence. The acknowledgement indicates whether the explanation for the absence has been accepted by the Principal or not. An explanation that is not accepted is recorded as an unjustified absence. Generally, an explanation for an extended absence for the purposes of travel should not be accepted by a Principal, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Opportunity to Meet with Your Child's Teacher

As stated earlier, student data meetings will begin in the week beginning Monday, 10 March, 2025. However, Meet and Greet Meetings are still available for you within the first four weeks of the term either at your request or the request of your child’s teacher. If you would like a Meet and Greet meeting, feel free to arrange this with your child’s teacher through the office. These can either be done over the phone or in person. Please contact the office as soon as possible to arrange a time with your child’s teacher. Quite often these meetings are beneficial should your child suffer from anxiety, there has been a significant change or loss to the family or simply because you would like to directly meet your child’s teacher at the beginning of the year to create a positive working relationship.

I am very aware in most cases, such a meeting is not needed either by the parent or the teacher and this is why we have chosen to make this on a needs only basis. You may find that it is necessary to arrange a Meet and Greet Meeting for one of your children but not the other, and that is perfectly fine and understandable. Due to this meeting not being formally timetabled, the same information about homework, timetables, sport days etc will be sent home in a thorough Grade Outline for term one.

Student Supervision

A reminder to all parents that morning supervision begins at 8.30am, when the school gates are opened and afternoon bus supervision ends with the last bus leaving at 4.00pm. Supervision on area two, in front of the canteen finishes at 3.40pm.

Your child should not be dropped off at the office area before 8.30am.

Last year some children were at school at 8.00am and were sent to the office. This is beyond our regular hours and is an unreasonable expectation. It would be expected that you take them to ASPIRE like other parents do and pay for this service that is available to you. If you are going to be late for any reason when picking up your children, please contact the school office.

The phone is attended until 4.30pm, after this time it will go directly to the message bank and will not be followed up until the next morning. Ringing after this time to make appointments to meet with teachers or members of the Leadership Team would be an unreasonable expectation and will need to wait till the next morning after 8.30am. Teachers have considerable administrative responsibilities to attend to, various meetings, lesson planning to complete and unfinished marking that weighs heavily on them. Please be mindful of this when you ring and expect to speak to them beyond these times.

Protocols When Seeking To Meet With Staff

Last week, even with it being the first week, I had a situation that reminded me to make sure I explicitly state the hierarchy we follow when dealing with matters at the school. Naturally, as a parent, you would usually seek out the teacher first if you are concerned about any matter to do with your child. Should this not be resolved at that point then you would seek a meeting with the Middle Leader assigned to your child’s grade to discuss how to move forward with your concern. Only after this point, should Mrs Brunetta or I be involved. At any point, Mrs Debrincat, our Religious Education and Wellbeing Coordinator is available to support children and parents on many of these matters. If everything went to either the Assistant Principal or Principal first, nothing would be resolved effectively as there simply would be no time to do so with 630 children and 450 families! Also, usually such meetings are not five minute matters and our time needs to be prioritised to the more pressing or high end immediate matters. 

Below are the Middle Leaders responsible for each grade:

• Kindergarten - Mrs Sheereen Brunetta
• Year 1 - Mrs Catherine Hatter
• Year 2 - Mrs Donna Rae
• Year 3 - Mrs Kristen King
• Year 4 -  Mrs Belinda Williams
• Year 5 - Mrs Maria Debrincat
• Year 6 - Mrs Angela Mourinho   

Leadership Responsibilities

Sheereen Brunetta - My role as Assistant Principal will continue in 2025 and expand across all curriculum areas. I will be focusing on Mathematics and working with key leadership team members and teachers in implementing the new mathematics curriculum and continuing to embed the English syllabus, which is supporting the school’s Annual Improvement Plan.

Students will be engaged in their learning, strive to meet high expectations, and achieve improved learning outcomes. I will also be working alongside Kindergarten teachers and supporting them in their work in the classroom. In addition I will oversee the PB4L process in Kindergarten.

Maria Debrincat - During 2025, I will remain in my role as Religious Education and Wellbeing Coordinator. In the area of RE, I will focus on developing a strategic process that enables the creation of a Staff Spiritual/Faith Formation Plan. I will be working with the leadership team to implement our annual improvement goal which is focused on attaining high expectations for students. I will lead the PB4L administration in the school and meet with the PB4L team every fortnight to assist in the integrated delivery of classroom strategies that reflect proactive whole-school learning and teaching for all students and that develops effective student safety and wellbeing policies and practices. I will be working alongside the Year 5 teachers in the classroom for half a day a week and I will be supporting Year 5 with wellbeing and PB4L matters. Every Wednesday afternoon, I will teach KL for half a day providing release time for the regular class teacher's planning.

Belinda Williams - In 2025, I will be focussing on PB4L in Year 4, supporting student learning and well-being every Monday. My role also includes curriculum development, with a particular focus on Mathematics. I will be working closely with teachers to implement the new Mathematics syllabus using high-impact teaching strategies. Additionally, I am responsible for implementing Information, Communication, and Learning Technology (ICLT) across the school in collaboration with Mrs. Fielding and supporting the Diverse Learning needs of the students with the Diverse Learning Team.

Donna Rae - In 2025 I am working with the leadership team to drive our AIP goal, which is having high expectations for students. This involves supporting teachers and students, in their growth by fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and enriching learning environment where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential.This year I am responsible for the PB4L for Year 2 and will be working there each Friday to work alongside the teachers. In my role as Gifted and Talented, Mrs King and I will continue our work through personalised learning opportunities, enrichment programs and coaching to ensure that gifted learners are engaged, motivated, and nurtured in a way that fosters both academic excellence and personal growth.

Kristen King - This year, I will continue to share responsibility for Gifted and Talented Education with Mrs Rae. We oversee students in the school who are identified as gifted and high achieving, supporting their classroom teachers to provide learning experiences that are engaging and catered to their specific requirements. Each week, Mrs Rae and I facilitate enrichment programs for students, aimed to provide targeted opportunities to develop their academic performance and personal growth. I oversee the School Environmental Plan, ensuring that the school continues its journey of ecological conversion. In addition to this, I will be working alongside Year 3 teachers to support student learning and PB4L.

Catherine Hatter - In 2025, I will be working alongside the Year 1 teachers and supporting them and their students’ needs. I will oversee the behaviours via data collection from PB4L. I will continue to oversee the Key Learning Area of Mathematics and support the roll out of the new Mathematics syllabus. I will also be working in liaison with universities and Pre-service teachers that come to our school in 2025.

Angela Mourinho - I am the Instructional Coach. In my role I will be working alongside the leadership team and classroom teachers to drive the school’s Annual Improvement Plan: “Students will be engaged in their learning, strive to meet high expectations, and achieve improved learning outcomes”. My focus will be to continue to embed the implementation of the new English Syllabus across the school and supporting teachers in deepening their teaching practice, including the use of high impact teaching strategies. This will involve a variety of strategies, one being weekly in-class support in year 6. I will also be supporting the Diverse Learning Team and Year 6 teachers, students and families with the PB4L process. 

Haircuts

Please ensure your child's haircut meets the requirements outlined in our school handbook as stated below. It would be good to read this to your child before taking them to the hairdresser. Perhaps taking a copy to the salon would be helpful.

HAIR

Students are required to wear their hair in a neat and tidy manner.  Haircuts should be of an even grade. Hair should be well brushed and combed and it is assumed that hair will not be in such a condition as to invite comment. Ribbons must be school colours. No oversized bows and hair embellishments.

BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:

• Extreme styles, bleaching, colouring or dyeing of hair are not permitted.
• Gel, mousse and hair spray or other substances should not be used.
• There will be no undercuts, steps or shaved lines within the hair.
• Nothing shorter than a Number 3 comb is acceptable.
• Hair should not extend to cover the eyes or beyond the shirt collar (boys).
• Boys' hair should be of a length not to attract attention. ‘Man buns’ or mullet hairstyles are not permitted at St Paul’s.’
• Students who do not abide by the haircut requirements will be asked to fix the identified problem.
• Long hair is to be tied back or plaited. Ribbons and bands of school colour are to be worn. 

I will be monitoring students this week and approaching any student who does not meet these requirements.

Over the school holidays CCTV cameras were installed to catch all outdoor/external spaces at the school, including external stairs and external thoroughfares. This decision has been made to ensure the safety of students and staff. We believe that by having CCTV in place we will be able to achieve something we can’t today concerning supervision and security as well as potentially avoiding something unsafe from happening.

The product installed is called the Wisenet Wave Camera System. If you google this product it will provide detail about how this system operates. Privacy will be protected as the only staff who will have access to viewing any of the footage will be members of the leadership team. The data will be held for one month and will then be deleted.

Parents will not have access to view any footage that involves other children than their own due to privacy legislation requirements. The cameras will also not have footage that could be captured in bathrooms or classrooms and other learning spaces and will be video only, not audio. All cameras have signage in the area they are installed. This again is about safety for all, and our processes will ensure their appropriate use.

Attached below is the CCTV Camera Policy.

Library Lessons and Borrowing 

This year, library lessons will consist of various specific term focusses taught by Mrs Williams followed by borrowing. Students will be encouraged to borrow regularly and must use a library bag to protect the books as they travel to and from school. St Paul’s waterproof library bags can be purchased via the clothing pool.

Library lessons will begin Week 4.

Welcome to the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge 2025

The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is open to all NSW students in Kindergarten to Year 10, in government, independent, Catholic and home schools.

All students in K-6 will be given user names and log in details for you to use at home. The challenge is optional, if you would like some more information please visit Parents and Students : NSW Premier's Reading Challenge Support 

2025 Challenge dates

Challenge opens: Monday, 24 February 2025

Challenge closes to students: Friday, 22 August 2025

Please note: Students are unable to log into the PRC website until the PRC opens. 

NAPLAN 2025

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. 

As students progress through their school years, it is important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy.

NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national proficiency standards. 

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.

NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

Students complete 4 assessments: Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy.  Students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 will sit NAPLAN between 12 and 24 March 2025.

Why NAPLAN is now held in March

This is the third year NAPLAN will be conducted in March, having previously taken place in May. The change was introduced to provide schools with results earlier in the year, helping inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the school year.

Why NAPLAN is conducted online

Since transitioning from paper-based to online assessment between 2018 and 2022, NAPLAN has offered:

• More precise results through tailored (adaptive) testing, where questions match students' abilities, allowing them to better demonstrate their skills.
• Enhanced accessibility options, enabling students with disability to participate.
• A more engaging experience for students, based on their feedback.

Students at St Paul's will sit NAPLAN tests on the following dates:

Wednesday, 12 March 2025 - Writing

Thursday, 13 March 2025 - Reading

Monday, 17 March 2025 - Conventions of Language

Wednesday, 19 March 2025 - Numeracy

Students who are absent on testing dates will have the opportunity to complete a catch-up test during the testing window, which closes on Monday, 24 March 2025.

For more information, visit the Parents and Carers page on the NAP website and download the NAPLAN Information Brochure for Parents and Carers. You can also visit the Public Demonstration Site page to explore the test format.

February P&F Meeting

The first P&F Meeting for the school year will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, 12 February 2025 at 7pm in the school hall. The P&F committee is a great way to meet new friends within the school community and all parents are encouraged to attend.

If you are unable to attend this meeting in person, you are able to join via the zoom link below;

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dowcatholic.zoom.us/j/67192179977&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1739613170864726&usg=AOvVaw0dA4XLXZH9vaBcAdH73em9

A reminder that you must sign in via your zoom account to join.

Magdalene Catholic College Open Day

Magdalene Catholic College is pleased to announce that their annual enrolment Open Afternoon will be held at the College on Thursday 27th February 3:45 - 7:30pm.

Mater Dei Open Day