Welcome to week 8 of Term 1 

Firstly we need to apologise as our newsletters have only been received by a few parents due to an oversight with our schoolzine accounts. 

We have only just become aware and are now updating our process for delivering these in future. These will now be delivered via the SIMON/PAM platform. 

Family Learning Conversations took place in a face to face format for the most part. Those that have not taken place due to teacher absence will be taking place next week. Communication will be sent out in the next day or so. 

I would like to thank all parents who took the time to respond to our questionnaire regarding the mental health in primary schools and where it is at St Catherine’s. Again we had over 200 responses, which is amazing and gives us important feedback about what we need to do moving forward and or any gaps in our processes.

Our leadership team of 10 took part in a Mental Health First Aid course on Monday. There was a day of course work followed by a day of practical workshops.  This was valuable Professional Learning and a great investment for our students' wellbeing and referral pathways moving forward. 

The tradition of wearing a footy Jersey over your uniform is one which we are happy to continue. However this needs to happen on Mondays only and can be a jersey of any football code. Children wearing jerseys worn on other days will be asked to remove them and put them in school bags as students are required to be in full school uniform on any given day. If students are leaving the school on an excursion or we are having visitors attend the school , children will also be requested to remove these and put them in their school bags.

Parents are welcome to reach out to our teachers and discuss their students with them, but we request these are done in a respectful manner. We also ask that if you need to request a meeting with any staff that this is done through the office to ensure staff are available to address your concerns appropriately.  Many of our staff have a range of commitments during breaks and after school. 

We have had a number of parents submit videos or photographing students from our school and other schools. This is not allowed under our child safety and privacy policy. We ask all parents to refrain from videoing or photographing any student and if seen doing so they will be requested to delete these immediately. 

I implore you to ensure that all drop-offs and pickups are done in a safe, respectful and cooperative manner. We are witnessing driver behaviour which is not only illegal but more importantly very unsafe for our children. I have been liaising with the highway patrol division of Victoria Police and Casey Council to ensure our students are being kept safe. 

We are one of the few schools which offer a drive through drop of and pick up area. Our driveway is a 5KM zone and the end is sectioned off after drive through times, to ensure our children walking down the path have a safe place to cross without being concerned about cars. 

Warm regards