As the term continues to move at a very fast pace, we move towards the first semester reporting period. 

This semester’s reports will be reporting against the Mathematics 2.0 in the Victorian Curriculum. As previously stated, the language in the curriculum has changed and the standards have raised, meaning that your child’s mathematics report may look like there has been no growth but they have in fact made some progress. This will be addressed in Term 3 Family Learning Conversations(FLCs), but if this is of concern to you please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher for clarity. The mathematics score is also now only one score which is an amalgamation of mathematical areas combined which will also be explained in more detail during FLCs.

We celebrated Catholic Education week last week . As a part of these celebrations we held a pilgrimage through the school, associated with every jubilee year is a pilgrimage and ours celebrated the learning in classrooms, student art pieces as well as linking all of these to the song by James Wahl “ I am an Instrument”   I thank our administration staff, Mr Rian Prestwich, our teaching staff and the students for their input regarding this. It was lovely to have parents and family members experience this with us. 

There will be a version of this published on the website in the next couple of weeks. 

Our student leaders attended The Catholic Education Week Mass at St Francis Xavier in Beaconsfield with a large number of schools from the Diocese, with Bishop Greg Bennet presiding. 

After this Mass, The Diocese of Sale also launched their Strategic Plan for the next four years.

One of our students, Rohit Sathies (Grade 6 student) was presented with the Sr Mildred rsj and Sr Marcella rsj Award. Students nominated to receive this Award should exemplify the Christian virtue of hope in their school communities. This is a new award this year Rohit is a very deserving candidate. 

A number of students participated in photographs which will be used in our promotional material. A drone was also used to photograph our site for the website moving forward. We thank the children for their hard work in this area and the teachers for making the experience fun for the students. 

Unfortunately we continue as a school community, to be impacted by a range of bugs and viruses. We ask that any student presenting with any symptoms, be kept home to assist with reducing the risk of infection to other students and staff. We have had a number of staff and levels affected, leading to staff absences.  We acknowledge that this can be disruptive and is not our preferred option, as well as increasing the workload of teachers who are onsite working, we will always ensure appropriate student supervision and a duty of care to all our students.

Our Grade 5 students went on camp last week to Lady Northcote camp in Glenmore out near Bacchus Marsh. They had an amazing camp and feedback was extremely positive with staff attending and students saying they had a great time. The only way these camps can happen is by our staff giving up their time and time with their families to attend. I am extremely grateful to them all. 

We have started a new process this week, where students who are heard swearing or speaking disrespectfully will be required to spend 5 minutes of their playtime reflecting on these interactions whilst walking with a yard duty teacher. At St Catherine’s we are promoting Respect, Safety and Resilience as part of our Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour (WSAPB). This latest initiative was implemented to assist with the promotion of respect and psychological safety. Our student Leaders will be visiting classrooms to assist with the education around this process. 

Catholic Education Week Mass

 Warm regards 

Anna