Newsletter: Term 1, Week 8

Co-Principals News:

We hope you all enjoyed a slightly longer long weekend. We always appreciate the support and recognise the extra challenge that closure days can put on families and thank you for making it possible. As a staff, we spent Friday working with two other schools from the Diocese looking at our school review plan and beginning to set goals for the next five years.

This involved an intensive day of data analysis looking at various surveys completed by families, students and staff over the last 12 months. The goal of this work is to provide us with a clear picture of where the school is at, and based on the Characteristics of Highly Effective Catholic Schools (CHECS) begin looking at what our next steps may be. This work will help to develop a comprehensive review report looking at key areas of the school and its operation. The areas include Vision and Mission, Catholic School Culture, Leadership & Stewardship, Wellbeing, Community Engagement and Learning and Teaching.

Staff will continue to work on these aspects throughout the year, culminating in an external review panel meeting with a range of stakeholders from the school in order to validate the suggested path forward. This will again involve parent, student and staff consultation. The goals from this review then help to shape the school’s direction for the next 5 years and beyond. This is a fantastic opportunity for the school to reflect upon past efforts and launch new focuses.

We also had a visit from Mr Tom Sextion, Director of Catholic Education last week. This was a great opportunity to showcase St Augustine’s and the incredible work that takes place each day in our classrooms. As well as a chance to talk about building plans and future development for the school. We look forward to seeing what opportunities this may bring for our community.

Staff have also been revisiting our Homework Policy and both the parent surveys and current research related to the effectiveness of homework in primary schools. This will be an ongoing discussion for the remainder of the term with the goal of releasing our updated policy early in Term 2. We hope to share some of the research with you in the coming weeks. 

A special thanks to the staff that have jumped in and helped out over the last week particularly after our minor flooding incident early last week. Apparently, water and the sound of dryers are pretty standard for us now, hopefully, this is the third and last of these events.

NAPLAN 2023

Students in Years 3 & 5 have begun sitting NAPLAN assessments this week. NAPLAN tests are a nationwide testing regime that provides a snapshot in time for parents and teachers to better understand student progress. We encourage you to chat with your children at home about NAPLAN and what it means to them. 

Dr Helen Schiele recently wrote an article for the Independent school of Australia that provides some guides and support for parents in managing any challenges NAPLAN may raise. The article can be accessed here: https://theparentswebsite.com.au/is-your-child-worried-about-naplan-how-you-can-beat-naplan-jitters/

School Expo

In the last week of term we are excited to be hosting a School Expo Day. This is an opportunity for families to come into the school and experience a day in the life of a St Augustine’s student. The school will be open for families to come through on Tuesday, 28th March between 

9:00am - 11:00am

11:00am - 1:45pm

2:00pm - 3:00pm

We look forward to seeing you all.

Enrolments 2024

Enrolments for the 2024 school year are now open, for existing families if you have a school aged sibling starting in the 2024 school year, please contact the office to complete enrolment details. Word of mouth remains one of our best advertising tools in promoting the wonderful things our school offers, if you know of anyone currently interested and looking for a school in 2024, please encourage them to book a tour and come see our school in action.

School Alive Tours

As part of our enrolment offerings this year we are running a School Alive Tour. If you know someone who would be interested in seeing our school in action please encourage them to contact the office to book a position. The tour will run on Thursday 30th March at 9:30am.

Process moving forward for Principal Replacement

The process for selection of the next Principal of St Augustine’s is currently underway. DOBCEL is currently putting together an information and advertising package highlighting the school and it’s history. In the coming weeks a representative of DOBCEL will work with the school community to identify what you believe is needed in the next Principal. A panel representing the key stakeholders within the school community will be formed for the interviews and they will be taken through a detailed induction into the current reality of the school and what is being looked for in the next Principal.

We would just like to express our sincere  thanks to all of the families of our community for their continued understanding and support as we move through this year. A school doesn’t function without the support of its parent body, please know we appreciate all the little things you do.

Regards

Shaun & Bambi.

Wellbeing:

Community News:

Dates to Remember: