Dear Parents and Carers,

Our teachers have been busily finalising assessments and preparing Semester Reports for distribution today via the Compass Parent Portal. A reminder that our Parent-Teacher Conferences for next week are also currently available to book via the Compass Parent Portal. We have 292 conferences booked for next week which is outstanding!

The 10-minute interview will replace comments on the Semester Reports and will focus on areas of strength, opportunities for growth and future goals. Students are not required to attend this interview which will be conducted in your child’s classroom. If you cannot make an appointment time, please contact your classroom teacher directly to organise an alternative arrangement. Interview bookings will close at 4 pm today.

Playground

The new playground equipment for Yrs 3-6 opened this week and has been hugely popular. We also added some extra equipment to the Yrs K-2 equipment. This was made possible through the fundraising efforts of our families in 2023 and also a significant contribution from BASCA. Thank you to Mrs McArthur for her organisation and for working with the Student Representative Council (SRC) to finalise the design.

Netball Gala Day

On Tuesday this week, I enjoyed attending the Yrs 5&6 Tuggeranong Catholic Schools Netball gala day at the Deakin netball courts. It was bitterly cold, and play was delayed for the first game to allow ice to thaw on the courts, but we eventually got some beautiful Canberra sunshine.

Our three teams played with enthusiasm and heart, representing the school so well. A big thank you to Mrs Stevens, Ms Gray and Ms Kim, who supervised the students on the day. I also thank our parent volunteers who coached, managed and umpired our teams. Our Gala days are only possible with your generous support. I also thank Ms Hay, who has been instrumental in surveying the community and has worked on providing increased sporting opportunities for our students.

Staff Update

Mrs Lauren MacDonald has taken LSL for the next four weeks to travel abroad; we wish her all the best on her travels. After an expression of interest process Ms Natalie Radanovich will be our Acting Literacy Coordinator during this period. I thank Mrs Katie Brook, who will increase her teaching load while Lauren is away.

Mrs Sharee Thomas will also take some leave next term to represent and lead a delegation of teachers from Catholic Education at World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal. Mrs Thomas will be overseas for 2.5 weeks from Week 2 until the end of Week 4. We will have an EOI process to appoint an Acting Religious Education Coordinator during this period.

Tell Them From Me (TTFM)

Thank you to everyone who responded to this survey. We had 45 responses to the parent survey and 115 student responses from Yrs 4-6, completed in classrooms. We are awaiting the data to be finalised and reports made available to us in the coming weeks. I will be able to give you a high-level summary of the data in one of our newsletters next term.

NAPLAN reporting

Parents of Yrs 3 & 5 students can expect to see results for their children from NAPLAN early next term. ACARA, the agency responsible for NAPLAN, has changed how the data will be presented to parents. The reports parents receive will no longer have numbered bands to describe achievement but progression statements designed to give parents a greater understanding of their child’s achievement.  Please see the attached flyer with more information related to this change.

ELC Breaking Ground

Today we will have a turning the soil ceremony to bless the project and celebrate breaking ground on this exciting project. We will be joined by Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education, along with other invited guests. Photos will be published to the school’s social media pages over the weekend.

Blessings and best wishes

Sean Rutledge