Dear Families,

As we creep closer to Christmas and the end of the school year I have my annual dilemma of mixed emotions.  On one hand I am dreading farewelling to our wonderful Year 6 cohort but balancing that out I am so excited about all the opportunities that 2024 present - especially welcoming in a new crew of Foundation students.  In our next newsletter we will be in a position to announce our staffing for 2024 as a lead into our St.Vincent's Transition Day.  This year we will be offering an earlier opportunity for everyone to know about 2024 which will help reduce anxieties around changes that a new school year brings.  

Last week we came together as school to commemorate Remembrance Day.  Our School Leaders along with Mrs.Watson led the service with reverence and confidence.  Our student leadership opportunities are an important feature of our school and to see these young people conduct themselves so capably  was just fantastic.  The attentive and prayerful participation of our student body was outstanding and we look forward to having the Flanders Field Poppies we planted in full bloom when we return after the summer break.

Since our last newsletter we have had the Foundation students visit the Melbourne Zoo with some other year levels also about to have a few days out.  Across the day we received strong, positive feedback about our students and their engagement and behaviour.  I was so proud to be their principal and our families should also have pride in their efforts.  These busy days of learning outside of the classroom are great learning opportunities and a chance to be stretch our capacity to be resilient.  Can I also commend the time and energy of the administration and teaching staff who spent many hours behind the scenes planning out the delivery of these activities.

Also this week we have concluded the final element of our swimming programs and hope that the skills and confidence that has been developed over the past month ensures all our precious children are a little safer around water this summer.  We thank Mrs.Stevenson for coordinating the program as well as all the staff for their flexibility across the swimming weeks.  Thanks must also go to the parents who were busy doing laundry each night to get the swimming kits ready for the next day.

Planning for 2024 is moving along at speed behind the scenes.  Beyond organising obvious things like classes and staffing, constructing the teaching and learning programs while adding to the 2024 school calendar is certainly keeping us busy.  The teachers have began to collaboratively develop strong plans for the academic aspect of the school but also spend considerable amounts of time considering the well being of our students.  We will be in a position to further strengthen our efforts in this area and we look forward to announcing some exciting news in this space.  At the start of the year I announced we had signed  partnership with INFORM & EMPOWER, with their sign attached to the fence near the front steps.  This partnership provides our students with workshops and resoruces in the cyber-safety space as well as information for teachers and parents.  I've included some sample posters that have been displayed in the Year 3-6 rooms that you might like to discuss as a family and even print out to put on your fridge at home.

Last week ended on a real high for me with the School Disco being the ultimate way to finish off yet another busy week.  At the Disco I was so happy to see so many parents get involved in the preparation and on the night.  I strongly urge everyone to reach out and offer assistance so we can confidently continue to offer our children such experiences.  In particular can I acknowledge the drive and efforts of Destiny who not only worked so hard to deliver a great event for the kids but also was outstanding in her efforts to make sure the organisational and compliance matters were handled - Much appreciated Destiny.  The night was just wonderful and was a fair substitute for those people who missed out on Taylor Swift tickets!

OUR PATCH: Great News!!!!! Please find attached some documentation from OUR PATCH.  As this is also very new for us at St.Vincent's we would love feedback about successes and challenges you are finding with their systems.

Wishing you a positive finish to the week and we pray for a beautiful week of weather next week for when I head off on the Year 3/4 Camp to Allambee (near Trafalgar).

Dave