Dear Parents,

Semester 1 reports were sent out last Friday and will be followed up this week with Parent Teacher Interviews. Semester Reports form an important part of reporting to parents. They are supported by parent teacher interviews, digital portfolios and the many opportunities for parents to engage in their child’s learning. I hope you enjoy this time meeting with your child’s teacher. The students will enjoy a movie afternoon  from 2.30 on Tuesday and Wednesday so that interviews can begin in your child’s classroom at 2.30pm. Year Prep -2 students will be in the Library and Year 3-6 students will be in the Hall if you wish to collect your child before the end of the day.

Planning week

Learning teams gathered for a day last week to plan for the term ahead. At the end of the week, I reflected with great pride how we have moved into a collaborative learning space where teachers are motivated to be curious and increase their understanding and share strategies, thinking and perspectives with each other.

Tracey Ezard, author of ‘Glue, The Stuff that binds us to do Extraordinary Work’ was the keynote speaker at a Federated school closure day last year. Since then, we have worked effectively to keep the message alive of how through working together we achieve greater outcomes for the students we teach.

Tracey says:

‘Buzzing levels of collaboration, with the mindsets that take advantage of the diversity within teams, and between teams can do extraordinary things. We are mindfully creating the environment that allows for interaction and co creation to occur. We end up with new and improved ways of working, rather than the default, ‘This is the way I’ve always done it’, type of thinking. And it’s exciting and fun too. Some unpredictability to shake things up and have a place buzzing!’

Thank you to Freda Tahtou (Teaching and Learning Leader), Ed Dooley (Mission and Faith Leader) and all staff for entering into a collaborative learning space where there was a true buzz as we planned for the term ahead.

Concert

During Term 3, the students will be preparing for our bi annual school concert. The concert will be held at St Peter’s School Hall over two nights. This will allow us to open up enough tickets for all families, neighbours and extended families to come along and enjoy what promises to be a great night of entertainment. All students are included in the concert and will have the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Concert Dates: Monday 16 September and Wednesday 18 September.

We will have a full dress rehearsal at St Peter’s on Friday 13 September.

Information about costumes and times will be sent out next term.

Gardening with Preps

The Prep students have been busy planting carrots, broccoli, snow peas and various herbs in the garden. It is a delight to wander through the gardens! The organically grown snow peas are ready to be picked and eaten this week. A special thanks to Bernie Wise and her daughter Loretta (PJ) for the keen interest they have taken in sharing their passion for growing fresh produce with the other students. Thanks also to the families who have volunteered to water over the holidays.

Thank You

Thank you to Rebecca D’Angelo and Donna Campbell and the generous parents who helped set up for the Disco and to those parents who were on hand for supervision. The students had a  wonderful night!

Fete Dress up Day

As we prepare for the School Fete in October, I hope all families will support our Fete Dress up Day on Friday. Students can wear casual clothes and bring the following:

Grades Prep - Grade 2: Please bring a bag of lollies

Grades 3 and 4: Please bring items for the lucky dip

Grades 5 and 6: Please bring a block of chocolate.

Friday is our last day of Term 2 with a 2.30pm finish.

Year 1 Basketball stars

I would like to share with you an email from one of our parents to the Year 1 teachers who attended a recent game.

Thank you so much for coming along to GESAC on a rainy evening. The kids faces when you walked in were priceless, they were ecstatic to see you!

Absolutely sums up the St Paul’s community spirit!

As the term comes to an end I would like to thank the staff, students and parents who make up this wonderful community of St Paul’s. St Paul’s has always had a strong sense of working together, supporting others and community spirit.

I pray that our work continues to support the full flourishing of all students in our care and that you have a safe and relaxing holiday.

Best wishes,

Catherine

Dear Students, Families and Staff,

Catholic Education Melbourne School Improvement Surveys (CEMSIS): 2-20 September 2019

Throughout each year, we pause to listen to our students, families and staff to gauge how our learning community is travelling. This feedback is invaluable to our progress as effective school communities and is backed by evidence-based research and best practices.

One of the more important formal ways we engage and gather data is through CEMSIS, the Catholic Education Melbourne School Improvement Surveys.

CEMSIS is a set of surveys that have been built specifically for Catholic Schools in Melbourne by Learning Services teams at Catholic Education Melbourne in partnership with researchers at Learning First and in wide consultation with Principals in our schools.

In 2019, students, families and staff are invited to participate in CEMSIS using our brand new, secure and purpose-built online platform. The online platform is where our school leaders will access the summary reports that visualise the results of the student, family and staff surveys.

The CEMSIS survey platform is operated by an independent supplier, ORIMA Research Pty Ltd. The platform meets with the very high security and privacy standards for handling student and school data. Participating schools are in the process of updating their privacy policy to ensure school communities are fully informed and protected. 

Students at our school will be provided with supervised sessions where teachers are on hand to help and answer any questions. Families and staff can complete the survey anytime over the three-week window via an emailed link and password. Feedback from last year’s pilot trials indicate many surveys were done across a range of mobile devices and different web browsers. Schools will be providing more information about CEMSIS throughout Term 2 and 3 via newsletters and social media.

Our community’s opinions are critical to understanding how our school is performing – CEMSIS is a key data source for guiding the ongoing work to improve our school.

All participation is invited, welcomed and 100% voluntary. The surveys are not a test; they are an inclusive way to feed the work we are already doing to improve our school. Everyone has the right to refuse to participate, or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion of the survey. Please notify the school if your child does not wish to participate.

If you would like more information, please contact the school.

Yours sincerely

Catherine

Principal  

This Friday - our last day of Term 2 we have a Fete Dress Up Day. Children can wear casual clothes and bring the following donations:

Grades Prep-Grade 2- Please bring a bag of lollies

Grades 3 and 4- Please bring items for the lucky dip

Grades 5 and 6- Please bring a block of chocolate.

Please ensure all edible donations are unopened and will be still in date by the Fete (27th October!) 

Thank you

Congratulations to everyone who competed in the Interschool chess 
championship on 14th of June representing St Pauls.

Special congratulations to Thomas Regos winning 4 out of 7 games and 
Nicholas Antonello and Rhys Jones both winning 3.5 out of 7 games.

With a smaller than usual team we just missed out on qualifying for the 
Chess VIC state semi finals. However, we will have another chance in 
term 3.
We look forward to more kids supporting the school in the term 3 
Interschool Championship! 

Felix