Dear Parents,

Congratulations to Rebecca Saunders and Connie Antenucci who produced an outstanding showcase of every child’s contribution and participation in the Arts program at St Paul’s School. 

‘Dreaming with Your Eyes Wide Open’ was a celebration of the Arts demonstrating the talents and gifts of the students from P-6 in the form of both Visual and Performing Arts.

Again we were blessed with a stunning evening, where parents, students, families and friends were entertained and delighted by artwork, musical performances and dance of the students. A special thanks to all the staff who supported Bec and Connie with the setup and pack up for the festival. It takes a village!

The photos say it all!

Reminders for this Week:

• The swimming Program continues this week with the Prep-Yr 3 students beginning lessons on Monday.

• Year 5 students will begin their Public Speaking Presentations in the Hall. Parents are most welcome.

• Bishop Tony will come to visit the students who are receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on 22 November.

• Prep Orientation continues for 2023

• Year 4 has an excursion to the Zoo

• All students should now be in full summer uniform, including the correct shoes and socks. School hats must be worn during Terms 4 and 1. 

Friday 25 November, is a school closure day. New staff for 2023 will be welcomed and work in planning teams for next year. OSHClub will be open for families. 

STATE ELECTION FUNDING FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

As you prepare to vote in the upcoming election there is a great deal to consider for every voter. If you are interested in what the education policies of major parties are, I provide this link to a webpage set up by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Limited (CECV) to provide information to families in Catholic Schools. I provide this for your information if you are interested.   Fair Catholic Funding |

St Paul’s School Hall is to be used as a voting center for the State Election on the 26th of November. The Dad’s group and the PnF will be hosting a sausage sizzle, drinks and cake stall.  Thank you to everyone who has put their hand up to help run the day - this is a really exciting (and new) opportunity for our school. Thank you to the Coordinators - Paul Holland, Diana Khamu and Donna Cambell.

Election Day Cake Stall

Christmas Carols

Don't forget to put Carol’s evening in your diaries. The night promises to put us all in the Christmas mood with every child performing. The night will begin at 6.30pm on Thursday 8 December and will be held in the Amphitheatre, weather permitting, or in the church if it rains. 

A word from Sensei Maile

Congratulations to the Grade 6 students who mastered making the complicated origami crane this year, and then decided to make as many as possible to send to the Children's Memorial (Sadako's Memorial) in Hiroshima, Japan.  Particular mention to Jade and Nicola for more than 100 cranes they folded between them over 2 months.  

Each origami paper crane represents a prayer, usually for the recovery of someone who is sick.  However since the end of WW2, many people visiting Hiroshima make 1,000 paper cranes, representing 1,000 prayers for World Peace.  In 2020 the Japanese community of Melbourne made 1,000 paper cranes to pray for an end to the devastating summer of bushfires.  This is what 1,000 paper cranes look like once they've been strung together.  

At the Assembly next Monday 21 November (from 2.50 pm) presentations of Hiragana belts and Masters Certificates will be made to the students who have achieved their Hiragana Orange Belts (Preps), Purple Belts (Grade 1s) and Blackbelts (Grades 2 to 6). Parents are most welcome to attend.

School Advisory Council 

Nomination forms and information is available from the Office for those parents who would like to apply to be on the School Advisory Council for next year. We are seeking two new members, including a Representative from the Parents and Friends. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all serving members for their support and commitment to acting as a voice for parents in the school community.

Helen Skinner, the current Chair, and Michael Juliff will be stepping down after 3 years of service. 

Members serving an additional year include:

Stuart Hall, Alex Poles, Lisa Galante and Jamie Hickey.

At our last meeting the Council discussed the MACSIS data that has recently been shared with all Catholic Schools.  Please click on the link for more information.

https://spbentleigh.schoolzineplus.com/_file/media/2233/terms_of_reference_for_st_paul_s_bentleigh_school_advisory_council.pdf 

I would like to share a summary of the data:

MACSSIS Survey Data

Student Data

• Students from Years 4-6 were surveyed. Overall, student data indicates St Paul’s is at or above MACS average schools.
• Students have indicated Rigorous expectations (where teachers have high expectations) and Learning disposition (students’ own mindset of their learning) to be at or above 80%.
• Areas where St Paul’s students have responded above other MACS schools is school engagement, learning disposition, enabling safety (feeling safe and connected to school), student voice and Catholic identity.

Family Data

• All families were invited to complete the survey; 54 families from St Paul’s responded.
• Highest family responses were school climate (social and learning climate of the school) and school fit (how well the school matches child’s developmental need).
• Domains where St Paul’s families are above MACS average are barriers to engagement (factors that can hinder family’s involvement in the school) and school fit.

Staff Data

• All teaching (classroom teachers, specialists, leaders) and non-teaching staff (LSO’s and administration) were surveyed.
• Staff indicated high responses to staff-leadership relationships, collaboration and improvement strategies, collective efficacy.
• Staff responses are higher than MACS average in all domains. Domains where St Paul’s staff have responded well above other MACS schools is feedback, school leadership, professional learning, psychological safety (taking risks/making mistakes), and collaboration.

2022 NAPLAN Summary

• 2022 is the first year NAPLAN has transitioned to an online test. The tests were adaptive, meaning the tests adjusted the level of difficulty according to student responses.
• NAPLAN tests are: Reading, Writing (Year 3 remains pencil and paper), Numeracy, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation.

• Results show St Paul’s has performed above the state average in all areas of NAPLAN for Year 3 and 5.
• Year 3 highest achievement is in Numeracy (+24 above state average) and Writing (+14 above state average)
• Year 5 highest achievement is Numeracy (+26 above state average), Reading and Writing (+14 above state average respectively)
• As of 2023 NAPLAN will be administered nationwide in March.

MACSSIS surveys, NAPLAN, and school-based assessments (such as PAT) form important data sets that help the school form improvement strategies for the following year. Thank you to the staff, students and parents who participated in the surveys. The Advisory Council noted that only 54 out of 250 families participated in the MACSIS surveys which were sent out to all families. For the data to be an accurate representation of the parent community, we require a greater response to the surveys next year. 

School fees for 2023 were endorsed by the School Advisory Council. The fees were prepared by the MACS finance advisor and myself. The fee letter will be sent out via Operoo this week.

School calendar