It is hard to believe that we’re at the start of November and in the final term of the 2024 school year. It has certainly been a busy year full of learning, fun and great experiences and term 4 has been no exception. There are many exciting events looming to round out the school year, such as the school ‘Nativity’ musical, Year 6 graduation mass and dinner celebrations, carols night, Children’s University graduation, the G.A.T.Eways program hosted at our school, Norwood Christmas Pageant, swimming week, the Year 2-6 music and sports assembly, and preschool graduation, to name a few.
STUDENT LEADERSHIP FORUM WITH PREMIER PETER MALANAUSKAS
Last week, a group of our students attended a student leadership forum with Premier Peter Malinauskas hosted at Mercedes College. The students had an opportunity to ask the Premier questions about topics of leadership, improvement and innovation.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
This week over 30 students represented our school in the South Australian Catholic Primary Schools Sports Association Athletics Carnival held at Santos Stadium. Our school came in 2nd overall; our Year 5 boys were section champions and Lucius won age champion. Thank you to Mr Dacombe-Bird for organising this successful event, and well done everyone for representing the school so positively.
THANK YOU TO OUR PARENTS AND FRIENDS COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS
As you will read below in the Parents and Friends newsletter, the team held a Bunnings sausage sizzle last Sunday. On behalf of our school community, I wanted to share my gratitude to Vikki and Isabella and the team of volunteers for their work to organise, cook and serve on the day to help our community.
TRAFFIC REMINDERS
Recently, our school community has observed an increase in cars that are undertaking U-turns on William Street near and through the road crossing. As safety is paramount in our school community, it is a timely reminder to families to read the Keeping Kids Safe on Roads Near Schools document constructed by the City of Norwood, Payneham and St. Peters:
https://www.npsp.sa.gov.au/directory_documents/215_keep_kids_safe_brochure
YEAR 5 & 6 SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVITIES
Last Friday, as part of their fundraising efforts for Catholic Mission for Socktober, the Year 5 students created a range of activities for younger students to partake in and enjoy with their homemade soccer balls. The class has currently raised over $727 for their charitable cause, which is an outstanding effort.
YEAR 5 & 6 AFL MAX LEADERSHIP EXCURSION
Last Friday, our Year 5 & 6 students travelled to AFL Max to undertake a leadership excursion day by participating in a range of group and teamwork activities. The students enjoyed learning outside of the classroom and undertaking group dynamics opportunities.
YEAR 3 & 4 MARY MACKILLOP COLLEGE NETBALL DAY
Last week our Year 3 & 4 girls were invited to Mary MacKillop College Kensington for a ‘Netball Fun Day.’ The students loved the opportunity to participate in a range of wonderful activities that focused on agility, movement skills and fitness.
RECEPTION & YEAR 1 BRIDGE STREET CRICKET PROGRAM
Ten of our Reception and Year 1 students have been undertaking a Friday afterschool Simply Sports "New Ball" cricket program. From reports, the students have enjoyed undertaking the activities within the program to develop their throwing, catching, fielding and batting skills.
LIVE, LEARN, LEAD PARENT / CAREGIVER SURVEY DATA
I wanted to share the parent and caregiver survey data collected in Term 3 for comparison over the past few years.
I can report we have increased the number of parents that complete the survey from 10 (2022) to 31 (2024), which provides a broader perspective on the data.
Overall, the data shows great improvement, resulting from the collective work and positive impact from everyone who works in our school, from teachers, leaders, ESOs, library, preschool educators, admin, and finance staff, to also recognise the work of our social work students.
In the past few years, Catholic Education (Identity) has bumped up positively from 4.84/6 to 5.18/6. This shows the positive perspective of the Catholic Education our school provides.
Learning and wellbeing in terms of perception of learning support from 4.26/6 to 5.05/6, enjoyment of school from 4.43/6 to 4.80/6, autonomy and independence from 4.25/6 to 4.54/6.
Resourcing regarding infrastructure has remained constant from 4.00/6 to 4.43/6.
Community has risen in the areas of welcoming school from 5.00/6 to 5.29/6, parent-school partnerships from 3.40/6 to 4.68/6 and safe school from 4.28/6 to 4.95/6.
This is data to be celebrated as a whole community with great pride:
FOCUS ON eSAFETY
As a school community, we have been deepening our focus on student electronic awareness and safety for optimal child protection. We are currently planning for increased opportunities for our students to undertake important learning in electronic and online safety and aim to have parent sessions next year to support families in this area.
The resource below provides detailed information to parents regarding various applications and games to increase awareness and safety for all online:
https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-topics/esafety-guide
In addition, the advice sheets for parents, created by the eSafety commissioner are also great resources to help keep families safe online and on electronic devices regarding social:
Thanks,
Adam Slater
Principal