Term 3, Week 3 Newsletter
From the Principal
Thank You
A big thank you to Lauren Magnus who filled the role of Acting Principal during my recent absence. Lauren wears many hats as Assistant Principal and is a highly efficient and organised educator who is very approachable with a love for all students. St Finbarr’s is very fortunate to have her in the leadership team and an important member of the school community.
Parent Parking
Concerns have been raised regarding the danger students are placed in at parent pick after school. Under no circumstances are children to leave the school premises unless accompanied by an adult. A designated teacher takes walkers and bike riders out the gates and to the crossing at the front of the school. Unfortunately, a small number of younger children walk out unaccompanied after having been instructed by their parents to meet their car outside the gate to avoid the oval pick up and speed up the pick up process. This is highly dangerous with the number of cars and buses in Arakwal Court. If you have another family member or carer picking up your children, please inform them of the correct safety requirements of the school.
Tell Them From Me Survey
As previously mentioned we received 41 responses from families to the Parent Tell Them From Me Survey. Thank you to those who completed the survey which assists the school in future goal setting and resource planning. Below is a summary of themes from the comments section of the survey and some of the actions taken by the school. For more detail or clarity around any of these themes please contact the Principal.
| Themes from parent feedback | Response from School |
| Lack of sufficient school Buildings | Completed with Year 6, Library and Art Room space utilised. Still to be determined which classes will occupy the space in 2025. |
| No After School Care | Facilities have been approved and we are awaiting a starting date with Active kids. |
| Lack of school Library | Our library is up and running. Eva Matheson is a highly passionate and professional educator who is creating an amazing learning space. New furniture has been ordered. |
| Repeated flooding in Year 3 Classroom spaces | The school has recently spent $40,000 on an improved drainage system to alleviate further occurrence of storm water damage. |
| Sports Concerns | A staff member has been provided more release time from class and will be seeking more opportunities for the school in a variety of sporting activities. |
| Homework Policy | This has been targeted for our 2025 School Improvement Plan where we will be working on a school statement based on current research and practice to ensure consistency across all grades |
| Parent Communication | Newsletter to return on Friday of Week 3 6 and 9. each Friday has beenWhat's on at St Finbarr's has been well received. More social media visibility of school events and celebrations. More families are now confident with Compass. |
Last weeks of school in Term 4 are seen as unproductive time. | The school is looking at a range of engaging activities for students in the final few weeks of the year to avoid time being wasted |
| No Hall Space | The Hall is now free for use with Music Tuition, Choir , Art, Drama and Zing Sport. |
| Individuals dissatisfied with school processes and focus. | The Principal and Leadership Team has an ‘open door’‘ policy and will always listen to reasonable, respectful discussion with a constant focus on school improvement and student wellbeing. |
Music Tuition
Individual/ Pairs/ Small Groups
Guitar with Kris each Thursday. Limited bookings available. Contact Kris at togetkb@gmail.com
Drums with Ben each Wednesday. Contact Ben at octobrain@outlook.com
School Attendance
A reminder that school concludes at 3.10 pm each afternoon. This is compulsory school attendance requirements. It should only be in emergency circumstances that students leave early from school. Lately there has been a marked increase in parents seeking to pick up students early for sporting or extra tuition commitments. This is causing confusion in the office each afternoon with phone messages to classrooms disrupting learning time and potentially causing unnecessary stress to students when they are engaged in a learning activity.
Leaving Families
Kindergarten enrolments are being finalised with first round offers sent out this week. We ask any families who may be leaving the school community this year to contact the office as soon as possible. We have a number of families on a waitlist seeking enrolment at St Finbarr’s for 2025.
Tuesday Lunchtime is campfire and BYO marshmallows. It doesn’t get much better!
Lunchtime camp fire
Year Six are loving their new modern space and Eva has the Library looking fantastic. Thank you to all those who helped us relocate and set up the new spaces.
Year 6, Library and Art Space
Yours in Partnership,
Tim Bleakley
Principal
Learning & Teaching
Assessment Capable Visible Learners
Research states that learners who know;
- what they are learning and why
- how to be successful
- where to go to for help
- how to identify what their own next steps
are not only more likely to succeed within their learning, but are to be more engaged also.
At St Finbarr's we have been on a journey to make learning more visible for our students. To support them in becoming Assessment Capable Learners. Dr Lyn Sharratt (a renowned researcher, educator and author) talks about the walls in classrooms being 'pretty useful' instead of being 'pinterest pretty' - it's about using the walls to support student learning.
Some of the agreed practices you will see in all classrooms are;
- Deconstructed Learning Intentions that state what we are learning and why
- Co-constructed Success Criteria outlining what success looks like within the task / unit
- Anchor Charts giving examples of the Success Criteria and the learning
- 'Bump it up Walls' showing various sample texts and how a writer can add details to enhance their writing
This term, I have had the pleasure of working in all classrooms for writing lessons each day to support teachers and students with this work.
Positive Behaviours for Learning
During the first week of Term 3 all classes had a visit from Mrs Nulley to discuss our School Positive Behaviour Matrix. The teaching of expected behaviours is key to achieving a common language of what is expected of all students as learners at our school.
To have a safe and orderly school environment, it is important that whole school procedures and routines are taught to students. Common ways of moving, interacting, gathering, and learning within the school help to create predictability and consistency amongst our students and staff. This increased predictability can reduce student anxiety at school.
Classes also re-visited the importance of wearing our St Finbarr’s school uniform. The children viewed our uniform social story video (please keep an eye on Instagram for it). You might like to re-watch this at home! Some of our students were star performers in the making of this video. Thank you for all you are doing to ensure our high standard of uniform and personal presentation standards are maintained.
Volunteer Induction Training - Final call for 2024.
We are excited to welcome volunteers back into our school and classrooms If you would like to be a parent helper or volunteer in class, on excursions, at sports carnivals, within the canteen or for school events/excursions, then you will be required to attend a volunteer induction session.
The volunteer training covers practical strategies for supporting students and staff in the classroom, along with WHS and Child Protection Legislation. Only once you have completed this training, can you join the parent volunteer list.
Since induction sessions commenced last term, we have run 12 sessions (before, during and after school) and had 58 parents / grandparents / carers attend.
This is our final callout for volunteers for 2024. So that we can ensure the session times suit as many parents as possible, please email Buffy letting her know if you would prefer a before school, during school time or late afternoon session. We can then collate the requests and offer suitable session times.
Please note if you have already been volunteering, you are still required to attend this training as we are capturing all volunteers moving forward. As part of this training, you are required to sign a Code of Conduct. Please note the face to face training is a one off occurrence but the Code of Conduct will be signed at the commencement of each year.
Parent volunteers will look different across the school depending on the stage and needs of the class and teachers. Some classes will have daily parent support in the morning, others might be across a term or semester, depending on what is required.
We thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in this process.
Yours in Partnership,
Lauren Magnus
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
From the Leader of Pedagogy
What is InitiaLit?
InitiaLit is a comprehensive literacy program designed for children in the early years of schooling K-2. Developed by MultiLit, an Australian initiative, it focuses on evidence-based teaching practices to support the development of reading, writing, and spelling skills. The program aims to provide a strong foundation in literacy by integrating phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency instruction.
All K-2 classes at St Finbarr’s continue to deliver InitiaLit each morning. The lessons involve explicit instruction followed by group and independent activities that are tailored to meet the individual needs of our children. Each fortnight whilst each class has Science and Technology, classroom teachers work collaboratively along with myself to monitor student growth and modify and adjust learning tasks to set new learning goals for our children.
This term teachers will have the opportunity to work directly with MultiLit representatives to learn more about the program and develop their own professional knowledge with a focus on increasing student outcomes.
As captured in these images below, our children are immersed and engaged in their InitiaLit lessons across K-2.
Yours in Partnership,
Mrs Rachel Mitchell
Leader of Pedagogy
Mission
Winter Woolies
Thank you to the generosity of all our Finnie's Families, we raised $357 dollars and were able to donate a large number of warm blankets and adult winter clothing to St Vincent De Paul. It was wonderful to see our students dressing in their Winter Woolies to support such a worthwhile cause.
A special mention to Olive B in Year 3 who held her own cupcake stall, bringing in the money she raised as her donation. Such a wonderful example of our St Finbarr's students living our mission of Loving like Jesus.
Mary MacKillop Mass
Yesterday all of St Finbarr's students celebrated Mass at St Finbarr's Church for the the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. This was truly a wonderful celebration with all students participating so beautifully in all parts of the Mass.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Next Thursday the 15th of August we will celebrate a Holy Day of Obligation, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Holy Days of Obligation are our most important feast days and a part of our commitment to the Catholic faith.
The whole school will once again come together to celebrate Mass and we warmly extend an invitation to all our Finnie's families and friends. The Mass will be at St Finbarr's Church at 9:30am.
Save the Date- School & Parish Mass
On Saturday the 14th of September we will be having a combined School and Parish Mass. This will take place at St Finbarr's Catholic Church at 6pm. This will be a very special celebration with a number of our students receiving their First Holy Communion on this night. All Finnie's families and friends are warmly invited to attend to celebrate.
Parish Bulletin
Free Webinar for Parents
The Council of Catholic School Parents is hosting a FREE parenting webinar with parenting speaker and author, Justin Coulson. This webinar will unpack:
- The root causes behind the deteriorating state of mental health, and who (or what) is responsible.
- The tools you need to reverse this trend for your children.
- Realistic approaches for managing screen time in a way that protects your child's wellbeing.
- Creating margin in your home and family life to protect and promote mental wellness.
Yours in Partnership,
Mrs Sonya Piccoli
Assistant Principal Mission & Inclusion
What's on at St Finbarr's Week 4
Parent Connect
