From The Principal Week 1
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to St Clare of Assisi for Term 4.
I love this time of year when the sun comes out, the trees become covered with leaves, the students don their summer uniform once more since Term 1 and we see just how much some of them have grown! At this time of year we can also see how much they have learnt and how they have become much more independent. It is a proud moment for us all!
Planning for 2023
Normally we undertake a number of processes in order to plan for the year ahead. We review our current achievements against the goals of the Annual Improvement Plan and Strategic Plan and use data from other sources to inform our priorities for next year. We would also analyse the feedback provided through the school surveys completed by students, parents and staff from the previous term and look at our NAPLAN data.
Staff would be involved at all levels of the review and analysis of data. We view this as an exciting opportunity to strengthen key improvement goals and to ensure students and student learning is central to all processes undertaken at the school. This year the planning for next year is somewhat different as under the guidance of Catholic Education we continue with Catalyst, a professional learning program designed to strengthen our performance in Catholic schools across the Archdiocese. Catalyst is a program informed by the science of learning to help all schools realise our bold goals;
- Every student is a competent reader
- High Impact Teaching Practice is visible in every classroom
To achieve these goals, the Catalyst Program focuses on four key initiatives;
- High Impact Teaching Practice – face-to-face workshops, coaching and online units to support improvement in teaching practice,
- K-2 Literacy – professional learning in evidence-based early literacy instruction,
- Curriculum – system-wide curriculum improvement through high quality resources, and
- Instructional Leadership – professional learning to support the implementation of evidence-based instructional leadership techniques
The Catalyst program is to be completed over three years with schools identifying their priority areas and Instructional Leadership occurring every year.
https://vimeo.com/748594778/2cd9f569c4
God bless.
Rachel Smith
Principal
Principal’s Notes
Purple Happy RUOK Day
Friday of week 10 we had our Purple Happy RUOK Day, focusing on wellbeing and mindfulness. Both the students and staff enjoyed participating in this day, which was made more enjoyable by the glorious weather. The students enthusiastically participated in a variety of wellbeing activities such as meditation, drawing, creating artworks, bubble blowing, jumping castles and outdoor games.
Semester 2 Reports
Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn (CECG) has communicated to schools informing them that general comments will not be required on the Semester 2, 2022 reports. This is in line with other educational jurisdictions and systems. Given teacher workload at present, including staffing pressures across the profession, CECG’s position is to prioritise parent/teacher conferences occurring during Term 4. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, their strengths, challenges, and future areas of focus. A Semester Report will be sent home as in previous semesters providing A-E grading and attendance information. The school will send communication regarding the parent/teacher conferences.
Summer Uniform
It is customary for our students to begin Term 4 by wearing their summer uniform. This year due to the fluctuating weather we are allowing a two week transition from winter to summer uniform. Students will be able to wear either their winter or summer uniform for week 1 and week 2 of this term. It is expected that all students will commence week 3, 24th October with the summer uniform.
Taking Other Children Home
Occasionally parents organise for their child to go home with parents of another child in the school. Please notify the front office via a written letter, an email or a phone call if this is your intention. Understandably we don’t allow people to take other children home without this expressed permission from parents.
Leaving St Clare of Assisi
Don’t forget to let us know if you are planning to leave St Clare of Assisi at the end of the year. (Year 6 exempt of course!) Please use the link below. We will soon commence the process of planning enrolments and class numbers for next year.
https://stclareconder.schoolzineplus.com/form/10
2023 School and Term Dates
Please be aware the term dates will be as follows for next year;
- Term One 31 January - 6 April
- Term Two 26 April - 30 June
- Term Three 18 July - 22 September
- Term Four 9 October - 14 December
COVID Update
The restrictions in place at the end of last term have lifted and we excitedly welcome parents and carers back into the school grounds. We look forward to providing opportunities to welcome parents back into the classroom shortly.