St Alipius Parish School Newsletter

We are blessed to have an amazing staff team; committed people who are dedicated to ensuring that students are engaged in  purposeful learning and are supported and challenged to continually improve.

A staff team isn't a stagnant entity, it is a living community of people who learn and teach, who collaborate and negotiate, who move in and out of positions of leadership.  I am grateful for the flexible creative staff team I have had the pleasure to work with in 2019.

As we plan for 2020 I share some staff news with you.  We have a number of staff who will be leaving us at the end of the year, some for a short time and others more permanently.

Dan Pollard is retiring from teaching after 39 years of dedicated service.  Please keep the afternoon of December 3rd free so that you can join us in recognising Dan's incredible committment.

Caitee Carter is expecting her first child later this term and will finish up on November 7th.  Rebecca Perks will teach Caitee's learning community for the remainder of the year and Roxanne Leed will take over the role of RE Leader.  Caitee will take family leave in 2020.

Kathryn Lynn has been granted 6 months long service leave for the first 2 terms of 2020.  She is taking this opportunity to expand her personal and professional development and will return to St Alipius in July next year.

Belinda Chiswell has accepted a 12 month position at Lumen Christi, Delacombe.  She will lead a team of teachers and provide intensive literacy learning for students at their point of need.  We wish her well as she explores this opportunity for professional growth.

Over recent weeks we have had the pleasure of interviewing a number of talented people who each expressed a deep desire to join our staff team.  I am delighted to inform you that we have offered three positions to new staff and that they have been accepted with great excitement.  Joining our team in 2020 will be:

Kate Westbrook

Ellen Gleeson 

Belinda Demunck

We were delighted to have Kate on our team in 2018.  She brought youth and energy, commitment and positivity to our team.  She worked hard and always did the extra bits and pieces that make a true team member.  We were sad not to be able to offer Kate a position in 2019 when she was snapped up by Siena Catholic School at Lucas.  Kate was keen to return to St Alipius and Siena is devastated to lose her.  We feel blessed to have her back.

Ellen’s background in psychology and her commitment to student wellbeing and inclusion shone in her interview.  Her capacity to express an authentic commitment to faith and ability to celebrate diversity were welcomed by the panel.  Ellen described a strong understanding of inquiry learning through a project based approach.  Her strengths in this area are greatly valued.  We have known Ellen’s gentle competence as a  CRT; now we get to experience her depth and passion as a full time team member.

Belinda is a graduating teacher with a strong belief in personalising learning and providing students with ‘voice and choice’ in their education.  She too expressed a clear understanding of the richness and possibilities of a curriculum that grows out of an authentically Catholic approach.  Her passion for working in a school where students are empowered to reach new goals and included in the direction that their learning takes made her a clear choice for the panel.

Rachel Allan will return to St Alipius in a part time capacity in 2020.  Rachel has been on Family Leave this year enabling her to spend time with her pre-school age children. 

Kate, Belinda, Ellen and Rachel will complete our staff lineup for 2020 (unless life takes over and other changes need to be made)

In coming weeks we will be exploring class groupings for 2020 so that on December 3rd students will be able to join the teachers and classmates they will learn with in 2020.  The Learning Communities will be arranged as follows:

Foundation - 2 classes 

Year 1/2 - 3 classes

Year 3/4 - 4 classes

Year 5/6 - 3 classes

Teachers spend hours working to make cohesive learning communities that support all students.

If you have information that can support this process please send me an email or note outlining this information.

Wednesday, 20th November

6.00-8.00pm

McInerney Centre

Term 4 is summer uniform time and it is particularly important that we are all wearing our hats.

I know it's sometimes still a bit chilly this term and that cloud cover can give us a false sense of safety, but the Bureau of Meteorology tells us that the UV risk is highest at these times and we want to keep precious skin safe.

We have some hats available for sale at the front office, sizes small, medium and large for $16.50

Brown Hill Kindergarten's leading educator, Christine Sullivan, is retiring after 14 years, and we are hoping to make her a retirement present of a photobook, filled with art and messages from her former students, to thank her for all her work.

We are asking former Brown Hill Kindergarten students to draw or write about a favourite memory from their time with Christine. Use a plain white A4 page for each child and do not fold it (the creases will show when the photo is scanned!) and write the child’s name on the front. Then bring the artwork/message back to Brown Hill Kindergarten (give it to any one of the teachers but not Christine - it's supposed to be a secret! ) or your primary school office by Thursday November 21st.

We plan on presenting Christine with the photo book at her going away party at the kindergarten on Friday 13th December between 2.30 and 4pm. Everyone is welcome to attend to have some afternoon tea and a play - RSVP is not required.

If you have any questions please call/SMS on 0404802707. Please feel free to tell any other parents of former Brown Hill Kindergarten students what we are doing - we hope to get as many contributions as possible.