St Alipius Parish School Newsletter

On Tuesday night our year 6 students were recognised during their Graduation Ceremony at St Alipius Church.

The theme they chose was ‘Say Something’, picking up the message from their evocative performance earlier in the year.

This year, our learning together has been inspired by the words ‘Say Something’.

 We have encouraged the children to express what is in their heads and hearts and share it with the world in whatever way feels right for them —whether through their words, their art, their music, or some other form all their own - it doesn’t matter, as long as they let the world know what they’re thinking, feeling, and dreaming.

 During the past twelve years, there have been many things that you, as parents and special friends, have said to your child. These things have made them laugh - and cry sometimes! You have said things that have helped them learn and helped them to be the best person they can be.

This year has been an important year of expressing who we are and what we believe in. We have been able to articulate our faith and our learning, our beliefs and our connections, our hopes and our fears. Our Performances have given us a vehicle to express our understandings in song and images, movement and word. We are delighted to highlight them here.

The media has offered us opportunities to tell our story; about our commitment to Respectful Relationships, our commitment to Aboriginal Reconciliation Action our commitment to the Environment.

And we have taken the opportunity to share messages that are important to our world through our Performing Arts Programmes:

Messages of Unity in a Multicultural World

Messages of Hope for a Sustainable Future

Messages to ‘Say Something’ for the disempowered.

And in our Foundation performance - a Message of ‘God with Us’ in the Christmas story and every day.

Our Performances also showcased this interweaving of learning areas and skills within a Catholic framework.

Performances based on: 

• Catholic Social Teachings: Years 5 and 6 

• Laudato Si and a Sustainable Environment: Years 3 and 4

• Multiculturalism and celebration of diversity: Years 1 and 2

• The Christmas Story: Foundation

Each combined skills from a range of curriculum areas:

• RE

• Speaking and Listening

• Reading

• Writing

• Geography

• History

• Science

• Music

• Dance and Drama

• Humanities

Whilst all skills were explicitly taught and practiced, the performances provide a purposeful forum in which to share the learning in a new way. We know we are successful as educators when students are able to transfer learning into a new setting.

Creating a culture of Learning and Teaching isn’t restricted to teaching subjects like Maths and English, Science and History.

Being a learner - just like being a teacher - is a way of being.

There is always stuff to learn - what we want is for our students to be CAPABLE learners - and that requires that we attend to the Learning Capabilities as set out in the Victorian Curriculum. 

The four capabilities in the Victorian Curriculum F–10 are:

• Critical and Creative Thinking

• Ethical

• Intercultural

• Personal and Social

What we also aim for is that our students are confident in expressing opinions about things that matter to them. That they learn from those who have gone before them, and those who  walk beside them to formulate a message that they can proudly express now and into the future.

Maths Leadership

This year our focus in curriculum development has been on sharpening staff curriculum knowledge and delivery in Mathematics. Families will have noted increased communication around maths assessments which both identify points of learning and chart the growth that students are making. This focus on Maths learning was a direct response to our examination of our Maths data and a desire to see increased growth in student learning in this area. 

The leadership of our Performance and Development Team - Roxanne Leed, Nicole, Hammond, Kathryn Lynn and Lauren Spicer - has been instrumental in driving this aspect of school improvement, They have worked tirelessly and collaboratively to develop structures and processes, to gather and interpret data and to lead and manage positive change in the delivery of Maths learning and in  assessment and reporting processes. 

 I am deeply appreciative of the many gifts that people bring to our community and the generous way in which they share them.

I thank all parents who enter into partnership with our school community and trust us to share in the most important job they have; raising their precious children. It is an honour and a privilege and an awesome responsibility to share your child’s education with you.

I acknowledge the work of the School Advisory Council in sharing the leadership and assisting in setting the future direction of our community. Your input is vital in ensuring the voice of parents, caregivers and children is heard as we make decisions, implement policies and promote our school within the broader community.

I thank the 2019 SAC: Mark O’Brien, Theresa Watson,  Liz McCartin, Renae Daley, Amy Geurts, Viv McLoughlin, Linda Callistro and Roxanne Leed (as staff rep) the work you have all done in promoting and leading our school community benefits every student, family  and staff-member - Thank you.

I thank Mark O’Brien who, as chairperson, has steered our ship on a steady course for the past three years. Mark’s long connection with the broader Ballarat community, the Catholic community, his interest in wellbeing and the health of organisations all bring a richness to his leadership and a depth to our community. Mark is a doer and an enabler and his support of our school is unwavering. His capacity to gently challenge, to address difficult situations, to bring energy and a sense of fun to tedious tasks, to put kids at the centre of decision-making and to recognise and affirm the efforts of staff and community members have made him a most valuable, and valued, Chairperson.

In line with the terms of our Constitution Mark is moving on from the SAC in 2020. We thank him for his valuable contribution and look forward to his ongoing involvement in school community events and celebrations.

Fundraising has been organised centrally this year and we thank the number of people who have taken on the leadership of some successful events. Our Trivia Night was a great social and fundraising evening, our Walkathon raised significant funds and our new look Friday lunches continue to provide a service to families and funds to our school. So many people contribute to these events as well as:

Election BBQ

Second hand uniform

School Lunches

Mothers Day Stall

Fathers Day Stall

Footy Colours Day

Christmas Fest

I look forward to forming a team of people who can drive the Fundraising events for 2020 - especially our Inaugural Sustainability Fair, and thank everyone who has expressed an interest in helping us build a sense of community and raise funds towards our Master Plan.

I thank our staff team who are, every one of them, amazing. The way that they find the very best in every child and nurture that part of them so that they can grow in confidence and ability is outstanding. And their commitment to lifelong learning - learning more about themselves, more about others, more about the world and more about their relationship with a loving God - puts them into a special league.  Because they are prepared to learn - their students learn with and from them, and with and from each other. I thank our staff for all that they give and all that they are. I feel blessed to work with them.

Again I acknowledge the great gift it is to work in education - and especially in Catholic Education. I thank every member of our community and I look forward to a bright and positive future at St Alipius Parish School.

I congratulate and thank all those who contributed to our Christmas Fest at the end of November.

What started off as a Gingerbread Making activity three years ago has grown into quite a little festival. A family funeral prevented me from attending this year but the feedback I have received is of a fun evening with perfect weather, a relaxed vibe and yummy lasagne.

Thanks to everyone who worked together to pull this community event off.

You are amazing.

I really enjoyed all the things I did this year like teaching Japanese, music, chatting, eating sausages and more. I’ll never forget this time and Aussie English. Thank you lovely St.Alipius community. Good luck to you next year!  I want to say thank you to everyone. This year is the greatest year for me thanks to you. St. Alipius kids, staff members, parents are always friendly and you gave me lots of fun. Prep and year 1/2 kids have really good memories .  I’m surprised because you’ve learned lots of Japanese more than I expected. It’s your awesome super power. Year 3/4kids are so creative. I think your creative skills helped your learning a lot. You guys did great. I find year 5/6 kids did great progress. Through Karuta practice and your effort, your Japanese skills became amazing. I’m proud of all of you. And, thank you for supporting me for all staff members. I learned lots of things from you and not just English and Teaching skills. I’m so lucky because I had Adam sensei as my good buddy.  His class are so attractive and there are lots of clues to enjoy learning.  I’ll use ideas that I’ve got from him in Japan. I say a big thank you to Adam sensei.