St Francis of Assisi School Newsletter 21/03/2024

2023 AGM Report

Writing the 2023 AGM report as the Principal who has started in 2024 is somewhat complex. I have drawn on colleagues to focus on the achievements on 2023, but also used this report as a lens to look forward into 2024.

2023 saw the resignation of Principal James Meiksans from St Francis of Assisi, Newton. It’s important to acknowledge the significant work of James throughout the years as the school transitioned from an R-7 school to an R-6 school. This change across the system brought many challenges regarding staffing, and I know there was significant work completed by James in this space. I’d like to thank James for the work that he completed during his time at SFOA as well as his broader career in Catholic Education.

We also thank Angela Morrison and Kerri Dent for their leadership across the past 18 months respectively. The role of Acting Principal is a challenging one to navigate, especially across longer periods of time. I’d like to thank both Angela and Kerri for their time at SFOA and wish her them all the best in their future roles.

2023 saw the opening of the Nature Play area on the Eastern Edge of the school. The spectacular area is used strongly by our students and adds to the wide array of play opportunities for students at SFOA.

There were also a wide array of community events including the biannual Dance Concert held in a marquee in the piazza area, as well the Quiz Night ran by the P and F committee. I’d like to thank the P and F for their ongoing work to building community at our school.

Our enrolment profile remained steady with 250 students attending the school at the August census.

During term 4 the school launched the 2024-2026 strategic plan which will guide the future work of the school moving forward. Part of this strategic plan is to re-establish our school, as the school of choice in the East in both a space of enrolment growth and high-quality teaching and learning.

Staffing

At the conclusion of 2023 Alison Hubner-Booth was seconded to the Catholic Education Office to be a part of the Learning team in the system. We wish Alison all the best in this role for 2024.

Moving into 2023 we welcomed Carla Maio, Kayla Russell, Sarah Tirimacco into classroom teaching positions at our school.  We have also welcomed Louise Belperio into a Front Office Admin position at the school.

Furthermore, with the support of CESA we have employed Ms Michelle Page to Assistant Principal Learning Diversity at St Francis of Assisi. Michelle will play a crucial role in being a direct point of contact for families when working in a disability space.

At the beginning of the year as a leadership team we identified we were considerably under resourced regarding Education Support Officers at our school. Education Support Officers support students and teachers at school in a variety of ways, however the predominant use of ESO’s is to support students with adjustments to their learning. Often the need for these adjustments is based on disability.

By the end of Week 8 the school has employed 7 new Education Support Officers to fill various roles across the school. These range from supporting students with disability, as well as running our various intervention programs. We are also introducing a new intervention program called Reading Tutor, which is a 1 to 1 program for students who need significant intervention.

Connecting in, Reaching out – 2024/2025 Theme

At the 2024 Launch Night we launched our theme for the next two years which is ‘Connecting In, Reaching out’ This will guide our strategic direction as a school board, staff, parent and student body as we move towards our 60^th Year in 2025. ‘Connecting in’ speaks of the desire to tighten our practices as a school at an organisational level, ensuring that the school operates in an efficient, highly professional manner.

Reaching out speaks of the idea that our students and families exist as one element of a larger Newton community. We are currently establishing some exciting community partnerships, and looking at ways that our students can contribute to the wider Newton area.  

Master Plan

In 2024 we will commence the development of a Master Plan for St Francis of Assisi, Newton.

The School Principal and Board are responsible for ensuring the school has the appropriate land, physical spaces, and facilities to realise its potential, coordinated by a plan to continually refresh and upgrade facilities in response to changing needs and community expectations.

Master Planning will consider SFOA’s expectations regarding future enrolments, educational requirements, and community expectations. It should consider the adequacy or otherwise of the land currently available and whether it would be beneficial to acquire additional land in the future. Consideration may also be given to opportunities or obligations to share with the local parish and/or other organisations, to work cooperatively with other schools and issues arising from competition with other schools.

A Master Plan will usually identify the relative priority order of several future development projects, which may span the next 10 to 15 years, or longer. The Master Plan will explain (from a facilities development perspective) where the school is now, where the school wants to be, and how it will get there. The Master Plan also needs to recognise that circumstances and priorities change over time, and therefore needs to be flexible and attentive to the changing landscape of education.

Teaching and Learning

At present the leadership team alongside the teaching staff are reviewing the current educational practices at the school. Consistency across R-6 is paramount to having strong programs that support student learning and wellbeing.

We have recently launched Initialit program for our Reception Students. Initialit is an evidence-based whole class literacy program developed by Macquarie University. This program provides all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to be successful readers.

Conclusion

As we traverse into 2024 we head into an exciting period at St Francis of Assisi, Newton.

At times of change we look forward, but also look backwards for guidance. St Francis of Assisi has some wonderful quotes attributed to him but none more important than the following.

‘Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.’ – St Francis of Assisi

God Bless,

Scott March

Principal