News & Events

Dear Parents & Guardian,

From the beginning, we have tried to build the culture of our school around engagement with our community.  The participation of parents and guardians has been, and I hope will continue to be a key goal in the development of our school.

Last year, with the COVID situation and the challenges of starting a new school with limited space, we had fewer options to gather as a community than I would have hoped. It certainly did not match my expectations and goals when I was planning for our new school during 2021.

This year, I hope that this is something we can do better. We are fortunate to have an amazing group of parents who make up our School Advisory Council. I am so grateful that these wonderful people are willing to give their time and their ideas to make our school a better place for all of our children and their families.

This year, one of their goals, and something I would really like to see is the introduction of the St Lawrence of Brindisi School Community Team.

The School Community Team would have a very different role than the School Advisory Council. They would meet, probably once a term, with their focus on how to build a stronger, more engaged school community.

Opportunities for parents and guardians to meet, to find out about each other makes our community more united. One of the things that makes our St Lawrence an amazing school is that we are a school of many different cultures and backgrounds. There are so many ways our parents and guard

ians can contribute to make our school better and we have much to learn from each other.

Part of their role might be to organise fund raising events that can support the development of our school, but I would always hope that the focus is on community rather than fund-raising. It is a wonderful way that parents and guardians can get to know each other and work together to help build a better school!

Please, please let us know if you would like to be part of this group. The SAC are really looking forward to seeing as many parents as possible join in.

Improving our communication is something we take seriously. We know we do not always get this right and there are things we can improve; from the newsletter (though I hope you will see we have made a real effort with this), to the website and the use of Operoo or Seesaw.

So we can improve our communication, the SAC have developed a Communication Survey they would like you to complete. This will give us valuable information on what we are doing well and also things that we can do better. Please spend 5 minutes to complete the survey that will be sent out via Operoo. We value your feedback.

SCHOOL COMMUNITY PICNIC

With community building in mind, the SAC have indicated that they would like to see a community event for parents and guardians at the end of this term. We have organised a Community Picnic to celebrate the end of Term 1. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to come along and meet other families but also get to meet our wonderful staff team. This will take place on Wednesday, April 5 @ 6.00pm. Please put this in your diaries. If you know of any families who might want to come to St Lawrence, please invite them along as well!

 2024 ENROLMENTS

Our enrolment process for 2024 is due to open on March 20. Our administration team would really like any parents or guardians who have children starting school next year to let them know as soon as possible so we can get a better idea of numbers for next year.

If you know any families who are interested in an enrolment for 2023 or 2024, please encourage them to contact the school office.

 AUSTRALIA’S BEST TEACHER AWARD

Please make a nomination for on of our amazing teachers for this award. You are lucky to have some amazing educators supporting your children and it would be awesome to see one of them recognised for their efforts – they do work really hard for your children. You can nominate them via the following link:

www.heraldsun.com.au/news/australias-best-teachers-news-corp-series-to-recognise-inspirational-teachers/news-story/7f3b0ccc1f8c2bdf4a7c56814c56b995.

HARMONY WEEK

Monday, March 21 is Harmony Day. Given the wonderful multicultural nature of our school, I think that this is an important day for our school to recognise. On Monday 21 (this coming Monday) we are encouraging our children to either wear something orange to school if they have this at home (please don’t go out and buy something just for this) or wear some traditional clothing from their culture.

Hopefully, in years to come, this is something that we can build on to recognise this aspect of our school community.

PLAYGROUP

Another way that parents can assist is by supporting our playgroup which we are hoping to start in Term 2. This is a

really wonderful we can support our local community and build our school. We would love to see some of our parents and guardians help with this. Please let me know or call the school office if you are able to help. Please note that any volunteers would need a Working with Children Check though we can assist with the process.

 

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION

A reminder that any child preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation this year must attend the Confirmation Information Evening at St Anthony’s tonight at 7.00pm and the Confirmation Commitment Mass on Saturday at St Anthony’s Parish Church at 5.00pm. Please talk to Caroline about this if you have any questions.

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Envelopes were sent home with the children this week.  Family photo envelopes are available from the school administration office.  Photo day is Thursday March 30.

God bless,

Bill Hill

PRINCIPAL

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