Dear Parents and Carers,

Catholic Education Commission

The Catholic Education Commission (CEC) was established to support and advise the Archbishop in his responsibilities for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese. The CEC advises and makes recommendation to the Archbishop but does not make decisions. Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting the CEC at our school. The CEC were given a tour by our school captains, followed by their attendance at the Mary MacKillop Feast Day Mass and a morning tea after that. They were very impressed with the cleanliness of our school and the behaviour of our students in class and at Mass.

Welcome

A warm welcome to our new students and their families that have joined us recently. Knox in Yr 1, Rosie in Yr 3 and Simran in Yr 3. 

Enrolments

We are fielding a high number of enquiries across most year groups at present. If you have a child that is starting with us next year and you are yet to fill in the enrolment form, please action this one as soon as possible. Additionally, if you know that your child is leaving at the end of the year, please let the school know as well. Students often tell their friends in class, but we need to know for official purposes.

NAPLAN

I am very impressed with our NAPLAN results this year. It is a credit to the hard work of the students and staff at St Anne's. Our Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students' combined scaled score is above the NSW State, ACT State and National averages in every test domain. More specific highlights:

Year 9 achieved above the NSW, ACT and National averages in every domain. In most domains, they were well above these averages. 

Year 7 achieved above NSW, ACT and National averages in Numeracy and Grammar and Punctuation. They were above the National average in Reading.

Year 5 achieved above NSW, ACT and National averages in every domain except Numeracy. Although, they were above the National average in Numeracy.

Year 3 achieved above NSW, ACT and National averages in Grammar and Punctuation, Numeracy and Spelling. They were above the National average in Writing.

Community Survey Results

We had 63 respondents in our Tell Them From Me parent survey last term. Thank you for your feedback. A snapshot of some of the feedback:

• "I love how welcoming everyone is. Communication is great. My children understand what is expected of them and when work needs to be handed in."
• "Really Like- the focus on learning in the classroom. Poor behaviour is not permitted by teachers. The teachers give so much of their time to organise fun events for the kids."
• "We really like St Anne's, has a very inclusive, welcoming community. Staff seem very professional and competent in their roles, (this includes admin staff, support staff and teachers) and overall seem all very well respected from parents and kids. We value the level of discipline, boundaries and respect that students are expected to show for teachers and other students. This was a very important aspect when selecting a school for us. There seems to be a great culture at the school at present."

Building works

Builders have set up the site fencing and started the demolition work in preparation for the new access toilet. A singular access toilet and shower room will be installed next to the science lab. This week I had a site meeting with the Catholic Education Facilities Manager and an Architect. We discussed the need for a new toilet block and additional classrooms to support our growth in numbers. The architect will work with us to develop a school master plan. I will be calling on some feedback from Staff, Students and Parents/Carers. This feedback will assist us in shaping the future building works of the school. The priority will be the new toilets in this process.  

Take care,

Grant Haigh

Principal