Dear Parents,

St Mary’s had a wonderful visit from the Catholic Education Canberra & Goulburn Commission on Monday. The visit was part of a regional tour for the Commission who also visited St Xavier Lake Cargelligo and St Anne’s Temora on the trip. The purpose of the visit was to give commission members a clear picture of the context and challenges of a NSW regional school in the Archdiocese.

Eleven panel members came to school at 12.30pm and observed High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) occurring in our classrooms. A shared lunch with staff members was had, followed by an information session with the leadership team. Finally, the commission visited classrooms to engage with students and hear their perspective of life in country NSW.

The commission gained valuable insight into the school, which will be used to offer counsel to the decision-making bodies in the system. Panel members were extremely impressed with the teaching and learning they witnessed and wanted to pass on congratulations to all the staff of St Mary’s.

Mrs Sinead Turner is in the final stages of completing her teaching degree. One of the requirements that remains for her to fulfill is a 10-week internship. Mrs Turner’s degree is a teaching degree encompassing 0 to 8 year old students. As part of this degree, Mrs Turner is required to complete this internship at a preschool level. Mrs Turner will take study leave without pay for term 4 to accomplish this internship. I wish Sinead all the best as she completes her university requirements. Recruiting for Mrs Turner’s position in Year 2 for term 4 has begun.

2023 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results have been delivered to schools and families of students in grades 3 and 5. The assessment provides a snapshot of students achievement at a point in time and is a consistent process that schools can use to gain an understanding of student knowledge in literacy and numeracy.

In 2023 St Mary’s has made significant gains in most areas of the assessment program. NAPLAN reports on Numeracy, Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation. In Year 5 the school performed above the national average in Numeracy and significantly above national average in Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation. In Year 3 St Mary’s performed well above national average in Numeracy, Reading and Grammar & Punctuation, above national average in Spelling and just below in Writing.

We are in the early stages of delivering High Impact Teaching Practices at our great school and the early signs would suggest that the systems CATALYST program is already starting to have a positive impact on student knowledge.

Kind Regards,

Phil Nielsen