Last night we were treated to an awesome spectacle as our Year 4-6 classes presented songs at our Music Concert. Held at The HEART, the students were able to perform with proper sound engineering, lighting and being up on stage…and they did an amazing job! I was super impressed with just what a great job they did and how professional they sounded. A special mention to Margaux Lewis, Ava Patterson, Mateo Laranjeiro and Ila Yee Wilson for their solo efforts too. A huge thank you to Mr Cameron McRae for all his work in organizing and preparing the students for this and to the P&F for making it a free event for our parents. I would also like to acknowledge the help of Arts Margaret River and the Shire of Augusta Margaret River for their assistance in not only setting it up, but helping to make sure we can utilize such a wonderful venue for our students to perform.

A huge thank you to everyone who came to our ACM last night – your attendance and support is truly appreciated! It was a pleasure to share with you all the great things that have happened over the year and how we plan to continue to make our school the best for our students into the future. I would like to thank our School Advisory Council for their ongoing commitment and support in ensuring decisions are always made in the best interests of the children in our school. Also thanks to Fiona Guise for her catering efforts and Nicolle Achmad for all her work in assisting with the set up and organisation of this event.

I was lucky enough to attend Rottnest with an amazing bunch of Year 6 students last week. They not only represented our school incredibly well, but I witnessed examples of determination, compassion, inclusion and respect. I was proud to say what school we were from and watch our students interact so positively with others on the island. Camps like this really provide an opportunity for our students to develop some independence and finish the year in a positive manner. A huge thank you to Mrs Pisano for organising this wonderful experience for our students and to Mrs Jemma Shoppee, Mr Nathan Brawls, Mr Jay Wynd, Mrs Deb Holland and Mr Marcel Reuben for coming along and assisting with the camp.

Our Year 6 students, together with Mr Wylie and Ms Shoppee are living the dream this week at Rottnest Island. Thank you to our amazing parent volunteers, Mr Jay Wynd, Mr Nathan Brawls, Mrs Deb Holland and Mr Marcel Reuben for accompanying our Year 6 students.

Can you imagine? They’re splashing around in the turquoise waters, reeling in fish (some tales suggest they’re almost as big as the kids!), and zipping around the island on bicycles. It’s a whirlwind of sun, sea and a whole lot of smiles.

Yesterday, the school joined together with the parish community to celebrate All Saints Day – a traditional holy day of obligation. Whilst it is no longer celebrated as a holy day of obligation in Australia, we feel, as a Catholic school community, it is important to still teach our students about the saints and celebrate the life and example they gave to us. St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia’s first saint, who is connected to our school through the involvement of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart is a great example of how we remember to ‘never see a need without doing something about it.’ I thank Miss Farano and the amazing Year 1 students for the wonderful way they led this Mass yesterday morning.

Yesterday, the children in Year 1 – 6 participated in a fundraiser for Catholic Missions, raising money and awareness to support people in Timor-Leste. The afternoon started with a Whole School liturgy in the Library and the children then moved to the oval to try to kick goals with the ‘sockballs’ they created in their Peer Support groups last term. The children had a great time trying to kick and goal keep these balls. Thanks to families for supporting this great cause.

It was so wonderful to see the children dressing up as their favourite book character yesterday, to celebrate Book Week. I was super impressed with how many students (and teachers) got involved with this. Congratulations to Nathaniel Conder, Connor McIvor and Ila Yee Wilson for being selected as best dressed. A huge thank you to the parents for supporting your children with this. With the theme of ‘Read Grow Inspire, it is a good reminder for us of the importance of reading and using our imagination. Our Book Fair was a great success, and I thank both parents and students in supporting this. The sale of these books helps the school to purchase new books for our library.

As we get to the end of Term 3, we wish you and your children a well-deserved break, filled with quality family time. With the school holiday season comes a few perks that we know you’ll appreciate – no school lunches to prepare and no more washing or ironing of school uniforms for two weeks!

Thank you to all those parents and family members who came along to our Learning Journey afternoon. It was wonderful to see so much engagement between the children and their parents, explaining the learning that has been taking place over the term. We feel it is a great opportunity for parents to see their child’s work and for the children to really begin to take responsibility for their learning. I appreciate the work the teachers put into their rooms to ensure the children’s work was displayed so creatively.

Tomorrow afternoon we will be having a Colour Run followed by a Sundowner to celebrate Father’s Day. All dads/significant men/ grandads/uncles/older brothers/mums etc are encouraged to come along and run alongside the children and embrace the colour that is thrown upon them by the spectators. The children may change into light coloured clothes for this run, but I strongly encourage them to bring along a towel to use after so they can get changed back into their Sport’s uniform before going home, particularly those children catching busses. Children who remain in their school uniform will not be permitted to run. The Colour Run will commence at 2:15pm on the oval.