Dear St Anne's Community,

It was such a relief to receive the updated NSW Health advice recently. The easing of restrictions is welcomed and it is nice to be able to resume some normal school operations. Please refer to recent emails from me, for further information on updated restrictions. 

Compass

Please do not hesitate to contact the school, should you have any questions or concerns about Compass. We understand that some functions are not as user friendly, but we feel the good outweighs the bad. Thank you for your patience and support. 

Don't forget to keep the attendance notes coming in. The quickest and easiest way to let us know your child will be absent is to fill in an attendance note on the Compass App. 

High Impact Teaching Practice

In 2020, we introduced ‘Daily Review’ into some of our Primary classes. Last year and moving into this year we have expanded this practice across the school. Daily review of concepts previously taught, prevents students from forgetting content over time, this process of forgetting is called - funnily enough - the forgetting curve. You may have caught yourself saying ‘but you learnt that last year’, I know I certainly hear teachers saying, ‘but I taught them that already, and they knew when I tested them!’. We may even remember back when we were at school, cramming for an exam and then almost instantly forgetting it as we walked out of the door. Our aim with daily review is to make it so students move new information from their short term memory into long term memory.

As part of the Catalyst Professional Development program that Catholic Education are implementing, staff at St Anne's will continue to engage in researched backed professional development sessions that support High Impact Teaching Practices.

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

This week we marked the occasions of Shrove Tuesday, with pancakes before school started and a class liturgy on Ash Wednesday. Thank you to Mrs Miller for her organisation. 

St Anne's Community Council

This week we held the Annual General Meeting for the community council. I would like to thank all position holders for their contribution to the council and I am pleased to announce your representatives for 2022, as follows:

Chair: Margo Townsend

Vice Chair: Emily Watts

Secretary: Christine Collins

Treasurer: Duncan McCrone and Cassie Coddington

Parent representatives: Joel Fairman, Karissa Roberts

Parish Priest: Fr Sijo

Staff representatives: Geraldine Holland and Kellye-Anne Coleman

Appointment by the Principal: Dennis Sleigh

A warm welcome to Joel Fairman and Duncan McCrone. We appreciate their willingness to be a part of the council. A huge thank you and farewell to Paula Godde as she hands over the job of treasurer. Paula has been a part of the community council for a very long time and we will recognise her contribution with a gift from the council in the coming days. 

Staffing

Mrs Jacqui Collins is currently on leave and she will return 10th March. While Mrs Collins has been away, Mrs Cuttcliffe has been teaching her classes. Mrs Nicole Miller has been in the position of Acting Religious Education Coordinator as well. 

On Tuesday, we farewelled Mrs Georgia Hughes as she takes Parental Leave. We wish her all the best for the upcoming birth and look forward to her return in 2023.

We welcome Mrs Heidi Jones from next week until the end of the term, as a Classroom Support Assistant.

Enrolments

In the next two weeks we will welcome the following students and their families to St Anne's:

Week 6- Year 9, Dane Sinclair

Week 7- Kindergarten, Adam Sheraz

Week 7- Year 2, Isla Sheraz

We are happy to have them join us and look forward to them starting. 

Sport

Congratulations to all students that have participated in representative sport recently. It is nice to read about their successes and we are proud of all of them.  

Take care,

Grant Haigh

Principal