Welcome to 2023!
Welcome back to 2023 to all of our new and existing families!
With the holidays now a distant memory, there are several pieces of news that I would like to share with the St Saviour's Primary community.
Firstly, I would like to share some staffing news and officially welcome six new staff members to St Saviour's Primary:
We welcome four new classroom teachers with varying backgrounds to our staff. Sarah Logan (Year 1) returns home to Toowoomba from Brisbane, Linda Ogg (Year 2) joins us from Winton, Lisa Cavanagh (Year 3) has vast experience in Toowoomba Catholic Schools and most recently has been an Education Officer and finally Eliza Smith (Year 6) has made the move to Toowoomba from Victoria. You are all most welcome.
Madelyn Robinson will be part of our Prep team in a school officer capacity for Semester 1 this year. Maddy is a welcome addition to our staff and is currently studying to become a teacher, with her graduatation from university planned for half way through this year.
Renee Kilpatrick has come on board as our tuckshop convenor. Renee is a chef with extensive experience. This year tuckshop will run on Mondays and Fridays only. Renee will be making some minor menu changes to begin the year, so please keep an eye on the menu.
In other exciting news, I would like to formally congratulate Mrs Luci Hogan and her husband Lachy on the pending arrival of their first child in Term 2. Exact dates for Luci's parental leave will be finalised in the near future, followed by the advertisement for a Prep teacher to replace her in accordance with the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Recruitment Procedure. Once this procedure is complete, the successful applicant will be announced to the community.
STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
During the week before students attended school, the St Saviour's Primary staff attended various professional development opportunities. All of these opportunites were linked to the school Annual Action Plan which is informed by the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Strategic Plan.
Key professional development themes included a new staff induction, student protection and code of conduct training, Australian Curriculum, physical activity and learning, non-crisis intervention and a day of spirituality based on our theme for the year 'Mercy Matters'. Classroom teachers also spent time learning about the new students in their class by talking to previous teachers, whilst school officers also attended targeted training for their role.
KEY DATES
The beginning of this term also offers many community events including:
Years 3-6 Swimming Carnival at Glennie Aquatic Centre - 31 January from 9am
Parent Information Evening - 1 February. There are three sessions on this night.
Session 1 to be run by classroom teachers in classrooms at 5.15pm.
Session 2 will be presented by leadership in the Mercy Centre at 5.40pm.
Session 3 will be a duplicate of session 1 and will commence at 6.10pm in classrooms.
Parent Engagment Network Meeting Term 1 - Tuesday 14 Feb from 5.15pm (ALL parents welcome with further information in week 3 newsletter)
Welcome BBQ - Thursday 16 Feb - Time TBA - SAVE THE DATE!
I look forward to seeing many parents/carers as these events.
BUILDING PROJECT
Over the Christmas holidays we received the very exciting news that we have received state and federal funding to refurbish the school library and build four new classrooms next to the current Year 1 classrooms. This will include a new disability lift and an upgrade to the drop off and pick up zone on Lawrence Street.
It is anticipated that the project will go out to tender in late March/early April. Once a suitable building company has been decided upon the project will hopefully commence over the winter school holidays with the aim of being finished early 2024.
Further information will be provided as it becomes available. The realisation of this project is largely due to the commitment of Ms Madonna Sleba and the previous St Saviour's Primary School Board. A fantastic result for the school.
Thank you for reading and I hope all families have enjoyed the first week back at school.
Sam Hannant
Acting Principal
Welcome to our new Staff
