We have had an amazing start to the new school year so far. Our goal this year is to make St Ita’s a respectful, child-safe, inclusive learning community. We also encourage our parents to work in partnership with us to be a positive component in the learning journey of their children.

A big shout out to all of our new students who turned up for their first few days excited and eager to learn, and to the families of those children, you have supported your children so well, and I commend them all on their very successful transition.

I would like to formally welcome all our new staff members for the 2025 school year. I’m sure they will be well-supported in their role as teachers and ESOs and will be a great asset to our learning community.

A reminder to all in our learning community that St Ita’s is first and foremost, a Catholic Primary School and we are about the development of the whole child; spiritually, academically, physically, emotionally, and socially. We seek to prepare all our students for a life beyond school and we want to support all our students to develop the skills to be active and connected, life-long learners.

Could I please ask the following of all our parents?

1. SUPPORT YOUR CHILD’S FAITH JOURNEY WHILST AT ST ITA’S

Please embrace us as a Catholic School of action. Make an effort to attend Mass with your child on weekends. Make an effort to pray to God each day with your child. Make an effort to support your child in their Sacramental journey. Make an effort to use Christ as a role model to your children. Our mantra at St Itas is to be Christ-like in all that we do.

2. SHOW YOUR CHILD THAT YOU VALUE EDUCATION

It helps if you show interest in your child’s learning. For example, when you see your child after school, ask them for 3 positives about their day. What they have learned today? What did they do in class? What did they do during play? Don’t be shrugged off too easily; deep down, even if they roll their eyes, they will be grateful you care enough to ask, and recalling what they learned will help them remember it in the future. Do your best to attend school events relevant to your child, and most importantly please ensure that your child is at school on time for the beginning of each day at 8.50 am. At St Ita’s every day of learning counts for our kids.

3. KEEP IN TOUCH AND BUILD A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER

Let us know how things are for you and your child, especially through your child’s class teacher or via communication with our Deputy Principals Mrs. Greco and Mrs. Noonan, or Principal Mr. Osler. We need to know if concerns or issues arise so that we can work with you to help your child. When parents, students, and teachers work together, the children benefit significantly and the learning partnership should create and foster a wonderful year of learning and growth.

4. ALWAYS DRIVE SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY WHEN ENTERING OUR SCHOOL

Please adhere to an 8km speed limit within our school when dropping off and picking up. The top Admin carpark is for staff cars only. Parents wanting to walk their children into school will need to park in the Church car park or out the front of the school in designated parking zones (which are limited). The disabled car parks located in the Admin car park are not to be used by parents when dropping off or visiting the school. Any parent parking their car in the disabled car park must have a disabled sticker on display. I will keep parents posted on the progress at Drouin Rec Reserve.

Another year of School - by Jim Quillinan

Once again our schools will welcome students to another year of learning, of discovery. For some it will be easy, for others this year will present challenges. Some will return reluctantly, some full of excitement, others with apprehension. And parents and caregivers and teachers will do their best to guide them through this adventure, the highs and the lows, the successes and the failures.

Watching the little ones step out of home for the first time in this new stage of life brings many emotions. Some come with enthusiasm, others are wary and others are, to say the least, reluctant. They cling on to what they know.

The late Barry Dwyer was an educationalist and author of note. Not many students seeking tertiary recognition for essays or papers would not quote Barry to support their ideas or conclusions. He had a profound understanding of the nature of education. In one of his books, he suggested that all students come with a set of questions that they try to answer over the years

Who am I?

Am I worthwhile? Am I competent? What is of value, important?

Is the world to be trusted? Can I make a difference?

Why am I here? Where am I going? Why did this happen to me?

What should I celebrate? Is there a God?

How could God love me?

They are good questions and some of them can take a long time to answer. For those teachers, parents and caregivers who accompany children and young people on their journey, it is worth taking some time to think about how you would answer them yourself and how you found out the answers. For example, little children know the answer to ‘Who am I’ in relation to their family but when they step out into the wider world of school that question requires a greater understanding. Who am I now in this group, in this place? What am I good at? Sometimes young people are told that you can do anything you want, you can be whatever you want and then they discover that isn’t true. So how do we help them discover what is worthwhile and how each of them can make a difference. Is the world to be trusted is a much more complex question than it was when I went to school. How do we as parents or caregivers or teachers address that question now? And how we help our children to understand that they can make a difference.

How do our children come to answer the God questions? Just because we tell them that God exists is not enough. Awareness of God’s existence begins with an experience of awe and wonder, that there is something (someone) greater than just me and my awareness. In the words of Rabbi Abraham Herschel; The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will to believe but a will to wonder. Awareness of the divine begins with awe and wonder.

How do we nurture that? Celebrating is such an important part of education, not just the successes and the highs but rejoicing in life itself.

Jesus was a great teacher, not simply because he told good stories but because he connected with people, he listened deeply to them, he came to appreciate their deepest longings – he had a special ear for the marginalised, the outcaste, those who received no hearing from others. He taught them, how could God NOT love someone like you!

He was a good teacher because he was hospitable, in other words he encouraged people to come, to talk, to explore. They did not feel condemned or stupid or outcasts – they felt safe in his presence.

One of my first principals asked great questions! As an example, every six weeks or so we began our staff meeting with a ten-minute silent reflection. She asked the same question each time: How in the last six weeks did your students know that you loved them? It was an important and challenging question.

This isn’t meant to be another guilt trip, more pressure on parents and caregivers and teachers but rather a reminder that what we do, how we care for our children, how we encourage and support them, how we help them to discover new ways and new ideas, how we help them to appreciate each other is building a better world, a better future, helping to bring about the vision of God. And in doing so, may we always remember that we are all precious in God’s sight.