School Vision and Mission

On Friday the 27 January our staff began the new school year with a professional learning day. This day was led by Tim Smith, our Performance and Improvement Leader from Catholic Education. On this day we began the process of re-imagining our school Vision and Mission statements. 

A school vision statement is what we as a school are looking forward to achieving in the future, and the mission statement allows us to express what is unique about St Mary’s Primary School, our beliefs, values and the behaviours we exhibit at our school.

Developing a Vision and Mission statement is a rigorous process of thought and consultation. We look at what we value as a community, where we want our school to go and what we want for our students and families. 

We were fortunate to have Marg Croese and Jan Morris from our Parish, join us for part of the day to share stories about the history of our school. We also examined the charism of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, the Religious Order of nuns, that served the educational needs of the St Mary's families in Moruya for over 100 years.

The staff and leadership team have developed a workable draft which will undergo a number of revisions and things will be added and adjusted over the coming weeks. The next step will be then to share this with our students, families and Community Council for further input.

Faith in Learning  - 2023 System Day

On Monday 30 January, our staff joined with 2000 colleagues from across the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn at the National Convention Centre in Canberra to engage in insightful presentations from leaders in Education and Faith.

Archbishop Christopher Prowse gave the opening address and he talked about the importance of ‘walking together in 2023’. Being a community that discerns and acts together in the name of Jesus works to improve the education and faith outcomes of students by creating communities of faith in learning and learning in faith.

Our system director Mr Ross Fox shared his passion and commitment to providing the staff in our system with the professional learning, resources, and most current evidence-based research and knowledge, to support our teachers deliver high impact instruction in the classroom.

In his keynote address Mr Noel Pearson, Indigenous leader and chairman of non-profit Good to Great Schools Australia, threw his support behind Catholic Education’s Catalyst reform. He was in ‘furious agreement’ for the reform agenda our System has, and said that it is the most important thing happening in school education. He believes our System of schools will be a beacon for the community. 

Throughout the remainder of the day our staff were able to attend a range of workshops presented by leading educators from around the country. The day was inspiring and affirming for the work we are doing at St Mary’s as we continue to build our knowledge in the Science of Learning and the Science of Reading to transform our students' lives through learning. We are fortunate to be part of a System that prioritises learning and evidence based practice.

High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) - In Action

‘HITP in Action’ is an aspect of the Catalyst program that supports our teachers to improve their practice through practical professional learning. It is a comprehensive professional learning program, encompassing both the theory of the Science of Learning and coaching, for each teacher to enable high impact instructional strategies in the classroom.

At St Mary’s we have been very fortunate to be working with Dr Lorraine Hammond and the team from Shaping Minds, Jordan O’Sullivan and Brooke Wardana. These educational coaches have been working with all our staff to share their expertise and knowledge through a combination of professional learning experiences, demonstrations of teaching in our classrooms, immersive staff meetings, and ongoing support via email. 

This week Jordan worked in our Stage 3 classrooms and with our Stage 3 teachers on the High Impact Teach Practice of Daily Review. After school he led our Staff Meeting with a focus on differentiation in the classroom. All our staff have thrived working alongside these coaches and are so dedicated to improving their teaching practice. 

Our coaches are very complimentary of the leadership team and staff in their commitment to providing the best education to meet the needs of our students. They always comment on how much they love working with the staff and students at St Mary’s.