Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians and community,
This week we welcome our Prep,Year 1, 2, 5 and 6 classes. I know our staff are excited to see classes back in the school. The updated plan is included in this newsletter.
Staffing News: We have two staffing announcements for 2022. In 2022, we will be working with two Deputy Principals. Laura Graham, our Deputy, is returning part time (3 days) so she will share the role with Michelle Ristovski. Michelle will be full time in the school, three days in the classroom and two days as Deputy and Well being Leader. The other Staffing news is that Michelle Ebinger has stepped down from her role of Faith Formation Leader. Charlotte Lipnicki will take over the role from Michelle. Charlotte shared the role with Michelle in 2021. We thank Michelle for her time as our Faith Formation Leader, she did an excellent job.
Other Staffing News: Anita Sharma has resigned from her position at St Mary's for personal reasons. Anita has led the school for STEM and worked as one of our Specialist Teachers. We thank Anita for her time at our school and wish her well. i want to emphaise that this is not a vaccine decision and that all our staff are vaccinated and supportive of vaccinations.
School Fees: The schools Fees for 2022 will be as follows:
- Family fee increase by $138 to $3,225
- Curriculum levy increase by $10 to $375
- Excursion levy remains at $130
(The Curriculum and Excursion levy = Student levy of $505)
- Camp levy to be set later once locations/costs are determined
Our Business Manager looked at three options and recommended the middle option. The School Board then looked at these three options and agreed the middle option is the right option.
We had to consider many things including that there was no fee increase this year and our income has dropped in many areas. In 2020, the school lost many students as the impact of covid hit the school as families moved for employment out of our area. Our Enrolment numbers for 2022 are excellent, at this stage, and we are hoping they stay around that mark. We have had an increase of families needing School Fees support as Covid impacted our families. reducing our income. Other sources of income like after school care have had to make adjustments as they no longer get the amount of students attending the service. Cleaning costs have had a significant increase as we now have cleaners working throughout the day sanitising surfaces. This fee increase allows us to cover all these things and provide the support our students need.
I think it is also worth remembering that School Fees for Catholic Primary Schools in Victoria are by far the cheapest in Australia. In no other state do family fees apply and fees and levies are paid per child. To send my three children to my school in Darwin cost around $9000, if I was in South Australia, it would cost around $15000, In NSW, it would be around $8000 with similar structures in other states. Two significant things from this. The State funding in each state differs, federal funding is the same across Australia. Catholic Schools get 80% of our funding from the Federal Government whereas with Government school the reverse happens with the bulk of their funding coming from the State Government. Some states fund Independent schools more, Victoria being one of them. The other significant thing is that Victoria has the biggest gap in school fees comparing Primary and Secondary Fees. For example per child, in Darwin, Primary Schools fees and levies, were around $3000 per child, however Secondary School fees were only around $4000 per child. Victoria, it can be a large jump to Secondary School Fees with Catholic Secondary School fees much higher than primary.
In 2022, the new Melbourne Archdiocesan Catholic Schools (MACS) Concessional School Fee Policy has now been introduced. Catholic Schools have long supported families to attend our schools. It has always been the belief that no Catholic Family should be denied a Catholic Education because of finances. The new Concessional Fee Policy has processes and procedures that schools and families can follow. As a Principal, I find this much easier and it makes it clearer for families. I have attached the policy for families to read.
Gender Dysphoria: Recently I attended training for Catholic Principals on the topic of Gender Dysphoria. Gender dysphoria in individuals is characterised by a marked in-congruence between the natal (birth) gender and the experienced/expressed gender of the person. Many of our Catholic Schools, both Secondary and Primary, are supporting students with Gender Dysphoria. We had two Catholic primary principals from our local area share their journeys of supporting students with gender dysphoria at this meeting. Melbourne Archdiocesan Catholic Schools (MACS) and Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese have been doing much work in this area. The central message has been that we are all made of the image and likeness of God and it is our roles as schools to show this love and to support the students and families. MACS have two policies in this area.
Pastoral Care for Students experiencing Gender Dysphoria
https://www.macs.vic.edu.au/About-Us/Policies/Pastoral-care-for-students.aspx
Sexual Orientation
https://www.macs.vic.edu.au/About-Us/Policies/Sexual-Orientation.aspx
I encourage you have a look at these policies. We looked at these policies at our School Board meeting and our Board members and Father Greg had a very positive response to them and were quite proud of the work that had been done in this area by Catholic Education. I know we have a community that would support any child and family who attends our school.
God Bless and Stay Safe
Anthony