When I commenced as principal of St Patrick's school in 2016, I worked with the staff, students and the parent community to create a succinct vision statement. The outcome of that work is our "why" ...We are engaged and motivated learners always faithful to our loving God. How did we get to this statement? You can read the back story at this link.
Ongoing professional learning enabled our staff to develop a detailed, shared vision narrative and core values that encapsulate "how" to bring the vision to life. As I prepare to leave St Pat's, I feel assured that the shared vision and the accompanying core values are truly embedded throughout the actions of the community.
In particular, the last sentence of the shared vision is is especially significant. It states "what" we want for our Year 6 graduates.....Learners leave St Patrick’s self motivated and ready to make a positive impact on their world.....
Our St Pat's students start to demonstrate self motivation in Year 5. I recently went to talk to one of our Year 5 classes about the school's shared vision. They asked me if the vision narrative is a piece of persuasive writing from the staff. This is indeed an impressive observation from Year 5 students who certainly know the power of persuasive writing.
The following story clearly links the vision, the core values, the impact of purposeful teaching, the learning that followed and the outcome of the heartfelt, self motivated actions of one Year 5 learner.
This is the story of how Elisha and her classmates show that they are already self motivated to make a positive impact on their world.....
Below is a letter from Elisha
A few weeks earlier, I received some letters from Elisha and her Year 5 classmates..
Elisha set the scene expressing the far-reaching effects of the pandemic.....
Darby supports her case by making reference to relevant research...
And Lily... her pom poms!
Eliza strengthens her case by referring to the school's core values....
And Tate also emphasises our core values....
Persuasive letters from the whole class proved too much for me ! How could I resist these requests written with such passion and purpose ? The Year 5C class definitely succeeded in persuading me that they should go to the swimming carnival.
All of the efforts to support their peers at the swimming carnival planted a seed in the mind of one reflective Year 5 learner and the actions that followed definitely made an impact on her world.
With the support of Elisha's classmates and the whole school community, Elisha's persuasive letter about raising funds to Fight Parkinson's through a school bake sale became a reality.
Elisha later told me that her Poppa cried with joy at the outcome of her actions.
Below is the response from Fight Parkinson's
Hi Elisha and classmates of 5C,
I am writing to you today to thank you for raising funds for Fight Parkinson’s at your school bake sale. I heard that your baked goods were delicious and sold out very quickly!
We appreciate the phenomenal effort you have made in helping to raise awareness and funds of $1,065.00 to help people who have Parkinson’s disease. Well done!
We would also like to thank all of your supporters and the St. Patrick’s Primary School community who helped you to achieve your goal.
Please see the attached Certificate of Appreciation; we thank you once again for your generosity and support of our organisation.
Kind regards,
Melanie Worthington
Donor and Supporter Services
When we can share heartfelt stories that demonstrate the authentic and purposeful actions of our young learners, then we are gifted with the evidence of ... learners being self motivated and ready to make a positive impact on their world.....
I received a number of beautiful messages of congratulations when I announced my new position to the community early this term.
The message below from one family reiterates the difference that we can make when we listen with our hearts and believe in the immense capability of our young learners.. to make a positive impact on their world.....
.".....I just want to say thank you for everything you have done, in particular the way you have empowered little people to feel they can approach you with suggestions and ideas. I still remember my three girls wanting to do something to help Michelle Barclay when she was diagnosed. Their little idea of getting our beautiful school involved in Daffodil Day was received so well by both you and the staff. You then continued to empower the girls to speak about it and to help run the day. This day is now a day the school and our entire community acknowledges yearly. What a beautiful Legacy to be a part of....."
We are all learners no matter who we are; be it students, staff, parents or community members. We continually learn and grow, we change 2 flourish in our professional and personal lives.
Like our St Pat's graduates, I too feel self motivated and ready to make a positive impact in my new role as Leadership Consultant for the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS). Many rich and rewarding learning experiences at St Pat's have contributed to who I am and have prepared me to be able to support, advise and and grow the leadership capability across several MACS schools.
I am truly blessed to have led the St Patrick's school community for 6 years with the support of such inspiring leaders and staff.
Each and every staff member is open to learning to be the best that they can be and will continue to remain committed to the school's vision and values. Our staff will ensure that the young learners that they teach will have the very best opportunity to grow and flourish so that when our learners graduate in Year 6, they too will...
....leave St Patrick’s self motivated and ready to make a positive impact on their world.....
Acknowledgements: Miss Currenti and the Year 5C students for sharing their persuasive letters and giving me permission to publish extracts from some of the letters
Elisha for wanting to make a difference for her Poppa
All of the inspiring students, staff and families at St Patrick's school
William Martin, John Edwards, Mary & Lab Wilson for the Schools That Deliver professional learning
Believe in yourself, your team and your networks of support. Know that others will look to you for clarity and guidance. Be decisive and stay focused on a clear pathway forward. Then you will ensure that you will not only survive but support you community to thrive during the toughest of challenges.
During 2020, Melbournians more than any other Australians became experts at living, adapting and working through lockdowns.
Little did we know that those lockdown experiences would pale into insignificance when our school community was unexpectedly forced into 14 days of quarantine.
On the 15 July 2021, four days into a new 10 week school term, a call from the Department of Health informed us that a trip to the MCG to watch a football game, caused one innocent St Pat's student to test positive to the highly contagious Delta variant.
We were advised to close the school immediately.
At 10:40am, we sent an urgent notification to parents and carers to collect all children. The school was classified as a Tier 1 exposure site and all children and staff were instructed to be tested for Covid 19 and to isolate in their homes for 14 days.
That was 9 weeks ago.
Fourteen days of quarantine was an extremely challenging time for every one of our families and staff members. Some families were forced into longer quarantine periods as further positive cases emerged.
Fortunately, we all survived and we are currently teaching, learning and living in lockdown.
As we approach the final week of an exceedingly long term, our leadership team have resorted to transforming into Star Wars and Toy Story characters, hoping to lift the spirits of children, parents and colleagues.
This poem by one of our Year 3 students, sums up how all children currently in lockdown are feeling.
What are 4 tips from our experience that would help others survive a similar situation ?
1. Support each other. Offer support to others and be willing to take support yourself.
Our wider community were outstanding. Support included :
Deliveries of food parcels (many from ex St Pat's families) to our families
Offers to walk pet dogs as families were housebound
Local cafe & supermarket offered free deliveries
Glen Eira Council set up a special St Patrick's TV guide with interactive links to online activities in the afternoons eg. magic shows, endangered animals, play groups for younger siblings
Carnegie Library couriered books to our families
Local gym set up online exercise classes for families
An uplifting video from Australian singer and songwriter, ex St Pat's student Vance Joy.
Some of our staff separated from their families and went to live on their own so that their families didn't have to quarantine. Support for colleagues and their wellbeing was vital. Half way through the quarantine period, our social committee organised a staff team building evening to give everyone a much needed boost.
2. Daily open and honest communication.
Be available and willing to listen to everyone and follow up answers for every question (we were able to forward many questions directly to DH contacts). My wonderful Deputy Principal and I encouraged our whole community to email or ring us at any time with their questions, worries or concerns.
I sent out a total of twenty Covid Update Comms to the school families during the 14 days. Most of these comms are blog posts and are accessible via our school newsblog. Maximum views for regular posts across the year average 300 views. One of the Covid Update posts had 886 views ( You can access Covid Update #6 on the Parent as Partners Tab of this blog). Community engagement was strong. Families felt connected and informed during isolation. They focussed on every word in every message. Clear, succinct and timely comms were vital.
I sent separate staff comms before the community comms and held online briefings with staff to keep them informed and connected too. During our first staff briefing, I clarified the dedicated roles that we all held and our responsibilities during isolation. This was a timely reminder to put our energy into the areas that we could control (teaching and learning, connecting with the kids and families, checking on each other) instead of worrying about everything else beyond our control (covid, quarantine, limited resources, no opportunities to leave our homes ).
I reminded our staff that we are all leaders at every level across the school and that we will help our community and each other to get through together.
The Regional General Manager and Leadership Consultant from (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic schools MACS ) were in touch with us from the very beginning and provided media advice, sample comms and contacts for the school's deep clean. We were advised to ensure important comms were cleared through MACS.
3. Be guided by the professionals
Expert communication from the Department of Health (DH), provided step by step daily advice and guidance for the community.
Recommendations for community testing were advised; four Covid tests for each member of the community across the 14 days. Contact tracers were thorough and professional and reported to me that our community were positive and respectful despite the challenges that many families faced.
The Monash Health Team offered to run two online parent forums which were well received by our community. Every question was answered. We found that a separate google doc for parent's questions worked better than a live chat box during the forum. We averaged 300 participants per forum.
During the quarantine period, some families required exemptions for a number of reasons. Every one of their requests was legitimate. The Monash health team encouraged us to forward all requests and that every query would be dealt with.
The DH advised us around the safest way for the children to return onsite ( See the post on Parent as Partners Tab Covid Update #13 of this blog). Naturally, parents were anxious and needed reassurance that everybody was cleared to return to school following their final Covid test.
4. Stay positive
Despite the challenging circumstances, the thank you messages from the community came through incessantly. The positive messages of support helped all of us to get through and gave us the energy as leaders and teachers to forge on.
Hi Jenny
We wanted to say a big thank you for the coffee today! What a lovely surprise to order a coffee and it was paid for. It’s such a difficult time for many including yourself and we appreciate the constant communication, support and updates It was so wonderful to see the teachers ready to do remote learning today with their students with a smile and ready to take on the next couple of weeks with enthusiasm. The out pouring of support from the local community has been heart warming also. What a great community to be part of. Take care and if there is anything we can do to help under these circumstances don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you and take care. (School parents)
Local Heroes As a local resident I just wish to thank the school community, staff, parents and children of St Patricks.
Thanks to you all for the sacrifices made to keep everyone safe. I am sure it was not easy. Your efforts are appreciated. And we are happy to hear so many have emerged from isolation and are now back at school and work, and children are once again out and about in our neighbourhood.
I heard high praise from parents for the support offered by the school (“They were wonderful”).
I also heard IGA provided free deliveries to families and friends of St Patrick’s did coffee runs. What a terrific community!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery for those who are still ill and again, gratitude for and thanks to our local heroes!
You can read further messages of community support on the Parent as Partners Tab of this blog ( Community Update # 3.3 Local Heroes)
I am proud to be part of a caring and supportive community at St Pat's.
Part of our school vision says:
..A healthy mindset, coupled with resilience and well-developed social skills ensures all learners are equipped to deal with life’s challenges...
Staying positive and supporting each other, helps to hold us in good stead as we - leaders, parents and teachers, model resilience for our children.
Acknowledgements:
To our staff, students and parents who all went the extra mile to get though quarantine
To all members of our wider community who reached out and supported us
To the Monash Health Team: I have a deep admiration for the contact tracing teams, leadership and staff from the South East Public Health Unit at Monash. Their advice and guidance for our school was swift and clear and they continue to support our community
To the MACS staff for their support
To Charlotte from 3L for her poem
To our own family members for their love and support
Believe in yourself, your team and your networks of support. Know that others will look to you for clarity and guidance. Be decisive and stay focused on a clear pathway forward. Then you will ensure that you will not only survive but support you community to thrive during the toughest of challenges.
Addendum:
Little did we believe that we would end up with another positive student case onsite only 10 weeks later. Fortunately, everyone is safe and well after 42 of our families including 15 staff members isolated for a 2nd time during the school holidays. This was a huge challenge for everyone involved and we thank the families and staff who suffered a 2nd quarantine period during their holidays. We continue to hope and pray that as vaccination rates increase, we will all experience and appreciate the joy of reuniting and reconnecting with each other, our families and friends in the coming months.
