Term Four Week Nine – Commencing Monday 8th December 2025

Christmas & Edu-Dance Concert and Staff Farewells
Thank you, thank you, thank you is all I can say for the way that our community turned up for the children for Thursday’s Christmas and Edu-Dance Concert. Standing on the stage at various times, it was so pleasing to look out at the sea of people who had come to support our children. 

It is on occasions such as these that it dawns on me how blessed our children are to have this support at school. Thank you for continuing to show up, supporting your children and school staff. 

Thanksgiving Mass 
All community members are invited to join together for our final Thanksgiving Mass on Friday, the 12th of December. Our Community Thanksgiving Mass will be a good opportunity for us all to slow down and give thanks for all of the blessings we have received this year.  

Please note that this year, there will be no morning tea after mass for farewells, as this took place at the Christmas and Edudance Concert. 

Graduation Mass & Assembly
Graduation Mass will take place in the Parish Church on Tuesday 9th of December, commencing at 4:45pm. This is our chance as a school community to farewell our wonderful Year Six children before they move to high school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Grace Clune and Ms Amy Dreyer for preparing this celebration for the children. I would also like to thank Mrs Shiela Gould and Mrs Mel Offer, the Year Six Year Level Reps, for their time and energy in setting up the School Hall with the Class Teachers and Year Fives, as well as our P & F Committee, and the many other helpers from other year levels who have offered up their assistance for the evening. Graduation Mass and Assembly promises to be a beautiful celebration centred on celebrating our Graduating Class. 

End of Year Reports
This Thursday, End of Year Reports for children between Pre-Primary and Year Six will be shared with families through Seqta Engage. To ensure that you receive your child’s report, please be sure to have the Seqta Engage app downloaded on your phone and ensure that your login is working. If you need assistance logging in, please contact the school. 

It is essential that you read your child’s End of Year Report and celebrate the growth with your child. Please also make note of the areas where your child still has room to grow. Over the six week period, this is a great time to assist your child in these areas before school commences again next year. 

2026 Staff List
The 2026 Staff List will be shared with the community next Friday. 

2026 Transition Day (Step Up)
On Tuesday, the 9th of December, children across the school will transition into their new spaces. The children will spend some time in the new classes for next year, speaking about all the wonderful things on offer for them. Please note that they will not meet their new educators for next year, as staffing would not have been shared with the community at this stage. 

Some of our children have already been trialling the different play spaces for next year and have done an amazing job in transitioning. Whilst the children will not know who their new class teachers are or who is in their classes on Tuesday, this will be an important step in the children acclimatising to their new learning spaces. 

Transition will take place in the morning block. 

Water Fun Day (Celebration Days)
Next week, children from across the school will be involved in various Water Fun Day/Celebration Days across the school. The dates are as below: 

Wednesday the 10th of December – Kindy & Pre Primary Fun Day 

Thursday 11th of December – Year One to Year Six Day Fun Day 

Further information will be shared with families about the days next week. 

2026 Year Level Reps
A nomination form, which invites those in our community to nominate for the position of Year Level Rep for the various year levels across the school for 2026, has been sent home. The Year Level Rep positions as part of the P & F structure are vital in continuing to build our community here at St Emilie’s. 

The role of the Year Level Reps are: 

• Lead by living by our school motto of Growing in Grace in word and action – inclusive, welcoming, kind. 
• Vital and essential conduit between the parents in a year level and the P & F Executive and school staff. 
• Assist in enhancing the connectedness of a year level cohort through organising social opportunities. 
• Assist with the sharing of information. 
• Positive advocate for the school and the staff in that year level. 
• Facilitate the year level Facebook group. 
• Organise end of year gifts of appreciation for teachers 

For each year level across the school, we aim for two Year Reps to work in tandem with one another, however, are more than happy to have more than two people in the role. If you are interested but would like some further information, please feel free to reach out to the school. 

The nomination form can be found using this link 2026 Year Level Rep Nomination Form – Fill in form 

Nominations are due by Friday, the 12th of December. 

Parent Contact Lists – Please fill in details by Monday, the 8th of December
Last week, families received an email inviting them to update their parent contact details to be shared with other families in their cohort for 2026. We will aim to share the Parent Contact Lists for 2026 by the end of the school year, as well as share who your year group Year Level Reps are. I would like to reiterate that this list is invitational, however, it does assist parents and carers with being able to organise play dates and birthday parties across the Summer holiday break and into next year. 

Uniform Requirement – Black Shoes
A reminder that the School Uniform Procedure at St Emilie’s states that children must wear full black shoes only. Coming to the end of the year, we understand when shoes start to come apart due to a year’s use or that children may have outgrown their shoes. 

At the commencement of the 2026 school year, all children must have black school shoes as per our expectations 

Appropriate Haircuts to Start 2026
This is also a good opportunity for parents and carers to be reminded of appropriate haircuts to start the year. While we understand that the school holidays may bring with it some funky haircuts, it is important for the start of the school year in 2026 that haircuts are in alignment with our School Uniform Procedure.  

Essentially, haircuts should be modest with no extremes in length or need for excessive styling with product. These types of haircuts are not in alignment with our School Uniform  Procedure and can often distract from learning. 

For more information about the School Uniform Procedure, please visit the School Website here.

Graduating Class Guard of Honour
Please join us on Friday, the 12th of December at 2:30pm so that we can farewell our Year Six children in style with a guard of honour. All children will come out of their classes at this time. It would be great to see as many parents and carers join us as possible. 

Christmas Accesorries
Coming into Christmas, we understand that the excitement levels are high. Some children have asked if they are allowed to wear some Christmas accessories with their school uniform. During Week Nine (week commencing Monday, 8th of December), children can wear Christmas accessories on Monday, the 8th of December and Wednesday, the 10th of December. 

Christmas Cards & Sweet Treats
Toward the end of the year, it is beautiful to see the children acknowledging their classmates in many different ways. Often, there are very lovely handwritten Christmas Cards that come into the school where the children share some meaningful words with their peers. 

As has been the case in previous years, we ask that children not bring in sweet treats for their friends at school. Given the number of allergies to various foods across the school, this becomes very difficult to manage and can be very dangerous for some of our children.  

Road Safety – Please Check In With Your Children
During the week, I was informed by one of our parents and carers about a near miss involving a child from St Emilie’s while walking home from school. I would ask that if your child walks home from school, please speak with them about being ultra aware when they are near the road.

Social Media Ban – Article for Parents & Carers
The ban on social media for children under the age of 16 will come into effect on the 10th of December. These changes may have an impact on your child. To find out more about the ban, including some ways for parents and carers to navigate this change with their children, an article written by Paul Litherland can be found here.