New Zealand School Visits

This week I travelled to Auckland to visit some schools known for their success in meeting the needs of 21st century learners.

Thank you to Sarah Martin and her team at Stonefields School for sharing their time and expertise. Stonefields opened in 2011 and is a wonderful learning environment.
Have a look at their school at http://www.stonefields.school.nz/

I also visited Hingaia Peninsular School and enjoyed learning from the Principal Jane Danielson about the exciting journey their school has been on since opening in 2012. Learn more about this school at https://sites.google.com/a/hp.school.nz/hps/home

These photos are from these two amazing schools.

Building Progress despite the rain!

Despite having record rainfalls in August our buildings are still progressing well. The foundations were being poured today for the fourth and final building in Stage One - the second set of four classrooms. The Multipurpose building is getting close to completion and internal painting has been completed.

 

 

 

Work on the Chapel and Hall is now not affected by the weather as the roof has been completed.

 

The first building housing our Kinder and Year One classrooms is also taking shape.

 

The Story of our Crest and Motto

We have been working on the design of our St Aloysius school crest and options for our school motto since the middle of June. Sr Marie Hughes provided us with a booklet produced when St Aloysius Hamilton closed in 1984. It captures a lot of that school’s history including their opening year of 1915. (We are opening 100 years later).

 

After researching St Aloysius and his related symbols, Jesuit symbols, crests of other St Aloysius schools, crests of other recently opened schools, the environmental and Aboriginal history of the area, the Mercy sisters (and the copyright on their cross), Caroline Chisholm and the educational brief for our school, we summarised some possible options for our school crest.

 

The options included:

St Aloysius – but not necessarily his symbols of the lily and the crown. His family crest and his role as the patron saint of young people

The Jesuits – their main symbol of the sun as on Pope Francis’ shield

Previous St Aloysius school crest- which incorporated a star

The Mercy cross – or similar recognising the work of the Mercy sisters in establishing Catholic education in the region.

The concept of mission and service as portrayed by St Aloysius and Caroline Chisholm – maybe the motto, heart, radiating rays

Caroline Chisholm – the name of the new suburb - service, reaching out, social justice

Our Location – Hunter River, Morpeth, Spotted Gum (which was the predominant tree of the local forests)

Aboriginal heritage – the traditional owners of the land, the wedge tail eagle is seen as the protector of the local people

Colours – blue, green, teal – to represent the school design as ecologically sustainable

Our 21^st Century learning journey – river symbol?? Learning together, lifelong learning, collaboration – representing the modern pedagogical focus of the school

 

Colours - Our school uniform colours will be teal, navy & white. Navy and white were part of the original St Aloysius school uniform. These colours will form the basis of the crest used on uniforms but more colours will be incorporated in our formal crest used on signage, stationery, badges, advertising etc

 

However, we were also aware of the need to keep the crest as simple as possible so could not include all these concepts.

 

Sr Dorothy created some initial images for us. Her ideas included:

·         A curved cross, southern cross, gum leaves & blossoms, journey/path which could be a symbol of life-long learning/faith journey

·         The pathway as water, representing the Hunter River, the sun, and a different cross – not the Mercy cross (for copyright reasons) but a different cross representing a new beginning

·         Gum leaves used to create a cross, sun and water

·         A stylised sun representing the Jesuit symbol

·         Dotted lines to represent indigenous culture

 

 

We originally tried to work the quote from St Aloysius (It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world) into a motto – maybe living and learning as children of God

However, since then the hymn “We are called” has inspired us with possibilities as a motto. It's broad enough to include all sorts of callings - e.g., we are called...to care for the earth; to be the best people we can be; to be compassionate to those who are suffering, etc.

This motto also encompasses St Aloysius’s calling.

 

Sr Dorothy became too busy to continue on our crest but has offered to paint our school cross and include images we are unable to include in our crest. We have since had a parent who is a graphic designer do further work on our crest. A number of options were taken to the last Project Implementation Committee meeting for discussion and suggestions from this meeting were incorporated into a final design brief.

 

This design incorporates a cross, river symbol, gum leaves and part of the Jesuit sun emblem. This design has been sent to the Bishop for approval before final stylising is completed. As soon as we have a design concept approved we will share it with our community.

Watch this space!!

 

School Building Update

Despite the rain this week the builders are very pleased with the progress of our school. Additional crews have commenced working on site which enables work to be done concurrently on all buildings. The Multipurpose Building has had the most work completed on it. This will be our temporary Admin building until Stage 2 of the project is completed.

Substantial work has also been completed on the Chapel, Hall and Canteen.

 

It is wonderful to also see our first block of classrooms well underway as well as the connecting walkway.

 

 

 

 

School Visits

Over the last couple of weeks I have visited some schools that utilise a similar learning framework  to how St Aloysius will be operating from 2015. It was exciting to see students so engaged in their learning in these non traditional learning spaces. The teachers were also keen to share their experiences working in these learning environments. The photos below give an idea of some of the furniture possibilities we are exploring for our new classrooms.

A week of meetings!

This week we have met with Hunter Valley Coaches to discuss bus travel options for St Aloysius students.

We have also met with the Architects of our new buildings to receive an overview of the building project to date and further details about the design.

Meetings have also been held with representatives of two educational furniture companies to commence initial discussions about possible furniture options.

Meanwhile there are a couple of different designers working on possible options for our school crest. We hope to have some options available to share with the school community next week.

Watch out for a flyer advertising our new school to be delivered in the Thornton area next week. If you volunteered to assist with this letterbox drop we will be in touch very soon.

Advertising commenced for our teachers this week and interviews will be held in early September.

And as for our actual school - work has increased on our building site with extra crews commencing. Framework has been constructed for our first block of classrooms as well as some of the covered walkways!

New Staff

 
We now have 4 members of St Aloysius staff whom I would like to introduce you to.

 



For those of you I haven't met, I'm Donna McMahon, our School Officer (Clerical). I commenced working in our temporary office at St John's late last term. I am married to Dave and we have 3 children currently attending St Joseph's East Maitland. I have a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and am a qualified Accountant. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends as well as sewing. I also make and sell handmade children's clothing. I am excited about building friendships with St Aloysius families and watching the St Aloysius students learn and grow.

Hi to everyone who will be making up the St Aloysius School community. My name is Anne Higgins and at present I am the acting Principal at St Paul’s Primary School at Rutherford. I look forward to being the Assistant Principal of St Aloysius Primary School in 2015. I have been in the Diocese of Maitland Newcastle school system for a long time and held many positions in schools. I have a passion for student learning and wellbeing and like to work with families in encouraging students to reach their potential. St Aloysius will be an exciting platform for 21^st century learning. This may mean that the traditional school day may seem a little different to what we’ve experienced ourselves at school.  My parish church is Holy family, Largs. I am married to Greg and have three children ranging in age from 25 down to 19. All my children attended Catholic Schools, enjoying and benefitting from the education offered. I enjoy both cultural and sporting pursuits. I look forward to meeting you and working with you.

 

 

 

 

My name is Stacey Whiting and I am thrilled to be taking on the role of Religious Education Coordinator at St Aloysius. I have been married for 12 years and have 2 beautiful young girls who keep me very busy!

I have been teaching for 14 years and have been lucky enough to work in a variety of school settings. I started my teaching career in Japan in 2000 after I graduated from the University of Alberta, Canada. I lived and worked in Japan for 2 years where I taught English to a range of students from ages 2 - 65. Before moving to the area in 2009, I lived in Sydney and taught at St Gertrude's, Smithfield and Mater Dei, Blakehurst. I am currently the Religious Education Coordinator at Rosary Park Catholic School in Branxton and prior to that, I was the Acting Religious Education Coordinator at St Mary's Infants School, Greta. I am currently studying my Masters in Educational Leadership.

I love gardening, the outdoors and try to keep myself fit and healthy by running, exercising and playing netball. I have a passion for learning, reading, traveling and experiencing new sights and cultures.

I live in Ashtonfield and am a member of St Joseph's Parish Community. I am very excited and I am looking forward to being a part of building the new school community at St Aloysius.

 

I have enjoyed meeting our 2015 St Aloysius families over the past couple of months. My husband, Tony and I are settling into life in Maitland and are looking forward to building our new home in Waterford County, Chisholm. Tony and I met at the Catholic Teachers College in Castle Hill and commenced teaching in Catholic education in 1980. We have enjoyed working in four NSW Dioceses over that time. We have been married for 33 years and have three married children aged 26 - 30. We are also the very proud grandparents of three grandsons and are looking forward to the birth of our next grandchild in September. With family in Lismore, Kingscliff, Brisbane and Mackay we will be spending school holidays travelling north in our caravan!

I have held the roles of Diocesan Curriculum Advisor in Lismore, Assistant Principal and Acting Principal at St Carthage's Lismore and most recently, Principal at St Mary's Armidale. I enjoy the challenges that new learning and new opportunities bring. I have a Master of Education and a Master of Educational Leadership and belong to a number of professional organisations. I am looking forward to the exciting journey ahead in working with our teachers to set up our school to meet the needs of our students as 21st Century learners.