Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Parents and Friends Meeting on Monday evening provided an opportunity to share the outcomes of our recent Cyclic Inquiry. This process involved an external panel of highly respected educational experts reviewing our Self-Review Report and spending two days on site, engaging with staff, students, and parents. The panel acknowledged our successes, listened to the voices of our community and identified areas for future growth.

Some key findings that were particularly noteworthy include:

Student Performance 2024/2025

• Year 4 Religious Literacy Assessment (RLA) results were above the Diocesan average, with 75.5% of our students achieving a sound, thorough, or extensive level.
• Year 5 NAPLAN achieved beyond the expected growth in Reading, Writing and Numeracy.
• Year 3 and 5 NAPLAN achieved above the state averages in all domains Reading, Writing, Grammar and Punctuation, Spelling and Numeracy
• Year 5 has achieved above the mean score of statistically similar schools in all domains. Most notable is Numeracy (+14.55), Reading (+11.09) and Writing (+14.9)
• Year 3 has achieved above the mean score of statistically similar schools in Reading, Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy. Most notable is Grammar and Punctuation (+14.55).

2024–2025 Growth (Tell Them From Me: Student, Parent and Staff data)

• Staff wellbeing: +11%
• Teacher engagement: +3%
• Enrolment growth: +3%
• Negative behaviours: -50%
• Perceptions of school leadership: +1.8%
• Staff collaboration opportunities: +1.5%
• Data informing teaching practice: +1.5%
• Extra-curricular opportunities for students: +23%
• Student sense of belonging: +11%

All of the above  areas were above the Diocesan Mean in 2025. This success is a testament to the dedication of our students, staff, and families working together.

Areas for Continued Focus
While our data shows strong upward growth, the following priorities have been identified moving forward:

• Strengthening ways to ensure parents are well informed about their child’s academic progress.
• Broadening opportunities for parent involvement, including trialling a Parent Grade Representative model in Term  1, 2026. Watch this space!
• Revisiting Home Work and exploring varied approaches to support student learning at home.
• Ensuring academic challenge for all students, with High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) initiatives at the forefront.

We are proud of the results achieved so far, and ongoing growth will remain at the heart of our work at Good Samaritan.

Staffing News

I will be taking a period of Long Service Leave from 12–26 September inclusive to visit family overseas. During my absence, the following leadership arrangements will be in place:

• Mrs Catherine Hailstone – Acting Principal
• Mrs Natalie Shelley – Acting Assistant Principal
• Mr Sergio Ambrosi – Acting Religious Education Coordinator

I congratulate Catherine, Natalie, and Sergio on their Acting  appointments and am confident the school will be in excellent hands during this time.

I am also delighted to share that the following staff members, who had previously held permanent appointments at other schools in the Diocese, will now take up permanent positions at Good Samaritan from the beginning of the 2026 school year:

• Miss Caitlin Morgan 
• Mr Jason Novak 
• Mrs Jenny Black 
• Mrs Adele Fraser 

This provides wonderful stability and strength to our staffing as we move forward.

Mrs Grace McKay will also take a period of Long Service Leave for the 2026 school year and I wish her all the very best and a well deserved period of rest.

As the term progresses, I will be working on placing teaching staff across the school for 2026. Early next term, I will also share our Formation of Classes Policy for the new school year. This policy outlines how children progress to the next grade, how classes are formed etc. Parent voice can be appropriate in this process, particularly in cases of extenuating circumstances (e.g. conflict of interest where a child cannot be placed in a particular class). Parents will be given an opportunity to meet with me early next term if required.

Sincerely
Pauline Chrostowski
Principal