Welcome to another exciting year at St Matthew’s Primary School! We hope you all had a restful and joyful break and are ready for a fantastic year of learning, growth, and community engagement.

Our school newsletter will be published fortnightly (even weeks), keeping you informed about important school updates, upcoming events, and key messages from our leadership team. You can expect to hear from Miss Murdock, our Religious Education Coordinator; Mrs. Cole, our Child Safety Advocate and Assistant Principal; Mr. Payne, our Sports Coordinator; Mr. Hunt, our ICT Coordinator; and Miss Judd, our Teacher Librarian. Additionally, the School Community Council will contribute when needed.

Each fortnightly edition will also include community notices, and we encourage families to share the extracurricular achievements of their children. If your child has participated in a competition, performance, or community event, we would love to celebrate their success in our newsletter!

In addition, important information and urgent notices will be sent via Compass between newsletters. Please check Compass regularly to stay updated on important school matters.

For your convenience, the school calendar can be accessed through Compass. A printed version will also be sent home over the next few days for your reference. Please ensure you check the calendar regularly for updates on key events and activities throughout the year.

Welcome Back, Mr Hornby!

We are delighted to welcome back Mr Sam Hornby, who is returning to St Matthew’s after an exchange year at Holy Family Primary School, Gowrie. Mr Hornby will teach Year Three in 2025, and we are excited to have him rejoin our teaching team!

Welcome to Our New Students and Families

A special welcome to our new Kindergarten students who are beginning their learning journey with us! We are also delighted to welcome other new students across different year levels and their families to St Matthew’s. We hope you quickly feel part of our warm and supportive school community. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out—we are here to help!

Contacting Staff

At St Matthew’s, we value work-life balance for our staff. To support this, our teachers are not expected to respond to emails between 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. during the week and will not respond to emails on weekends. This policy ensures our teachers have time to recharge and bring their best to the classroom. Each class teacher will provide the best way to contact them in their welcome newsletter/term overview to parents. We appreciate your understanding and support in fostering a healthy balance for our staff.

Road Safety

Access Canberra mobile speed camera vans and parking operations have recommenced enforcement activities in and around school zones to support road safety. Please take additional care when driving and parking near schools. We all play an important part in ensuring students get to and from school safely.

Community Safety Petition

Residents in Hawker, Page, and Scullin have raised concerns about the lack of police presence in their suburbs, which has led to increased petty and preventable crimes. A petition has been submitted to the ACT Legislative Assembly calling for more ACT Policing patrols—both on foot and in vehicles—to enhance community safety.

If you wish to support this initiative, you can sign the petition at the front office or online at https://epetitions.parliament.act.gov.au/details/e-pet-046-24.

For any questions, please contact Peter Cain’s office at (02) 6205 1927.

School Hours and Term Dates

School Hours:

• Gates open: 8:30 am

• School starts: 8:50 am

• Recess: 11:00 am – 11:40 am

• Lunch: 1:10 pm – 1:50 pm

• School finishes: 3:00 pm

ACT Term Dates for 2025:

• Term 1: Tuesday, 4 February – Thursday, 10 April

• Term 2: Monday, 28 April – Thursday, 3 July

• Term 3: Monday, 21 July – Thursday, 25 September

• Term 4: Monday, 13 October – Thursday, 18 December

We look forward to a wonderful year filled with learning, faith, and community spirit. We encourage you to stay engaged with our school through our newsletter and community events.

In Truth and Love,

Sarah Lowe
Principal

Birthdays at School