From the Principal

Today we celebrated our Year 6 graduation liturgy and the students are enjoying their graduation Dinner/Disco this evening. Each year we are supported by members of our local community who donate prizes for our annual end-of-year awards to be present to selected students who have shown excellence in academic or leadership throughout their time at St Gregory’s. There are 15 different prize categories of which our Year 6 students are eligible of winning. I would like to acknowledge and thank the following community members and organisations for supporting this wonderful initiative. Three prizes are sponsored by Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council including an Outstanding Leadership Award, Excellence in Education Award and Excellence in English Award. Our Citizenship Award is sponsored by Kristy McBain, Stella Tankey sponsors the Excellence in Mathematics Award, and the Hill Family sponsor a Sport Award. The other eight awards, the YMCA Community Award, six Year 6 Student Awards and a St Gregory's Parish Christian Leadership Award are offered from the St Gregory’s school. Congratulations to the Year 6 recipients of these awards for 2025, these will be announced at our end of year graduation liturgy on Wednesday.

The end of 2025 will see a few staff members move on from St Gregory’s. We wish Mrs Debbie McNeil and Mrs Bell Frolchenko all the best for their future endeavours and Mr Des Gomez who will be taking a break from teaching next year. We also farewell Mrs Ferris for the year as she takes time off to welcome a new baby to the Ferris family. We thank them all very much for all they have given to the St Gregory’s community and will miss them.

I would like to acknowledge dedicated and fabulous teacher, Mrs Laura Goodall who has been teaching at St Gregry’s for the past 14 years. I thank Laura for her dedication to the students of St Gregory’s over the many years and for being such a great colleague to work and enjoy teaching with. It’s now time for you Laura! Enjoy the many adventures I’m sure you’ll have, take some time relaxing, enjoy reading books and spending fun time with grandchildren.

We will also be saying goodbye to Fr Josh at the end of this week as he leaves our parish in January to take up a position at the Cathedral. The students will certainly miss having him around playing handball and interacting with them in the classrooms and on the playground. I am sure you will join me in wishing Fr Josh all the best in his new position and thank him for all he has done for our students and staff at St Gregory’s over the past two years.

The students will attend their 2025 Step-up tomorrow afternoon. There will be plenty of excitement around the school as the children prepare for their change of grade. There has been many hours of work and very thoughtful consideration gone into carefully placing the students into classes that will position them to thrive in 2025. Every student has been placed with a friend of their choice and have many other grade friends from across the years in their class as well. The students are still able to play with all their friends during the break times and regularly get to enjoy grade level activities together. Please respect the professional judgements that have been required to place so many students and know that we all work to ensure all students enjoy their time at St Gregory’s Primary School. The new year always brings with it some anxiety which is normal with any change in life, but you can help build your child’s resilience by talking about the new year as a new and exciting adventure where they will quickly become very familiar and settle to enjoy. Acknowledge their concerns and consider the positives of the new class.

This year has been yet another busy but productive year at St Gregory’s. I thank all parents for trusting us with your children and for working with us to ensure they have the best education possible. It is working together that is super important as united can really make a difference. I thank the school Community Council for their support over the year and for all that they do quietly behind the scenes for the school to make it a wonderful place for the children to enjoy. I also thank Fr Tony, Fr Josh and the Parish for their support of the school, students and myself throughout the year. Finally, but not least I would like to sincerely thank all the students, parents and staff for making this year another amazing year. St Gregory’s is such a beautiful community to be a part of and I look forward to welcoming all students back on Tuesday 4^th February 2025.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a relaxing break. Looking forward to working together to support your child through 2025.

Tiffany Reedy

St Gregory’s Primary School Staff 2025

It is my pleasure to advise of the staffing arrangements for 2025.

Principal: Tiffany Reedy                                 

Assistant Principal: Kate McManus-Green

Acting Religious Education Coordinator: Kiralee Nolan

Coordinator: Kellie D’Souza

Coordinator: Alisa Spackman

Coordinator: Michelle Hill

Coordinator: Anna Van Aaken

Classroom Support Teacher: Maryann Tarrant

Teacher Librarians: Megan Clark (Lowe St) and Mary Langdon (MacQuoid St)

Library Assistant: Nat Ireland

PE Teacher: TBC

Music Teacher: Maddy Chalker (Lowe St) and Sharon Robertson (MacQuoid St)

Bursar: Emma McAuliffe (Lowe St)

Office Manager: Nicole Stumbles (MacQuoid St)

Office Support: Di Rouse and Jess Wilkinson

Classroom Support Assistants: Michelle Comerford, Paula Howard, Charlotte Green, Abbey Herrington, Liam Howard, Celine Saad, Belinda Strahorn, Molly McIntosh and Hamish Hughes.

Aboriginal Education Worker: Sharon Jolley

School Defence Mentor: Michelle Smith

Canteen: Michelle Welch (Lowe St) and Betty Crowe (MacQuoid St)

Clothing Pool: Betty Crowe

Counsellor: Emma Yu

Groundsman: Paddy Hobday

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a relaxing break. Looking forward to working together to support your child through 2025.

Tiffany Reedy