Dear Parents and Friends,

St Mary's School is buzzing with activity this week as we prepare for the 2015 Musical. With just over two weeks to go we have many teachers and parents preparing for this special community event which will showcase the talents of our students within a contemporary performance. We encourage all families to support the school musical and purchase tickets online through Qkr as detailed on the school website. We look forward to enjoying this wonderful event.

Thank you to the many parents who attended the Parent Forum last week. This Forum provided an opportunity to relate my experiences from the International Confederation of Principals' Conference in Helsinki during August this year. Some of the Key Topics from the conference were as follows:

• What are the future trends in education for the world?
• What are the latest educational ideas to allow students to perform at their best?
• What directions are schools heading?
• What are the best practices in education?
• What can we learn from each other regarding educational policies?
• What are the new learning and motivational environments like?
• What are the biggest challenges in the world of education?

Some valuable discussion took place concerning the future trends in education that are affecting the world and how these might impact on what's happening at St Mary's School.
Some of these insights are as follows:

• Relationships are a key to developing students so that they become independent learners.
• Developing a truly catholic school culture.
• Encouragement and feedback is a focus in schools and provides rewards for success.
• Quality teachers and teacher professional development.
• Setting agendas to drive change for higher student success.
• Be inclusive.
• Respect for all in schools.
• Developing strong leadership teams in schools.
• Establishing forums for strong student voice.
• Looking at the scientific research into motivation and the development of a growth mindset in students.

If you would like to visit the website you can download the presentation from the parent forum and read the summaries.

Also we would like to invite you to participate in a Parent Survey to gather your reflections and ideas for a way forward for St Mary's School. The link will be provided at the end of this newsletter.

Best wishes for a positive week ahead
God Bless
Beverly