Head of Primary P-6

I hope all our mums and mother figures enjoyed a truly special Mother’s Day on Sunday. It was a joy to honour you at our Mother’s Day Mass, where we celebrated the love, guidance, and dedication you bring to our community each day.

During the school holidays, a group of Del Monte and Gioia House student leaders represented the College at the Strathfield Council Anzac Day service. It was a moving tribute to our nation’s servicemen and women, and we were especially proud when the Mayor of Strathfield, Councillor John-Paul Baladi, presented Year 6 student Evanna Lui with a certificate recognising her award-winning Anzac artwork.

As Term 2 commenced, we marked Easter at both Del Monte and Gioia. Sr Sheila led a heartfelt session on ‘How to Be an Easter Person,’ exploring the significance of carrying Christ’s light within us all year round. Our students responded with enthusiasm, reflecting on ways they can share hope and kindness in their daily lives.

In Week 1, our Years 5 and 6 students celebrated the Feast Day of St Catherine of Siena, patron saint of Gioia House, with a beautiful liturgy. St Catherine’s courage, unwavering faith, and joyful spirit serve as an inspiration to us all, reminding us to live with compassion and conviction in everything we do.

P-4 Learning Walks

Following our successful Parent-Teacher Interviews earlier this term, where teachers shared your child’s academic and pastoral progress and outlined key learning goals for this semester, we will continue to showcase student learning through Learning Moments on each grade’s VO page and Learning Walks in the classrooms. This term’s Learning Walks will take place on the following dates:

Learning Walks

• Prep 5 and 2 Days Friday 23 May at 8:30am
• Prep 3 Days Wednesday 21 May at 2:40pm
• Kindergarten Wednesday 14 May, 2:30pm
• Year 1 Wednesday 4 June at 2:30pm 
• Year 2 Wednesday 28 May at 2:30pm
• Year 3 Thursday 19 June 1:45pm
• Year 4 Friday 30 May, 2:30pm

We look forward to welcoming you and sharing the exciting learning experiences in every classroom.

Kangourou sans Frontières

This year, as part of our Thomas Aquinas Scholars Program, students in Years 3-6 participated in Maths KSF (Kangourou sans Frontières) enrichment program, organised by Australian Maths Trust. KSF is the largest maths competition in the world, with more than six million participants each year. Our students achieved: 26 Credits, three Distinctions and one High Distinction. Our Year 2 Maths accelerants, Joseph Hoang and Jonathan Lin, competed in the Year 3 papers and achieved Credits. These are outstanding results, and we congratulate all our participants.

High Distinction Award

Natalie Sun – Year 4

Distinction Awards 

Irene Jung – Year 4
Axel Leung – Year 3
Lydia (Jinxian) Wang – Year 5

Credit Awards 

Easter Art Competition

The P&F Easter Art Competition beautifully embraced the spirit of Easter while raising valuable funds for Caritas. We extend our gratitude to every student who contributed their creativity and enthusiasm to this event, and we congratulate our winners on their outstanding artwork. A special thank you goes to the P&F for organising the competition and judging the submissions.

Del Monte

Prep – Kriselle Ma (Prep2)
Kindergarten – Victoria Azzi (KG)
Year 1 – Ophelia Chen (1N)
Year 2 – Sooah Cho (2P)
Year 3 – Sabrina Commisso (3BG)
Year 4 – Mariah Zanon (4D)

Gioia House

Year 5 – Eleanor Cheong (5COR2)
Year 6 – Esther Chiew (6COR3)

School photos

Our 2025 School photos (individual, class and siblings) will be taken on Monday 19 May and Friday 23 May by the company The School Photographer. On these days all students will need to wear their full College Winter Uniform. If the students have Physical Education lessons on either of these days they will need to bring their sports shoes to school in their bag. Please ensure that sports shoes are clearly labelled with your child/ren’s name/s. All orders and payments are completed online via The School Photographer website. Please click on this link and enter this code X1040PC51A.

Sibling photos

Across Campus Sibling Photos

On Monday 19 May from 7:45am – 8:30am in the Del Monte Hall, siblings from across all campuses can have their photo taken together. It will be the parents’ responsibility to ensure their children are at the Del Monte Hall within this timeframe for the sibling photographs. 

Del Monte Campus Sibling Photos

Del Monte Campus sibling photos will be taken on Monday 19 May and Friday 23 May depending on the number of bookings. 

Group Photos

Year 4 whole grade and the school leaders’ photo will be taken on Friday 23 May. Unfortunately, these cannot be rescheduled. If your child is absent from the group photo, their name will only appear as absent. 

Gioia House Photos

Our 2025 School photos for Year 6 (individual and class photos) will be taken on Friday 23 May. Year 5 photos will be taken on Friday 13 June and a whole Gioia House photo will be taken on that day also. On these days all students will need to wear their full College Winter Uniform. If the students have Physical Education lessons on either of these days they will need to bring their sports shoes to school in their bag. All orders and payments are completed online via The School Photographer website. Please click on this LINK and enter this code: X1010SET54A.

Action Teams

Last week, Year 4 and Year 6 students met in their respective action teams alongside their student leaders and teacher mentors to brainstorm meaningful initiatives that will engage the whole school community and drive positive change. Through collaborative discussions, they generated creative ideas from peer-mentoring programs, sustaining the environment, developing fundraising events and community service projects designed to foster inclusion, wellbeing and school pride. 

Gioia House and St Pat’s Afternoon Tea

In Week 2, Gioia student leaders met with boys from St Patrick’s College Strathfield for afternoon tea to build connections and brainstorm initiatives that will positively impact their school communities. This is a wonderful tradition that was established three years ago to bring boys and girls together for an evening of collaboration and discussion. We look forward to inviting Year 6 St Pat’s boys to our annual STEAM Gala Day in August. These opportunities play an essential part in building respectful relationships.

Term 2 Curriculum Overview

Del Monte

Term 2 Curriculum Overviews are available for you to access via Veritas Online. To access, log onto the Veritas Online Grade Homepages, select your child’s year group then select the ‘Curriculum Overview’ tab.

Gioia House

You can now access the Term 2 Curriculum Overviews for your child’s grade via Veritas Online. To access, log onto Veritas Online, select ‘Academic Course Overview’ and select your child’s grade. 

Years 3 and 4 Homework Club

We are pleased to offer your child the opportunity to join our After School Homework Club, led by Santa Sabina College senior students completing their Duke of Edinburgh Service and supervised by me and Mr Dunlop.

Details:

• Commencement date: Thursday 29 May
• When: Thursdays, Terms 2 & 3
• Time: 3:20 – 4:20 pm
• Where: Del Monte Library
• Capacity: 10 students

If you would like your child to participate, please email Neda Korman at n.korman@ssc.nsw.edu.au as soon as possible. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We look forward to supporting our students’ learning in this new initiative.As we continue into the term, we anticipate the opening of the new Del Monte playground and many exciting events where we will celebrate our students and community.

I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our parent volunteers for their dedication in preparing and selling thoughtful Mother’s Day gifts and for your continued support in bringing our community together.

‘Let all that you do be done in love’ (1 Corinthians 16:14). May we continue to serve one another, build our community in faith, and carry Christ’s light throughout Term 2 and beyond.

Stella Azizian
Head of Primary P-6

Calendar events

LINK to parent VO page

For detailed information about upcoming college events, please refer to the communications sent directly to families via email.

Important dates for Del Monte:

• Wednesday 14 May – Year 3 St Dominic The Adventurer
• Wednesday 14 May – Kindergarten Learning Walk, 2:30pm
• Thursday 15 May – Primary Assembly  
• Thursday 15 – Friday 16 May – Year 2 Camp – Tallong Comes to Del Monte
• Monday 19 May – School Photography Day
• Wednesday 21 May – Year 4 Excursion – The Rocks Walking Tour
• Wednesday 21 May – Year 2 Excursion – Little Diggers
• Wednesday 21 May – Prep 3 Day Learning Walk, 2:40 pm
• Friday 23 May – School Photography Day 2
• Friday 23 May – Prep 2 & 5 Day Learning Walk, 8:30am
• Tuesday 27 May – Year 4 St Dominic The Adventurer – St Peters Rock Climbing 3:20pm – 5:30 pm
• Wednesday 28 May – Year 2 Learning Walk, 2:30pm
• Thursday 29 May – Primary Assembly – Kindergarten
• Friday 30 May – Year 4 Learning Walk, 2:30pm

Important dates for Gioia House:

• Tuesday 20 May – 5-12 Diligence Awards Assembly
• Wednesday 21 May – Friday 23 May – Year 5 OEE Tallong
• Thursday 22 May – Year 6 Da Vinci Decathlon – Knox Grammar Wahronga
• Friday 23 May – School Photos Years 6-12
• Saturday – Sunday 24 & 25 May – Mother Daughter Health Retreat at Tallong
• Tuesday 27 May – GH SCS Conference 2 Football
• Tuesday 27 May – Writers Festival Excursion at Sydney Town Hall
• Monday 2 June – SCS Stage 3 Football Gala Day
• Tuesday 10 June – K-6 Athletics Carnival
• Wednesday 11 June – K-6 CSNSW Mackillop Cross Country Championships
• Friday 13 June – Year 5 Photos
• Monday 23 June – Gala Day Concert Rehearsal 
• Tuesday 24 June – Gala Day Concert 6:00pm – 8:30pm
• Friday 27 June – Term 2 Concludes