Dear St Simon Peter Catholic Primary School Community,

As we come to the close of another remarkable year, we reflect on the many blessings and achievements of 2024. We especially want to acknowledge our departing staff members who have enriched our school community with their dedication and service.

We bid a heartfelt farewell to our enthusiastic sports teacher, Zac Waddell, who has enriched the physical education program at St Simon Peter over the past two years. His exceptional commitment has developed our students' athletic abilities while fostering their love for sports and physical activity. Zac will begin a classroom teaching position at St Andrews in 2025, where he will also pursue studies in school leadership. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.

Mairead O'Farrell has completed her six-month tenure in 5B. As an outstanding classroom teacher, she developed meaningful relationships with all her students. We wish her the very best as she begins her new teaching role at St Francis of Assisi in 2025.

Trish Main will be joining the School of Special Education Needs in 2025. Her care, experience, and gentle, knowledgeable approach have deeply enriched her students' learning experiences at SSP. We wish her the very best in her future teaching career.

Andrew Frankish has been an outstanding Long Service Leave replacement for Mrs Oliver, a hard act to follow. He has shared his passion for music with the children and the school community, particularly during the end-of-school masses and Christmas carols. His online Christmas carols have been a huge hit with our school community. We wish him all the best as he continues his teaching career at St James in Alkimos.

Carmel McAdam has tendered her resignation to continue teaching at Francis Jordan in 2025. Carmel has been on leave from SSP since 2022, and we appreciate her contributions to our school, most recently as a Year 5 teacher.

Maria Brooks has also decided to leave our school after being on leave for the past 12 months. Maria asked for the following to be added to her farewell:

"To the many wonderful families and students I have had the pleasure of working with over the years, I would like to say goodbye and thank you. I am sad to be leaving and have missed seeing you this year. Learning was fun in Pre-Primary.  I wish you all the very best for the future. 

Danielle Harman and Wilma Bortolini will be on leave in 2025. We wish them a safe and fruitful time away from SSP.

Thank you also to Jacqui Jackson, Tania Scutti and Simona Hill for their work during the replacement of Catherine Centre Staff. I am sure we will see you again in the future, fulfilling this important student assistant role.

Last night, we farewelled our Year 6 cohort, acknowledging their academic achievements and leaving them with inspiring words from Fr Leonard in his Homily to live the Gospel every day.

In my address, I asked each Year 6 student to reflect on the following key actions from our school prayer:

To Great with an Open Heart,

To Treat with Respect,

To Speak with Kindness,

To Show Our Love for One Another.

These principles reflect what they have learned at St Simon Peter about making the world better for themselves and those around them. We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them in using these gifts and sharing them with those they work, play, and grow in the years ahead.

We wish the graduating class of 2024 all the very best in their future education and personal endeavours. We are confident you will make your families and school proud of the people you become!

As we celebrate the joy of Christmas, may the spirit of peace and hope fill your hearts.

We thank our entire school community - students, staff, parents, and caregivers - for their continued support and commitment to making St Simon Peter a place of learning, growth, and faith and living the school motto of Love One Another.

We wish all our families a blessed Christmas and a safe, happy holiday season. Farewell to those leaving us in 2024, we wish you all the very best for what the future holds. For those returning next year, we look forward to welcoming you back in 2025 for the start of a new school year on Wednesday 5 February.

God bless and Merry Christmas.

Peter Cutrona
Principal

Tuesday, 28 January 2025: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Wednesday, 29 January 2025: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Thursday, 30 January 2025: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Friday, 31 January 2025: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Monday, 3 February 2025: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

If you need assistance or have any enquiries, Rody will be available during these hours. 

Please be reminded, if you are paying your school fee account by way of an approved payment plan, that your fees are due to be paid in full by no later than today, Friday 6 December 2024 (or as agreed to by the Principal).

Updated School Fee Statements were previously sent out to all families via email.  If you did not receive your statement, please contact us via email to ssp.fees@cewa.edu.au, or call 9301 6828.

If you need to arrange payment of your fees, please contact Helen Florschutz on 9301 6828, where payment can be taken over the phone.  Payments can also be made via Bpay (details of your Bpay Biller Code and Reference Number are contained in your statement), or in person in the Front Admin Office. 

If you are paying your school fees by way of Direct Debit and you are up-to-date with your payments, there is nothing for you to do in this instance as these payments will continue to be deducted automatically until their end date.

St Simon Peter CPS is very mindful that there may be families who may be experiencing a significant change in their financial circumstances, but who may not meet the criteria for assistance under the school Health Care Card Scheme.  

Where assistance regarding your current situation and school fees is required, please contact Helen Florschutz, via email to ssp.fees@cewa.edu.au, as a matter of urgency, so that a confidential meeting with Mr Cutrona can be organised to discuss your situation.  

Any family that has outstanding fees and do not make contact with us as a matter of extreme urgency, runs the risk of being referred to the school’s debt collection agency to take further action.

Below are the instructions about how to sign up:

It is very important that you go to the www.parenttv.com/membership page to sign up with the code: stsimon