On Tuesday 5th March the SRC and Colour House Captains attended the GRIP Leadership Conference at Homebush.
The theme of the conference was The People Pathway. The theme reminded us that before there were all the things of the modern world that we take for granted, there were people. People have always and will always matter. In every community there are leaders and we were reminded that our community had chosen us to be leaders.
The day was very busy and very enjoyable. During the day we participated in a number of activities designed to develop our understanding of what leadership is about. The first activity was called ‘Like a Leader’. In this activity we needed to work with student leaders from other schools to get to know interesting things about them. By doing this activity we learned that we need to go out to all people and not just the people that we know. It taught us about the importance of new friendships and also gave us an insight into what kind of person the other leaders were.
We learned about the importance of character. Character is the qualities that make a particular person different to another.
There are 4 core character traits of a leader
- Confidence with humility
- Others focused
- Reliability
- Empathy
We learned about how leaders need to make a contribution to their community. There are many ways to make a contribution including sharing our strengths, setting the example to others by doing tasks that aren’t the most enjoyable and having a sense of enjoyment about being a leader.
GRIP stands for Generosity, Responsibility, Integrity and People. They taught us how to lead others in the correct way and gave us many things that we will take back and influence students at St Matthews. Our thanks to the GRIP Team who presented, Mrs Williams and Mrs Finch for allowing us to enjoy a brilliant experience.
Having spoken with the students who attended they all agreed that the event was a great experience and one that they believe future student leaders at St Matthew’s should have the chance to attend. My own thanks to Mrs Williams and Mrs Carissa Finch for accompanying the student leaders to this event.
Tim Vane-Tempest | Principal
St Mathews Primary Windsor
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03 Apr 2026
From Facebook
✝️ 🙏🏻 Holy Week 🙏🏻 ✝️ On Wednesday our students beautifully brought the events of Holy Week to life, sharing the story through prayer, song and scripture. With reverence and care, they helped our community journey through these sacred moments, deepening our understanding of the Scriptures and their meaning. We are so proud of the respect and thoughtfulness they showed, creating a truly prayerful experience for all who attended. #HolyWeek #FaithInAction #CatholicEducation #SchoolCommunity #PrayerfulReflection #Respect #StudentVoice #FaithJourney #ChristianLife #Gratitude #ProudSchool #SpiritualGrowth
02 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🌿 🥬 Gardening Club Produce Sale 🥬 🌿 This morning Mrs Worrall and the Gardening Club will be harvesting the fresh produce from the veggie patches they’ve been growing this term. All items will be available to purchase this afternoon after the Easter Hat Parade for $2 each (EFTPOS only). Please remember to bring a bag! All money raised will go towards seedlings and resources for our Gardening Club. #GardeningClub #SchoolGarden #FreshProduce #HomeGrown #VeggiePatch #GardenToTable #HandsOnLearning #SustainableLiving #GreenThumbs #SchoolLife #EcoFriendly #GrowYourOwn #HealthyEating #SupportOurSchool #PlantPower #FreshFromTheGarden #GardenHarvest
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03 Apr 2026
From Facebook
✝️ 🙏🏻 Holy Week 🙏🏻 ✝️ On Wednesday our students beautifully brought the events of Holy Week to life, sharing the story through prayer, song and scripture. With reverence and care, they helped our community journey through these sacred moments, deepening our understanding of the Scriptures and their meaning. We are so proud of the respect and thoughtfulness they showed, creating a truly prayerful experience for all who attended. #HolyWeek #FaithInAction #CatholicEducation #SchoolCommunity #PrayerfulReflection #Respect #StudentVoice #FaithJourney #ChristianLife #Gratitude #ProudSchool #SpiritualGrowth
02 Apr 2026
From Facebook
🌿 🥬 Gardening Club Produce Sale 🥬 🌿 This morning Mrs Worrall and the Gardening Club will be harvesting the fresh produce from the veggie patches they’ve been growing this term. All items will be available to purchase this afternoon after the Easter Hat Parade for $2 each (EFTPOS only). Please remember to bring a bag! All money raised will go towards seedlings and resources for our Gardening Club. #GardeningClub #SchoolGarden #FreshProduce #HomeGrown #VeggiePatch #GardenToTable #HandsOnLearning #SustainableLiving #GreenThumbs #SchoolLife #EcoFriendly #GrowYourOwn #HealthyEating #SupportOurSchool #PlantPower #FreshFromTheGarden #GardenHarvest
31 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🐑 ⛺️Year 5 Gold Discovery Excursion ⛺️ 🐑 Year 5 struck it rich in experience yesterday - pitching tents, churning butter, baking damper and chasing that golden dream. There were loud "Eureka" cries as the kids panned and dug, claimed their land, bought their miners' licences and even tried their hand at herding sheep. It's safe to say gold fever hit hard... and we're not sure it's worn off yet! #Year5Excursion #GoldRushAdventure #GoldDiscovery #SchoolExcursion #HandsOnLearning #EurekaMoment #GoldFever #LearningThroughPlay #HistoryComesAlive #OutdoorLearning #StudentExperience #MakingMemories #FutureExplorers #AustralianHistory
30 Mar 2026
From Facebook
✈️🪽Flying High Awards and Wings - Term 1, Week 9🪽✈️ Congratulations to this weeks Flying High Award and Wing recipients. These learners have consistently demonstrated how to be Safe, Respectful, and Responsible Learners.
29 Mar 2026
From Facebook
⭐️ Faith in Action Awards - Term 1, Week 9 ⭐️ Congratulations to our learners who put their Faith in Action this week, by letting their light shine.
28 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🏆 Principal Awards - Term 1 Week 9 🏆 Ms Paul on behalf of Mr Ticehurst is proud to recognise this week’s Principal award recipients, who have demonstrated positive learning habits and maintained a growth mindset. We celebrate their achievement and consistent effort, to strive for their personal best.
27 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🏏 🏀 Australian institute of Sport 🏀 🏏 We were so excited to visit the Australian Institute of Sport! We explored the different places around the complex and even got to try sports simulations. During the tour, we saw where elite athletes train for swimming, gymnastics, and in the gym. We also went inside the stadium, where many major sporting events are held as well as concerts. Artist like Pink, Lady Gaga and Guy Sebastian have played there. One of the highlights was seeing memorabilia from some of Australia’s greatest sporting achievements. We also had the chance to test our skills—bowling cricket balls, kicking soccer goals, riding bikes, and taking penalty shots. It was an amazing experience getting a glimpse into the world of professional sport! - Phoenix #AustralianInstituteOfSport #AIS #Canberra #StudentExcursion #SportInAustralia #FutureAthletes #ActiveLearning #SportsSimulation #AustralianPride #SchoolTrip
27 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🦖🦕 Dinosaur Museum 🦕🦖 Thursday night we went to the National Dinosaur Museum, where we saw artefacts from many different types of dinosaurs—from marine dinosaurs to land dinosaurs. One thing I learned is that dinosaurs aren’t exactly how they’re shown in movies. For example, Tyrannosaurus rex didn’t roar like in films—they likely hissed or growled. They also didn’t stomp around loudly; they could move quite quietly, almost like a cat. The model dinosaurs looked so real, and there were TVs playing soundtracks of what different dinosaurs might have sounded like. This night was the best for me and my classmates. — Tora #DinosaurMuseum #NationalDinosaurMuseum #Dinosaurs #TRex #PrehistoricLife #StudentExcursion #LearningOutsideTheClassroom #CanberraTrips #MuseumExperience #BestNight
27 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🗳️ 🇦🇺 Australian Electoral Office 🇦🇺 🗳️ We arrived at Old Parliament House. As a group, we watched a 12-minute video about the Constitution of democracy and how Federation began in Australia. After the video, we answered two questions about what a republic constitution is and what representative democracy means. We were then told we would play a game called Democracity. After a while, a screen said “time’s up,” and we moved to the next room. Once we entered, our guide explained that we were going to run a vote so we could understand how voting works—and what happens if you don’t vote or if you try to vote twice. — Jared #AustralianElectoralOffice #OldParliamentHouse #Canberra #AustralianDemocracy #Federation #CivicsEducation #VotingProcess #Democracity #StudentLearning #AustralianHistory
26 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🇦🇺 🪙 Royal Australian Mint 🪙 🇦🇺 Today at the mint, we saw a big gold coin at the front door that said 60 years. We went inside and walked up the stairs and saw a massive wall of gold coins with different pictures, including some very rare ones like AC/DC, Bluey, and race cars, as well as 1c and 2c coins. There was a lady who was our tour guide, and she told us that the 1c and 2c coins stopped being made because they became too expensive. Then we walked up to a window where we could see people making coins, along with robots that help make them too. At the end, we got some $3 coins that we could use to make a rare and special coin. - Mason #Mint #CoinCollecting #GoldCoins #RareCoins #Bluey #ACDC #MoneyMaking #FactoryTour #FunDay #Australia
26 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🇦🇺 ⚖️ High Court Australia ⚖️ 🇦🇺 We went to the High Court. We split into 2 groups—one group went into the first courtroom and the other group went into the other room, then we switched. One room was about suing the government for making laws they’re not allowed to make, and the second room was about suing people or businesses for things they did wrong. There were four levels of courtrooms. The first was for smaller cases, like slipping on a banana outside Coles, then the next level was if you wanted to try again and again and again. - Sonny #HighCourt #LawAndJustice #CourtSystem #LearningExperience #Excursion #CivicsEducation #JusticeSystem #SchoolTrip #RealWorldLearning #Australia
26 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🌎 🧪 Questacon 🧪 🌎 After the class went to The War Memorial , we started heading to Questacon. It was about an 20 to 30 minute drive (in my opinion). Firstly, we went to the fun room. Before you go in the actual room, there is a tunnel that is bright and flashy that you walk in. It was so mesmerising! Some…no most people in my class were brave enough to do the free fall slide which was really steep. (I was too chicken to do it!!!!) Then, we went to this glowing illusion room. There were these fake rocks that when you put them in different colours of light, they turned a specific shade! The plastic pipes also did the same thing. There were two way mirrors, a laser dance thing where you step on the pads and random sounds played and fun house mirrors. Lastly, we went to the gift/souvenir shop, and the things there were so expensive! I bought a Newton ball thing, two mini slinkies (one for my brother), and bouncing putty. After I finished paying, I sat and waited for everyone to finish paying. Then we left. By Pearl Questacon #ScienceFun #SchoolExcursion #CanberraTrip #HandsOnLearning #ScienceMuseum #FunWithFriends #STEM #Illusions #LaserDance #FreeFallSlide #GiftShopFinds #NewtonBalls #Slinkies #BouncingPutty #MemorableDay #ClassTrip #LearningIsFun #AdventureTime #StudentLife
25 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🇦🇺 🌸 Australian War Memorial 🌸 🇦🇺 There was lots of objects from the wars. It was a very mournful but interesting at the same time. We got to hear many stories of the wars, see planes and weapons and also see the tomb of the unknown solider. There were cars and planes that were in the wars. My favourite spot was the memorial grounds. Over all it was a great and interesting. Oliver #AustralianWarMemorial #Canberra #LestWeForget #History #WarMemorial #Remembrance #ANZAC #LearningJourney #MemorialGrounds #AustralianHistory #Respect
25 Mar 2026
From Facebook
🇦🇺 🏛️ Parliament House 🏛️ 🇦🇺 Today we learned so many interesting things about Parliament! The Senate and the House of Representatives each have their own office buildings, and the whips help record votes as “ayes” and “noes.” We also discovered that members can vote on whether certain words or sentences can be said during debates! When it’s time to vote, bells ring for 4 minutes to make sure everyone gets there in time 🔔 We even just missed seeing the Prime Minister — so close! A highlight of our day was a visit from our local Member of Parliament, Susan Templeman — such a special experience! - Tatum #ParliamentLearning #CivicsEducation #FutureLeaders #LearningJourney #StudentLife #AustralianParliament
24 Mar 2026
700+ Unite for Project Compassion Big Water Walk
More than 700 students and staff from 23 schools across Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese (CSPD) came together for Caritas Australia’s Big Water Walk in support of Project Compassion. Beginning at Parramatta Park, students carried buckets of water along a 4km route, gaining a glimpse of the daily journey faced by people in developing communities, especially women and children, in search of clean water.