Hello and welcome everyone. 

It is an honour to be standing here today with Paige, Lily & Stella as the St Gabriel’s school captains for 2024. 

It’s hard to believe that we have come to the end of another school year. But this year is a little different for us, as we are coming to the end of 7 years of primary school education. 

We would like to take the time now to reflect on the many successes, the good things, the challenges, the things that have changed us, the memories we’ve made and the lifelong friendships that have been developed. 

Each and every one of us will be leaving as a changed person because of the fantastic opportunities this school has provided us. We remember some special moments such as: our first school concert when we were in Prep because we got to show off our awesome dance moves. We loved Italian Day in Year 1 when we got to eat yummy gelato.  Who could forget when we had to homeschool in year 2.  That was fun as we could do our work quickly and then play for the rest of the day.  Without a doubt we all had nervous excitement on the day of our first senior athletics day. In Year 4 we got to have our first overnight stay at Camp Coonawarra.  Everyone was scared at first but once we started the activities all of our nerves disappeared.  After waiting all these years we finally hit the jackpot when we became the Big Buddy.  After all our hard work over the years we were finally in our last year of primary school.  We have had many laughs and giggles throughout Year 6.  Our year 6 camp to Melbourne was definitely one of our highlights. 

As Year 7 creeps closer we are all filled with lots of excitement and joy but at the same time it’s making us all a little nervous. We would like to thank our parents for choosing to send us to St Gabriel’s. Your constant support and care for us during our school life is appreciated. Many of you have taken on volunteer roles to help make our school an even more exciting place to be.

A special thank to our volunteers of the Parents and Friends Committee, who work tirelessly to run special events for us. We have enjoyed things like special food days, icy pole days, the colour run and the extraordinary gifts prepared for the Mother’s and Father’s Day stalls. We would like to express our thankfulness and gratitude for organising all these events which will remain in our memories of St Gabe’s. 

We want to say a big thank you to our Principal, Mrs. Charlton, for doing such an amazing job leading our school. We are lucky to have you as our principal because you are kind, patient, caring, and always ready to listen. We won’t miss the Bombers team song being blasted over the loudspeaker on footy day though!

We also want to say thank you to all the wonderful teachers and staff at our school. They have been a big part of our lives for the past 7 years and have worked so hard to help us learn and grow!

We would also like to say a special thank you to Father Aju and Deacon Tony. We are very thankful to you for helping us as we endeavour to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in our daily lives. We thank you for sharing your wisdom and sense of humour with us during school and year level masses and for helping us to celebrate the sacraments. 

We have many treasured memories of St Gabriel’s and are sad to be leaving. We wish all of our fellow students, our teachers, priests and parents a very Merry Christmas and the very best for 2025.

Thank you.

If you need to make a formal complaint about an issue at the school please find our Complaint Handling Procedure on the St Gabriel's Website

https://www.stgtraralgon.catholic.edu.au/policies

St. Gabriel's Primary School is a child safe school. We are committed to embedding a culture of Child Safety, adhering to the Victorian Child Safe Standards: Managing the Risk of Child Abuse in Schools and School Boarding Premises (Ministeral Order No. 1359).

We believe that ensuring the safety of the students in our care is an integral part of who we are as a Catholic faith community. The school acts in accordance with the Ministerial Order through policies, procedures, measures and practices, staff training and, ultimately, through the strategies used in working with the students and families within our school community.

We continue to maintain and develop a safe and supportive learning environment where staff are focused on engaging students in meaningful, relevant and challenging learning experiences.

If at any time you have any issues or concerns you feel you need to raise please contact our Principal: Michelle Charlton or our Child Safety Officers: Alison Phillips or Jo Quinn on 5174 5515.