Dear Parents and Carers,

As the year draws to a close, I would like to wish all families a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. This year has presented lots of challenges for both students, families and teachers, forging ahead with the Somerville spirit we have overcome these together. For our Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students, this is the longest time they have ever been at school. This week it was wonderful listening to our Grade 5 students presenting their Leadership speeches to become our 2023 Captains and Leaders. All of our Year 5 students spoke exceptionally well and I am sure it will be a very close vote for the 2023 Captains. Next week is packed with Graduation, Class Parties, Christmas Concert, House Sports, Final Assembly, Students meeting their 2023 Teacher and Reports being released on Friday.

Thank you to our wonderful families and everyone who has contributed to the success of our school in any way. Your support for our school is greatly appreciated. When we have new enrolments, I ask them how they have heard about our school, most families say ‘I have heard great things about your school’ or something along those lines. It is important that we continue to share all the great things about our school with the wider community. We have such a wonderful school community and I am very proud of how we all come together to make our school a great school. Thank you all very much.

In 2023 we will be welcoming Prue Richards – Learning Specialist, PLC from Benton Junior College where Prue was a Learning Specialist and Regional LINK PLC leader. Prue will be leading the Grade 3 Team. Chris Williams joins us from the Catholic Primary School System, Chris taught High School Science and Maths before moving to a Catholic Primary School. Chris will be teaching Science next year. Katie Spring joins us from Cranbourne East Primary School; Katie will be part of our Grade 5-6 Team. Yolande Kerin is joining us from Officer Primary, Yolande has been a Learning Specialist for Literacy for many years and will be joining our Grade 4 Team. Ebony Gruar is joining us full time in Prep and has been working with Anne Goodman this year. Mel Dowdle will be returning Part Time from Family Leave; she will be working with Kate McEvoy in Grade 2. Gemma Gooding will be returning from her travel around Australia and Leading the Grade 4 Team. Donna Dower will be returning following her leave.

We have a number of staff who are moving to schools closer to home and not returning in 2023; Claire Turner will be moving to Wallaroo Primary in Hastings; Jemma Dunstan will be moving to Hillsmeade Primary in Narre Warren South; Stephanie Quarrier will be moving to Highvale Primary in Glen Waverly; Karin Rooke will be moving to Kunyung Primary in Mt Eliza; Ellen Boundy will be moving to Bayles Regional School in Bayles; Shae Kent will be travelling in 2023.

Our 2023 Team is:

Leadership

David Tapp Principal

Shane Gagiero Assistant Principal

Sam Lord Learning Specialist – Disabilities and Inclusion

Felicity Elliott Learning Specialist – Assessment, Reporting and Data

Prue Richards Learning Specialist – PLC

Prep Staff

Kristy Lund Prep Classroom Teacher

Anne Goodman Prep Classroom Teacher

Felicity Elliott Learning Specialist and Prep Classroom Teacher

Ebony Gruar Prep Classroom Teacher

Year 1 Staff

Tiffany Johnston Year 1 Classroom Teacher

Eliza Bedin-Smith Year 1 Classroom Teacher

Jamie Bello Year 1 Classroom Teacher

Year 2 Staff

Kate McEvoy/Mel Dowdle Year 2 Classroom Teacher

Bec Whittingham Year 2 Classroom Teacher

Year 3 Staff

Prue Richards Learning Specialist and Year 3 Classroom Teacher

Donna Dower Year 3 Classroom Teacher

Sarah Kerr Year 3 Classroom Teacher

Year 4 Staff

Gemma Gooding Year 4 Classroom Teacher

Yolande Kerin Year 4 Classroom Teacher

Year 5/6 Staff

Jo Dewar Year 5/6 Classroom Teacher

Steph Barth Year 5/6 Classroom Teacher

Katie Spring Year 5/6 Classroom Teacher

Specialists

Lachlan Smith Physical Education

Jessica Emery Performing Arts

Katie Bingham Visual Arts

Chris Williams Science

Danielle Antoniou Indigenous Studies

Wellbeing and Intervention

Sam Lord Learning Specialist – Disabilities and Inclusion

Jo Ritchie Years 1-3 Intervention and Extension

Julie Davie Inclusion Support

Kylie Nicholas Student Wellbeing and Inclusion

Katharine Goschnick Chaplain

Education Support

Heather Fairclough Education Support

Belinda Smith Education Support

Judy Bray Education Support

Dana Moore Education Support

Jen Langendorf Education Support

Braithyn Kerr Education Support

Danielle French Education Support

Jane Buchanan Business Manager

Lisa Cliff Office Manager

Adrian Dunstan Maintenance

Rohan Beckett eLearning Technician

We will be creating a Well-Being Centre in the current Community Room for 2023, this utilizes the Tier 2 Funding and Tutor Learning Funding. It ensures students are best supported throughout our school with their diverse learning needs. Julie Davie, Katharine Goschnick, Jo Ritchie, Kylie Nicholas and Sam Lord will work together to provide additional learning support in Reading and Maths for students from Prep-Grade 6, they will also be leading the Social and Emotional Learning at Somerville Primary. This is a comprehensive team, they will collaboratively provide multiple opportunities for our students.

Over the Term Break we have some significant works being completed, the car park is being made bigger and being resurfaced; this will provide better access for Before and After School Care, as well as additional parking spots for staff. We also have the initial works being completed for our next stage of Shade Sails, these will be over the main play ground.

Student reports are released online on Friday the 16th at 9am. Please be sure to take the time to read over your child’s report with them and to celebrate all the growth your child has made over the last 12 months. Be sure to talk to your child about what they are proud of and what they will work on in 2023. All students have worked extremely hard throughout the year. I would like to congratulate all of them for their exceptional effort with their learning.

Every year many families ask about the Summer Learning Loss. This occurs when students stop reading or completing mental maths. However you can do something about this. What can you do is:

head to the local library to borrow some books, you may have a few books at home, but how exciting is it to go to one of our local libraries and borrow a few books,
take a book to the park or beach to read,
get your child to read in the morning when they are used to learning before they go off and play,
get your child to log on to Mathletics and do a few activities,
log onto Reading Eggs/Eggpress…
do a passion project together on a given topic

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year; have a happy and safe holiday with your family and friends and I look forward to seeing you all in 2023 ready for an awesome year at Somerville Primary School!

Kind Regards,

David Tapp

Principal

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