Principal Team's Report

Welcome back to Term 3

We've hit the ground running and are right back in the swing of things at the Springs this week!  It was lovely to welcome everyone back after the holiday break and to see all students resume their learning straight away.  We've already had some exciting things happen at the Springs, with an excursion to Scienceworks (Yr 5), State School Spectacular rehearsal in the city, as well as Hoop Time for our Year 3 and 4 students.  It's all go go go! 

Staffing

I am so pleased to announce that we appointed two Assistant Principals to our leadership team over the holidays.  Scott McKinnon, a familiar face at Pakenham Springs, was successful in gaining the Assistant Principal - Wellbeing, Inclusion and Engagement role. We extend a warm welcome to Melanie Brown, who takes on the role of Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning.  Both Scott and Mel have demonstrated experience in improving student outcomes, building strong relationships with all members of the school community and assisting schools to strive for continual improvement.  I am looking forward to seeing what great things our school can achieve under our new Leadership group. 

Semester One Reports

We thank the Pakenham Springs community for their understanding as we pushed the timeline for writing and publishing our Semester One academic reports.  These reports have now been published on Compass and are available for you to view.  Please take the time to read these carefully, and share the information with your child.  Please do not hesitate to ask your classroom or specialist teachers any questions you may have.

Coming up this fortnight

We have another huge fortnight coming up, with our Learning Conferences taking place next week.  We encourage you to bring your child along to their interview if you think it is appropriate.  Having students involved in these sends a message to them that they are an important part of the learning partnership and that we are all working together to help them shine. 

Additionally, this next fortnight we also have our School Disco, the Year 1 Zoo excursion as well as celebrating our Prep students completing their first 100 days of school!  How exciting!

NAIDOC Week

Last week we celebrated NAIDOC week (National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee) which occurs annually in July, and recognisesthe history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Our celebrations culminated in the production of a fabulous Aboriginal flag artwork which can be found hanging in our front foyer.  This was made using the handprints of our students, with our students identifying as Koorie forming the centre yellow circle of the flag.  Make sure you pop in and have a look at what our students have produced! 

Uniform Expectations

It has become apparent that some of our students no longer believe the Uniform expectations at Pakenham Springs apply to them.  We remind all students and families that our Uniform is compulsory.  Low-cost alternatives are available for shorts, skorts and tracksuit pants, however, our Polo shirt and Jumper/Jacket can only be purchased from Beleza School Uniforms.  There are often second-hand pieces advertised on our Facebook page and some may also be available in the box in the front foyer. 

We also remind our school community that unnatural hair colour is not allowed at school and jewellery should be restricted to a single pair of studs or small sleepers in the ears.  A watch may be worn but any additional jewellery poses a safety risk and must be avoided. 

Make-up and nail polish should not be worn to school.

We have beanies available from our front office which may be worn by students outside. Beanies (and all other hats/caps/hoods) should always be removed once entering school buildings. 

Non-school uniform items (jumpers in particular) should not be worn to school.  In an exceptional circumstance, an exemption for a single day may be granted upon presentation of a signed and dated note from a parent/carer explaining why a uniform item is not worn.

We thank you for helping us maintain our high expectations around our Uniform standards.  

Respectful Relationships Education

This term, we are covering Topic 5: Stress Management and Topic 6: Help Seeking.  While this is a mandated curriculum, these learning goals also support the mission of our school to “educate, motivate and inspire all students to ensure they acquire the essential skills and knowledge to become respectful and informed members of the local and global community.”  Fact sheets have been distributed via Compass to all families so that you are aware of the content covered in this curriculum area.  If you do have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your classroom teacher or our Respectful Relationships Leader, Corrin Warn.

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30 am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Enjoy the fortnight ahead!

The PSPS Leadership Team