Assistant Principal's Report

It has been a busy couple of weeks. The teachers have been working hard writing reports to provide our parents and families with a comprehensive summary of your child/children’s achievement in relation to the Victorian Curriculum Achievement Standards. The reports will be available through the Compass platform. I would like to thank all our teachers for the time and dedication that they have put into producing these reports.

On the last week of Term 2, on Tuesday 20th June from 2.15 to 4.45, Wednesday 21st June (for Years 3-6 students only) from 3.45 to 4.45 and Thursday 22nd June from 2.15 to 4.45, we will be conducting Parent/Teacher interviews for all our Prep to Year 2 students and 3 Way Conferences for all our Year 3 to 6 students. With the new Agreement and its complexity to teacher work outside of regular hours, there is a limit of one spot for each student. We are using the Compass platform (Compass Conferences) for the booking of the Parent/Teacher Interviews and 3 Way Conferences. Bookings will open today. Please see below for details on how to book a time.

Booking Parent/Teacher Conferences via Compass APP

1. From the Compass Home Screen in the App click on Parent Teacher Conferences. (Alternatively, you can click on the menu button on the bottom right corner and the click on conferences)
2. Select the relevant Cycle you wish to book for.
3. Select the Student you wish to place a booking for.
4. Select the class or interview group.
5. Click on a time slot to confirm.

Booking Parent/Teacher Conferences via Browser

1. On the home screen, beside the student you wish to make a booking for click ‘Book Parent Teacher Conference’.
2. A list of Parent Teacher Conference cycles will be displayed along with their booking status. Click on your relevant cycle.
3. Your booking sheet will be displayed and will show your available booking times. Click on time in the grid to display teachers available for booking at that time. 

I would like to thank Team Kids for providing the staff with a lovely breakfast on Monday. It was thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed! 

There has been quite a buzz around our school, amongst the teachers and students, with the launch of our new whole school positive reward system. From this week, students earn ‘house points’ for displaying positive behaviour. The house points will be collected from all classrooms every Tuesday afternoon by our Year 5 Junior School Council members who will then announce the winner at our Assembly on the Wednesday. A trophy with ribbons in the colours of the winning house will be displayed in the office area and a tally will be kept. The students will be working towards an extra half an hour of playtime during the last week of the term. The extra half an hour will see the students participate in some fun activities/games, such as egg and spoon races, games with the parachute, to name a couple.

Along with this whole school positive reward system, there has been a whole school consistent approach to the managing of unacceptable behaviours also implemented. All teachers will follow a Behaviour Management Plan. As part of this consistent approach, students may be asked to complete a reflection form. If this happens, the reflection form will be sent home to be signed by the students’ parents. If one is sent home with your child, please take the time to have a discussion with your child about what happened. This form will then need to be returned to school, signed and we will infer that the matter has been followed up at home. As I have mentioned before in previous newsletters, the home/school partnership is critical. It is all our responsibility to reinforce respectful, appropriate, positive behaviours and to model those behaviours, not only at school but outside of school as well. I thank you all in advance for supporting us in the implementation of these initiatives into our school culture. To quote Lyn Sharratt, a leader in education, the first teacher in a student’s life is the parent, the second is the teacher and the third teacher is the learning environment (the classroom).

Last night we held a Prep Information Session. We had a fantastic turn out! I would like to thank our School Captains, Persy and Olive for their part in the session and for answering questions. It is so lovely to see our school leaders confidently address an audience.

I would also like to acknowledge and celebrate our wonderful Year 5 students, who stepped in for our Year 6 leaders and ran a wonderful assembly for our Junior School students on Wednesday. 

Just a reminder that Monday is a public holiday, and the school will be closed. I would like to wish all our families a fantastic long weekend. 

Georgia Despotellis

Assistant Principal