PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

COFFEE & CHAT

Please come along to have a coffee and chat with me on a Thursday morning 9am - 10am. This will be an opportunity to talk about what's going well for your children an our school, offer suggestions to improve our school and for you to connect with other families in the school.

Our first session will be on June 20 for P-2 parents. We will meet in the staffroom once our Community Breakfast is finished. Of course if you cannot make one of the sessions for your child's year level, you are most welcome to come to one of the other sessions. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas!

Term 2

Thursday 20 June: P-2 Parents 

Term 3

Thursday 18 July: 3-6 Parents

Thursday 25 July: P-2 Parents

Thursday 8 August: 3-6 Parents

Thursday 15 August: P-2 Parents

Thursday 5 September: 3-6 Parents

Thursday 12 September: P-2 Parents

Thursday 19 September: 3-6 Parents

SOFTBALL CENTRE

Below is the concept plan for the Softball Centre behind our school. The centre will include a playground and barbecue area, sports field, dog park, seating and walking paths. The Centre is being developed by Stockland and Hume Council. There is also a car park which will have paths to enter our school from. 

The project should be completed by Summer 2020, possibly sooner. Stockland will be conducting earthworks  to prepare the site over the next 3 months. During this time, machinery will not be used during pick up and drop off school times.

I have attached a copy of the plan as well as the Highlands master plan which outlines future work for this area.

This area will be a fantastic inclusion for our school and will become a well utilised area for our students and families.

NEW SECONDARY SCHOOL ON ELEVATION BOULEVARD

Want your say on the name of the new secondary school in Craigieburn?  

The Victorian School Building Authority is seeking community input into developing the name of the new secondary school currently under construction and scheduled to open for Year 7 in 2020.  

Craigieburn South Secondary School (only an interim name), located at the intersection of Elevation Boulevard and Debonair Parade, will open its doors to Year 7 students in 2020 as part of the Government’s school building program that will see 100 new public schools open over the next eight years. 

You can forward any name suggestions to the Department of Education and Training’s North Western Victoria Regional Office via email at nwvr@edumail.vic.gov.au by Friday 14 June or contact the office on 1300 338 691 to discuss. 

A proposed name will be selected from a shortlist of potential names for formal consultation with all surrounding schools and services before a recommendation is made to the Minister for Education.  School names can recognise and reflect culture, heritage and landscape and will be guided by the statutory requirements outlined in the Naming Rules for Places in Victoria.

If you would like further information about this new school and other school building projects you can visit the Victorian School Building Authority webpage at www.schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT UPDATE

Thank you for your support and understanding with the traffic management for our school.

Below is an update based on information received from our local council:

• 40 zone now in place between 8 - 9:30am and 2:30pm - 4pm
• morning & afternoon parking zones have been installed
• provision for school crossing is now in place
• crossing supervisors has started
• please follow the parking signs and do not park on or near the crossing area
• local council has advised that no part of a car's tyres can be on the nature strip. 2 wheels can be on the concrete gutter but not the nature strip. Some families have already been fined for this. 
• future school traffic is expected to use the Council’s sporting precinct car park to the south, construction is due to start later this year.

In the interests of pedestrian safety, please use the footpath to enter the school rather than walking through the car park. Please refrain from parking on the grass as this is illegal and may result in a council penalty notice. Can we also remind families not to park in or drive into the drive way or staff car parks.

We thank you for your understanding and for ensuring our students are safe. 

CRAIGIEBURN PARK RUN

Congratulations to Max who was our first Park Run runner! Well done Max!

As a school we will have staff attending the Highlands Park Run on the last Saturday of each month. Park Run is a worldwide event held each Saturday morning at 8am, participants walk/run for 5ks. Each week times are recorded and available on the website. Park Run was designed to get people to be more active and involved with their local community. We would love families to come along and join us. 

 As a school, we will be present at the dates below: *please note Park Run operates every week. 

June 29 July 27 August 31 September 28 October 26  November  30  

For registration click here:  https://www.parkrun.com.au/register/form/ 

More information:  https://www.parkrun.com.au/highlands/ 

SCHOOL COUNCIL

This term's focus for our School Council will be to finalise our canteen agreement and begin our process for building our first playground. School Council meets once a month to review financial documents, discuss and approve policies, curriculum days, events and activities, fundraising opportunities and ensure our buildings and grounds are continuing to be improved and maintained.

This year we have an interim school council, which do not require an election. Elections for our 2020 School Council will be held early next year. We will run a parent session later this year to inform parents who are interested in being on council. We thank our School Council members for volunteering their time to help establish our school.  

READING AT AITKEN HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

This term, we are focusing on our teaching of reading. Teachers are building their knowledge and skills to ensure we provide the best opportunities for our students. The chart below shows just how important it is to provide students with books and time to read at school and at home. At Aitken Hill Primary School, we include independent reading time every day. During this time, students read just right texts, this means books or other reading material that they can read by themselves where they can read most of the words (3 - 5 errors per 100 words), the reading sounds smooth and they understand most of what they are reading. 

I have included an article below that explains the importance of having books in the home.