Principals Report

Hello Sunshine Families, 

STRIKE ACTION TUESDAY 24TH MARCH – STUDENTS NOT REQUIRED AT SCHOOL

I have made the difficult decision that students are not required at school Tuesday 24th of March due to planned Strike action by the Australian Education Union in protest of negotiations of the new Victorian Government Schools Agreement.

As Principal, my greatest concern is our duty of care- the careful and consistent monitoring and engagement with our students to ensure their wellbeing is cared for and they are supported in learning.

Every day this care and engagement takes the responsibility of over 100 classroom, wellbeing, allied health and Leadership staff to engage with and support student toileting, assisting meal times, administer medications, transition students to and from breaks, watch over students at play, attend code calls for behaviour support and medical needs and emergencies.

On Tuesday over 50% of staff will not be in attendance to support the needs of our 195 students.

As Principal the duty of care for our students is a great responsibility and very real.

While the school remains open on Tuesday in accordance with Department policy - operating for students who are vulnerable and have parents who are critical workers- I do want our families to be fully informed of the concerns l hold for the proper care of our students.

With only 50% of staff present for work on Tuesday- I don’t believe I can, in all good conscience, uphold our duty of care to the standards I expect for our students and you as our community.

If you require to send your child to school on Tuesday, please let us know so we can prepare an alternative program that will focus on keeping students cared for and safe. It is important to know the program on Tuesday will not be a learning focused one and should the number of students attending become too great l will contact families to ask them to collect students for safety reasons.

PICK-UP AND DROP OFF

This change continues to work well for our students and learning time. We are making small alterations as we go along because any change needs feedback to make sure the change works best.

One change is that our back gates (bus and parent drop off) will remain open until 9.30 each day to ensure families can still drop students off after 9am.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE – ENSURE STUDENT NAILS ARE CLIPPED – many of our students communicate with their bodies and scratching others is a common way of saying they are a little unhappy. While the school has invested in long arm guards for classrooms to protect staff from bites and scratches- our students are also being injured by long nails. Clipped short nails helps keep everyone safe.

Non parental pick-ups OR Family or Parent Holiday – A REMINDER

If families are taking extended holidays or as parents you are leaving students in the care of others – PLEASE LET THE SCHOOL KNOW. The school cannot legally hand your child over to a carer or Care worker- we must have permission from you as parents and also have the details of the care worker or family member.

CAR PARKING – FRONT OF SCHOOL

Please use parking spaces when DROPPING OFF OR COLLECTING STUDENTS - parking ‘anywhere’ is unsafe and blocks other cars.

Remember my door is ALWAYS OPEN for a chat, share a worry or provide feedback!  

Wishing a Happy and safe weekend to all, 

Lisa