Principal's Desk

Whole School Christmas Concert 

After the great success of the whole school Christmas Concert last year, another one has been organised for Wednesday, 7 December. The concert will be outdoors, starting at 5:45pm. This concert will give our whole community the opportunity to come together and celebrate the musical achievements of our students. The location of the concert will be situated on the school oval. Fingers crossed that the weather will be fine. Please put this date in your diaries - it will be so great to be finally able to hold a whole-school community event!

School Swimming Program

The Department expects that all students should be able to competently swim fifty metres by the time that they leave primary school. This year, again, with government assistance, we have been able to offer an seven intensive swimming program for students in Year 1, 3 and 5 and a beach swimming day for our Year 6 students. Now, after the completion of the two-week program, we are starting to see students are improving their confidence in the water and their swimming ability. The program at Paul Sadler Swim School is superbly organised and their teachers are friendly, competent and extremely patient. Apart from the improvements in swimming, our students are learning important social skills of being able to change themselves independently (Year 1), look after their own belongings (All students) and focus on a task for a period of time. Mr Davey, with the help of Miss Booth, should be congratulated for organising this important school event. Feedback from the students attending the program is also very positive. Although, we want our students to be competent swimmers, it is still important to remember that ALL children need to supervised by an adult around water, whether they are competent or not.

Grit

Does your child possess ‘GRIT’? Not the stuff you might find on the soles of their shoes but an inner drive to succeed. Recently, I came across an article by Carol Dweck who believes that IQ is not a reliable measure for school success but rather whether students have the character strength of ‘grit’. Grit is the ability to apply yourself on a task until you get the job done. How many people do we know who we went through school with who may not have been the brightest (academically), but they have become quite successful in life. I am sure that they possessed the character strength of ‘grit’. We need to ensure that our children have the opportunities to develop passions, whether it be dancing, playing a sport, learning an instrument or developing an academic talent. Passions, I believe develop ‘grit’. Also, another success measure is the ability to keep on task for a period of time without distractions. Year 3 students should be able to keep on task for 20 minutes and for each additional year it increases by 10 minutes.  Does your child have opportunities to focus on a task for a period of time (this doesn’t include television watching and technology game playing)? 

Planning for Next Year

We are approaching the final stages of planning our school structures and classes for next year. Teachers are working diligently to finalise our 2024 classes and prepare for our Whole School Transition Meet the Teacher and the Class session that will be held later this term. 

During this session, students including all current and new students attending Park Ridge PS in 2024 will meet their teacher and spend some time with their new class for next year. 

Our teachers also complete comprehensive handovers from 2023 to 2024 teachers including student learning and wellbeing needs to ensure our students are supported in their transition to their new year levels and classes. 

To support our planning for next year, we need to have a clear idea of exactly who will be here. This is information is very important for us as we form classes so we can ensure that they are balanced in all aspects including friendships. One child moving away can leave another child without a friend in the new class. If you know that your child will be moving away next year, please send us an email to park.ridge.ps@education.vic.gov.au letting us know where your child will be attending school next year. 

Farewells

Unfortunately, it is the time of year in which people start making plans for the following year. Speaking to a large number of principals in the area, we are seeing a significant increase in teacher movement, including retirements (which brings about promotional opportunities at other schools) and teachers taking time away from their profession for a period of 12 months. For us here at Park Ridge Primary School, we are not immune to this trend.

• Jessica Hochkins has secured an ongoing position at Casey Fields PS. We thank Jess for all her support and teaching to our Year 4 students over the past 2 years.
• Sarah Morris has also secured an ongoing position at Ferny Creek PS. Sarah has been a wonderful addition to our Year 2 team, always with a great big smile on her face.
• Lauren Kavanagh has secured a Physical Education position at Karoo PS. Like the two mentioned above, Lauren has been a great addition to our school and will be missed.
• Cheryl Smith will be returning to her base school - Fairhills PS. Cheryl has brought a wealth of knowledge to our school in the field of Literacy as well as providing the best educational experiences for her class.

I wish to acknowledge each individual teacher and staff member for their contribution to our great school. It will be sad to see you go - thank you and good luck with your adventures that may take you far and wide.

Foundation Information Night

Next Wednesday, 22 November at 6:00pm, our 2024 Foundation teachers will be conducting our annual Foundation Information Night. In 2024 we will have 4 Foundation classes with an average class size of 19/20 students per grade (below the DET expected average of 21 students in F-2).

This evening will provide parents an insight to how our Foundation year starts and how they can prepare their child for a successful start to school. This session will begin in the Wentworth Building before a presentation in each of the Foundation rooms and some important Q&As.

Last Day of the 2023 School Year 

The final day of the school year for students and staff is Wednesday 20 December. 

Many families have indicated to classroom teachers and the office that their child’s final day will be Friday 15 December. If your child will not be attending school on Monday 18 December, Tuesday 19 December and/or Wednesday 20 December, please ensure you enter their absence into Compass as soon as possible so we can finalise our student attendance records for the school year.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please feel free to pop in for a chat with either Carrie, Brendan or I, should you wish to discuss anything. 

Our doors are always open! 

Take care,

Mr. Dale Blythman