Principal's Report

Principal’s Message

Robbie Mac Superstar Success

The beginning of this term has been one of almost unprecedented success for Robbie Mac, with amazing achievements abounding!

In a sporting sense, for a school of our size, our representation at the Division and Regional Athletics punched well above our weight with a number of students doing our school proud. Amelie from 4R then bounced her way to an 8th place finish in the State High Jump competition - congratulations Amelie, we are very proud!

Further, Sun Woo from 2R recently competed in a national Tae Kwon Do competition and we also have a number of students in different year levels excelling in gymnastics. On the basketball court, our boys 'All-star' team will shortly be competing in the regional Hooptime competition.

We have also shone brightly in the sphere of 'STEAM' - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics. At the recent Design Thinking Challenge (see the 'What's Happening' page for more), our school picked up a range of medals and shiny trophies, including best overall team and highest scoring school.

Last week at assembly, Mrs James presented an overflowing stack of credit and distinction awards for the Australian Maths Competition, and while on the topic of maths, next week at assembly we will be presenting certificates to our participants in the Australasian Maths Olympiad Competition. Among these high achievers, we will be celebrating Aston from Year 6 on achieving a perfect score (with Hayden hot on his heels with only a single error across the year).

As if all of that is not enough, last week we sent teams to the annual Maths Association of Victoria Coding Challenge. Schools from across the state were represented at the competition, with our team of Quinn, Hayden, Dylan and Aston taking out the entire competition! An incredible achievement for our little school against some behemoths with much larger populations (and budgets!) than us. Congratulations also to our other teams who performed admirably within a very tough competition.

Again, see the What's Happening page for photos, we also look forward to a full report at assembly next week.

Tremendous credit to our entire community for these successes, not least of which to Mrs Browne for her ongoing passion and leadership within the STEAM space.

Staffing Update - farewell Ms Robb & Colin

There were very mixed feelings in the school today as we said farewell (but definitely not goodbye for good!) to Ms Robb, intrepid teacher of 2R. Tash, as she's known to staff, has been an outstanding member of our team for a number of years, since joining our school as a graduate.

Alongside being a key member of numerous leadership teams, Ms Robb will be sincerely missed by our community as she looks forward to beginning her family with the arrival of a baby due in the coming weeks. We wish Tash and her husband Glynn all the very best as they embark on this exciting new chapter.

Ms Lipscombe will be taking up the 2R reins, initially supported by Mrs Cheung on Mondays and Tuesdays while Ms Lipscombe finishes up her intervention program with a number of students across the school.

Thank you to 2R families for your support of Ms Robb, please be in touch with Ms Lipscombe, Mr Roche or myself if you have any concerns or questions.

Next Friday, we will also farewell a key member of staff who is perhaps a little less well known - our trusty IT technician, Colin. Colin has been with us for a number of years on Fridays, always finding solutions to our tech problems with a smile and a 'can-do' attitude! Colin is moving on to an exciting opportunity at an Inner East secondary school. Carlos Rios has been appointed as his successor, with a handover to take place next Friday. Welcome Carlos!

The remainder of my message this week are reminders of some important messages featured in the last newsletter. Please take a moment to browse below.

Moving on in 2024?

If your family are planning a move to a new school for 2024, early notification greatly assists our forward planning. Please contact the school office to inform us of your plans.

2024 Planning

With Term 4 upon us, planning for the 2024 school year is well and truly underway. We are currently working with our leadership teams on roles and classroom allocations for next year, with planning for 2024 classes beginning in a few weeks. This planning of classes is an extensive task, with many contributing factors being taken into consideration before students find out where they will be for 2024 on Stepping Up day (Tuesday 12th December).

Students have opportunities to nominate some peers that they would like to be in the same class as in 2024. In all but very exceptional circumstances, students are placed with at least one of these nominated peers. In circumstances where this appears to be impossible, families will be contacted to discuss options prior to the stepping up day.

If parents have particular concerns regarding class placement, you are welcome to email me via peter.watson@education.vic.gov.au, however please be aware that it is very difficult to guarantee placements with or separations from  specific peers. Placements with specific teachers are even more difficult to accommodate.

Hats

A further reminder that our Sunsmart period is firmly upon us and as such, all students are required to wear a wide-brimmed school hat outside at all times throughout the day. The assistance of parents and carers in ensuring all students have such a hat at school is much appreciated.

Financial Assistance

We are well aware that many in our community are currently experiencing significant financial hardship at present. In keeping with our strong commitment to inclusion at Roberts McCubbin Primary School, if your family is finding payment for a school event to be prohibitive, please contact myself or Business Manager Melissa for a confidential discussion of options.

Peter Watson

Principal