Principal's Report 

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am writing this newsletter before heading off to the Victorian Principal’s Association State Conference where I will be Thursday and Friday. This is an important opportunity to stay abreast of new trends and initiatives and connect with other school leaders as we share expertise with each other. 

Book Week: Tomorrow is our annual Book Week Dress Up Parade. We look forward to seeing as many students as possible joining in. I know many staff have been planning for a while how they will join in. As I won’t be on-site, I look forward to seeing the photos. The parade will be held immediately after our 9.00 am assembly and all parents are welcome to stay to enjoy this. 

Year 3 – 6 Swimming: Just a reminder that 3-6 Swimming Permission are due back on 13th September however we have limited places available due to the pool’s capacity, including staffing constraints. These places are filling fast. If you are wanting your child to attend please remember to fully complete the form, especially your child's swimming ability (2nd page) and return it to school ASAP. The places are allocated according to when the form is signed and returned to the school. Any questions, please feel free to contact the office on 9743 5818.

Student Toilets: Unfortunately, we have had a number of toilets vandalised over the past few weeks, with toilet paper dispensers broken, and large chunks of paper thrown into toilets. Not only is this expensive it also impacts all students as we have had to close some toilets as we wait for replacement stock. This can take up to 2 weeks to arrive and limits the number of cubicles available for students to use for this period of time. We have been working hard on curbing this behaviour by reminding students of expected behaviours related to the toilets through student messages at assembly, explicit teaching of appropriate behaviour and continuous monitoring. However, unfortunately, these disappointing actions continue. We would appreciate if you could speak to your child about behaviour they may witness in the toilets and encourage them to let an adult know if they see someone deliberately destroying them. 

Parent Opinion Survey: Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. All families are invited to participate in the survey. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September 2023. The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. We encourage you to participate in this important way to provide feedback about our school. If you have any questions or need help accessing the survey, please contact the office for assistance.

Prep Enrolments 2024: We have started to conduct small group tours for potential 2024 Prep enrolments. If you have a preschool age child or know someone who does, please ask them to call the school on 9743 5818 to book into one of these tours. We start our Transition Program in November and we would like as many children as possible to attend to help their start to school life be positive.

2024 Plans: We will be beginning the process of forming new class grouping for 2024 during Term 4. In order to know how many classes, we will need please contact the office to let us know if you know your child will not be returning in 2024 for any reason so we can plan accordingly. If you are unsure of the new school that is okay, we do not need to know that information now. 

Special Requests for 2024 Class: Part of the work we do in term 4 is to form the new classes for the following year. if you have any concerns or requests about other children your child should or shouldn’t be with please put these in writing before Friday 27th October. Any requests received after this date CAN NOT be considered, due to the flow-on effect that any changes to classes already created has across the board. I will need to stick to this timeline quite tightly to ensure the process runs as smoothly and as efficiently as possible. Please note, requests for specific teachers will not be considered. If you have any questions or concerns in regard to this process, please do not hesitate to contact the office to make an appointment to speak with me.

 High Levels of Learning for All

Michelle Costa

Principal