Principal's Report

Premier's Reading Challenge

The 2024 Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now closed. 

I am extremely proud of a large number of our students who completed the Challenge.  It’s been a thrill to see them discover such passion and enthusiasm for reading.  Certificates for those who completed the Challenge were handed out today.  We hope that our students sign up again next year.

Remembrance Day

On the 11th November, our school will commemorate Remembrance Day.  This is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice of 1918 that ended fighting in World War I.  On this day, we will commemorate all who have died or suffered in wars, conflicts and peace operations. Our students will participate in class learning experiences prior to the day and we will be holding a service over the PA system from 10:50am on Remembrance Day.  Year 6 students will be selling poppies at the front of the office as of this coming Wednesday.  You will also notice some poppies, made by our students, being displayed on our front fence on the day.

Principal Award Recipients

Safe Travel to School

Sadly, I have noticed a number of students travelling to school, by bike or scooter, with no helmet.  I urge parents to provide their child with a helmet and ensure they are wearing it

 to school.

It is important to wear a helmet whether in the street, in the driveway, a paved area, or on a footpath.  Research shows that wearing a bicycle helmet reduces the risk of head injury by up to 74 per cent.  Cyclists, bicycle passengers and scooter riders need to wear a securely fitted and fastened helmet.  All helmets must comply with and have the Australian Standard AS/NZS 2063 symbol.

Helmets must be worn when riding:

• on roads and road-related areas
• on bike and shared paths in bike lanes
• in recreational parks
• in car parks
• on footpaths.

Police can stop bike and scooter riders and issue a fine or a warning for not wearing an approved bicycle helmet.

Some other information can be found here:

https://www.racv.com.au/royalauto/transport/cycling/guide-to-getting-the-right-size-and-type-helmet.html

Division Volleyball

On Friday 18th of October, 7 students from Year 5/6 completed at Divisional Volleyball in Pakenham.  This was the first time a Clyde PS team had made it to this level in Volleyball, so such a great achievement.  The girls played really well, improving their score, skills and strategy each game against some tough competition.  A huge congratulations to Charlotte, Sienna, Avii, Georgia, Mia, Lily, Rina!

Regional Athletics

On Monday 21st October, 6 students competed at Regional Athletics at Casey Fields.  A huge congratulations to Oscar (100m), Ethan (1.5km), Amelia (High Jump), Thomas (MC Shot Put), Namo (Triple Jump), Sujay (Long Jump) on such a great achievement, making it to this level.  Well done and Good Luck to Thomas for making it to State level.  He will compete at Albert Park on Wednesday 6th November.

Uniform Shop

Due to the Melbourne Cup public holiday, Beleza will be closed on Tuesday 5th of November.  The Cranbourne store will reopen from Wednesday 6th of November, from 10am.

Big Day Out

This week saw the conclusion of our fundraising efforts for the Year 6 Big Day Out excursion to Gumbuya World for 2024.  Thank you to our community for contributing to these efforts, whether your child participated in our PJ Day, Disco, Pancake Day or numerous slinky apple sessions.  Thank you to our parent helpers who have actively contributed, supporting the Year 6 students with the slinky apple's fundraiser, this is greatly appreciated.

The money fundraised has significantly reduced the cost of our Big Day Out to Gumbuya World. This day provides our Year 6 students with an exciting conclusion to their primary school years, being able to create some final memories with their friends before heading onto their next adventure.

Emergency Management Planning

As a school, we regularly review our school's emergency management plan.  In this plan, we

 prepare for a range of hazards, such as bushfire, severe weather, medical emergencies, building fires, intruders, etc.  We develop specific response procedures to address these risks. 

We also conduct drills regularly, ensuring that our core procedures of on-site and off-site evacuation, sheltering-in-place, and lockdown/lockouts are well-rehearsed and understood by staff and students.  In coming weeks we will be practising some whole school emergency drills including a Lockdown and an offsite evacuation. 

Our school is considered at risk of bushfire or grassfire. We are Category 4 on the Bushfire At-Risk Register.  This means that we may relocate or learn from home, when the fire danger rating is Extreme in our local government area (Casey). Our school will close on days of Catastrophic fire danger in the Central weather district.

If we enact our emergency management plan, we will notify you by Compass notification, with updates on our actions.  Please do not come to the school unless directed to do so, as you may put yourself and others in danger.  If there is anything we need you to do, we will let you know. 

During an emergency, the school will work closely with emergency services to get specific advice to keep our community safe.  Additionally, the Department of Education has dedicated emergency management staff to help monitor the situation and provide additional support to schools during emergencies.

If you have any questions about our school’s emergency management plan, please contact us.  Please be assured that our main priority is the safety of our students and school community.

Christmas Carols

Save the date, Thursday 5th December, we invite families to join us on the school oval from 5:30pm for a BYO picnic.  Bring along some nibbles, a picnic rug or camp chair and find a spot to watch the carols from.  Please note this is a pet, alcohol and smoke-free event.

Students generally wear Christmas themed clothing, however, class teachers will be in touch with parents if a specific item (e.g reindeer antlers) are required for their class' performance.

The Concert then starts at 6:00pm, where each class will perform one Christmas song.  The students will be required to sit with their classes at the front of the stage area during this time.  The event will finish at roughly 7:30pm. More information will come in the next newsletter edition.    

Planning for 2025

Whilst I think we have nearly all of our current family enrolments for 2025, if there is anyone out there who hasn’t completed the enrolment process yet, please do so asap.  Term 4 is always dominated with planning for the following year, class and staff selection, budgets, enrolments and more.  I ask that families please let the office know if they are intending to leave our school at the end of the year, as finding staff is incredibly challenging at this time of year. 

2025 Student Leaders

For a number of years, we have provided valuable leadership opportunities for our students. Our Year 6 Student Leaders program offers a diverse range of roles that empower students to make positive contributions and have a voice within our school.  Our current Year 5 students have been introduced to the Student Leader process for 2025.  They met together as a cohort last week, where interested students were encouraged to apply for positions.  Students applying complete an application form, nominating the role/s they are interested in, and writing why they think they would be a good fit for these roles.  These applications close next Friday.

Students applying for School Captain or Vice Captain positions may then be short-listed to participate in presenting their application orally to the Principal, other staff and their peers. Individual interviews will be conducted to determine the successful candidates.

An announcement of the successful 2025 Student Leaders to our school community will be part of our final assembly on the 16th December, with an official badge presentation in early 2025.