Welcome back

We hope that you have enjoyed a well-earned break after the busy Term 1. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the families and loved ones of those who were impacted by the tragic attack in Bondi over the weekend.

SRC – World’s Greatest Shave

A very big congratulations to the SRC and Josh Guy for their work on the World’s Greatest Shave fundraiser on Thursday 28 March. The school was a rainbow of colour as we came together for the big shave! A big thank you to Harley Duncan, Fiona Baroon-Toop and Tim Chapman for volunteering to take part and support the fundraiser by shaving their head! There was great anticipation and excitement at the assembly as the staff were announced.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the cause we raised over $500 in gold coin donations and $683 with online donations.

Cross Country

We are eagerly looking forward to the Cross Country on the morning of Tuesday 23 April for our Year 3-6 students. This will be held at Markham Reserve. Any parents who can assist on the day, please contact our PE teacher Stephanie Webster at stephanie.webster@education.vic.gov.au

ANZAC Day

Our School Captains, will lead our ANZAC Ceremony on Wednesday 24 April. We hope to hold this outdoors at the Performing Arts deck, where the captains will take the students through the Ode and Last Post. ANZAC Day is an important part of our history and it is essential for our students to know about this day and its significance. Kate Nancarrow, Sarah Watkins and I would usually be present at such an important event, however we will be at the Principal Network Conference so Tim Chapman and Robyn Davis will represent us at the ceremony.

School Council 2024

The new School Council for 2024 met during the final week of term one, following the nomination period earlier last month. The following positions were filled:

President: Deb Brown (Hamish and Lachlan)

Vice President: Louise Pearson (Charlie)

Treasurer and Finance Sub-Committee Convener: Andrew Merryweather (Lucy)

Minute Secretary: Sarah McDonell (staff)

Buildings and Environment Sub-Committee Convener: Tom Chapman (staff) and Dan S (Hugo and Ruby)

Education Sub-Committee Convener: Tim Chapman (staff)

Sustainability Sub-Committee Convener: Brooke Danaher (staff)

Fundraising Sub-Committee Convener: Felicity McGrath (Max)

Marketing Sub-Committee Convener: Lyn Rodda (staff) and Hesper Moore (Jack)

Any parents who have skills in these areas or are simply interested in getting involved are encouraged to join the meetings. All our sub-committees need new members. You do not need to have any particular skills to be involved, just a willingness to lend a hand. The benefits are in the connections you make with other families – and for the school, and many hands make light work! Meetings are held once or twice a term and will be communicated through Compass. If you have any questions about the sub-committees please contact Kate Nancarrow or myself.

Parent Helpers

Kate Nancarrow began the parent helper sessions at school this week. To be a parent helper, you must attend a session with Kate (or have attended one of these sessions in the past few years), have a valid Working with Children Check, and sign our Child Safe Code of Conduct. Our next parent helper session will be held at 9:00am on Friday 19 April in the conference room near the front office. The sessions run for about 30 minutes. Please register your attendance via the office.

Urgent shout out for parent helpers to keep our community programs alive!

Solway is in urgent need for parent helpers for our 2024 year book, 2025 Community Fair, Mother’s Day Lunch, Fundraising, Mother’s and Father’s Day Stalls and Uniform Shop.

The 2024 year book is also at risk of being a significantly reduced resource, unless we have some parents who are willing to take this on. In 2022-23 Emilly Rose, completed the year book, however her circumstances have changed and she is unable to do this in 2024. Prior to 2022 a group of parents completed this task.

If you have any capacity to assist in any of these areas please contact me. We are hoping to run these events in the future, however these events can only move forward with parental involvement.

Congratulations

Congratulations Charlie G, Tom J, Nicholas L, Lachie M and Henry S, who represented Solway at the Regional swimming event on Friday 22 March. It was amazing to have so many students represent our district in the regional swimming event. We are so proud of their great achievement and the effort they put into their training.

Harmony Day

Our annual Harmony Day celebration was a great success on Wednesday 27 March. The students were dressed in some amazing traditional dress and costumes and the colour orange. A big thank you to the Cultural and Japanese Captains on running the parade and Theresa Tremonte and Ryoko Yamaoka for their organisation. The students had a fantastic day.

Prep 2024 Enrolments – Parent Information Sessions

On Thursday 2 May at 6:30pm, we are holding information sessions for prospective Prep 2025 families. Families are asked to register their interest in attending the session by contacting the Office.

Enrolment processes have been updated and our Solway website reflects the Department of Education changes with an online enrolment link. We ask our current families to pass this information on to their Kinder contacts, friends and neighbours. Prep enrolments for 2025 are due by Friday 28 July 2024.

Flexible Work for School Leaders

This year the Department of Education has offered Flexible Work for School Leaders. This allows Principals to reduce their time fraction and provides the school with additional funding for a Principal job share arrangement.

Beginning this term, l will be working four days a week, Monday-Thursday and Kate Nancarrow will be the Acting Principal on a Thursday and Friday.

Congratulations

Our congratulations to Stephanie Webster, PE teacher, was recently married to her partner – Matt.

Lyn Rodda

Principal

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