Principal Team's Report

This fortnight at the Springs...

This fortnight, our students have certainly been out and about, representing the school beautifully in the wider community!

Our Year 6 students had a great time at their City Camp, experiencing the best Melbourne has to offer! They visited ACMI, the Skydeck, the Melbourne Museum, and Old Melbourne Gaol, took a cruise along the Yarra River, made photo memories at ArtVo and took to the ice with lots of wobbles and laughs at O'Brien Ice House. It made me so proud to receive communication from the Old Melbourne Gaol that our students were wonderfully behaved, used beautiful manners and were a joy to host.

This fortnight, we've also had students travel to the Melbourne Grand Prix to take part in the Driving Learning Program. This exposes students to the different career paths open in the Motor Sport industry as well as giving them insight into the running of the Grand Prix. Again, we are super proud of the way these students represented our school.

NAPLAN

This week has also seen the beginning of the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assessment window for 2025. Our Year 3 and Year 5 students take part in 4 tests over a two week period, using the skills they've developed in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions/Spelling and Numeracy. These assessments provide families and the school with a snapshot of where the student is performing, on a national benchmark scale. While this is important information to know, it does not assess the entire curriculum, nor does it provide a concrete 'level' of achievement. Students show understanding of curriculum in a number of different ways and the growth in their learning throughout the year is much more important for us to monitor. Our staff use NAPLAN results cautiously, cross-checking them with numerous other data sources to ensure we know the specific learning needs of each and every student. We encourage all students to sit NAPLAN, try their best and allow themselves the opportunity to shine by showing all that they know. We are proud of the resilience they have shown in the tests that have already been administered. 

School Photo Day is coming up!

On Tuesday, 1st April, we will be holding our School Photo Day. Please ensure that your children are coming to school in the correct school uniform, including any hair adornments in our school colours (navy, red and/or white). 

Orders for photos can be placed online using the codes supplied to all families. 

School Council 2025

I would like to apologise to our newest member of School Council, Kahleah Treadwell, for omitting her details in the last Newsletter. We welcome Kahleah to our Council and look forward to working with her to continue making our school grow even more fabulous!  

This year our School Council members are:

Executive Officer - Renee Cotterell

DET Members - Sally Baker, Mara Cook, Kate Marshall

Parent Members - Kahleah Treadwell, Taryn LaGreca, Michael Whiting, Kimberley Dowel, Lauren Leeder, Sarah Scott-Worthington, Jodie Taylor, Jay Allen, Kate Mowbray

Business Manager (visitor) - Kylie Hunter

SunSmart at PSPS

A reminder that hats are non-negotiable at Pakenham Springs during Terms 1 and 4. This includes on rainy and overcast days. Please ensure your child has a navy broad-brimmed or legionnaire-style hat to wear when playing and learning outside.

We encourage all students to apply sunscreen in the morning before school and to reapply during the day as necessary. Parents may wish to supply a small bottle of roll-on sunscreen in their child's bag. Unfortunately, this is not something we can supply or assist students with due to health and safety regulations and Child Safe Standards.

Where to get information at PSPS

The first point of call for information at Pakenham Springs is always Compass and your child's class teacher. Please think about the tone and language you use when clarifying issues or concerns - we are all here for the same reason - to get the best possible outcome for all students!

If you believe that your concern has not been dealt with thoroughly, after speaking to the classroom teacher, please contact the office to make an appointment with one of our Assistant Principals or Leading Teacher. If required, the Assistant Principals or Leading Teacher may refer a concern to the Principal to deal with.

Safety Reminder - coming to and from school

Please, please, please have a chat with your child/ren about traveling safely to school! The number of near-misses that are reported to us, where students have walked or run straight out in front of cars, is truly frightening. 

It is a school rule that bikes and scooters are walked within the schoolyard, and also on the paths adjacent to the school. Until a child crosses a road (Henry Rd, Heritage BLVD or Livingstone BLVD), or is up to the community oval, they should be walking their bike/scooter. 

No child should be riding a bike or a scooter without a properly fitted, Australian Safety Standard-approved helmet on their head. Again, please have a chat with your child/ren about this - a helmet on their handlebars does not have the same protective effect!

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  

Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Have a wonderful fortnight,

The PSPS Leadership Team