PRINCIPAL UPDATE
Good afternoon all,
It has been a very exciting couple of weeks and wonderful to see students building relationships and engaging in our Learning to Learn program.
This week, in classes other than Prep, we see the implementation of structured curriculum delivery across all core learning areas.
Prep students will have this week to continue the Learning to Learn program prior to the commencement of core learning areas the following week.
We again welcome Emma McLaren, Claire Owen, Karen Badenhope along with Tyler Barker, Lachie McLean, Casey Angus, Paige Suter and Julie Costello to the staffing team here at Chilwell.
Meet and Greets will take place tomorrow evening and if you require an appointment please do so via the link in Compass by 4pm today. We look forward to seeing families throughout the school on the night. Specialists will be available for conversations in the Art Room from 3:40pm until 6:40pm. If there is important information to share with them about your child/ren, please pop past for a chat in addition to classroom teachers.
Whilst we love to access our school grounds after school and on weekends, we can't stress enough the importance of caring for our amazing facilities. Please make sure if accessing the front space children are not jumping on garden beds, filling the fountains with dirt, rocks and sand, along with the sinks. We understand this is fun but is creating multiple concerns and issues which will continue to cost us in repairs. Last weekend alone, saw children jumping in the fountain tray, pulling boulders away from the creek bed and throwing them, along with flattening plants and shrubs in the garden beds. All this occurring apparently whilst in the care of adults. The Sensory Garden at the front is a wonderful space to play and immerse ourselves in water play out of school hours, and we ask that parents monitor their children when using this space.
We are loving our new lawn at the front of the school, and I am sure it will be popular on weekends. We now want to work on the rest of the front of the school in order to complete the area. How exciting!
We do not play in the front of the school of a morning, and afternoons is by supervision of an adult only. This is due to the fact that yard duty is at the rear of the school and we want to ensure all students are supervised.
Willow, our very special school dog will be attending school on Fridays this year. She has been around all classes to say hello, enjoyed lots of cuddles and walks with students and met the Preps for the first time last Friday. Willow is a very calm dog that engages well with all students, and is a great mind reader, picking up on children that are anxious, worried or sad. She is a friendly member of our school community. We are well aware of students with fears of dogs, or allergies and ensure this is managed each Friday to ensure students feel safe around Willow.
We have policy in place stating that dogs are not permitted on school grounds at any time and ask that this is adhered to. Willow is an exception to this outlined in a Pets in School policy due to her role and the way in which she interacts with individuals.
Save the Date! – March 20th for our annual Chilwell Fair. We are getting excited and well into the planning phase for the event. We are still seeking sponsorship as per the Compass email sent previously. Please contact myself via the office to discuss opportunities pertaining to this.
There will be a Fair meeting Tuesday 17th February at 7pm in the Staffroom for parents wanting to coordinate a stall, activity etc. Information will come out tomorrow specifically about this.
Our newly formed Friends of Chilwell (Parents and Friends Association) put on a wonderful morning tea for our new Prep parents last week. Thanks to parents Rachel, Shelley, Phoebe and Emily for preparing this prior to engaging with families after they dropped their child off in the classroom. We look forward to other Friends of Chilwell events this year and thank the 15 parents who have joined this team so far.
Have a great week all.
Kind regards,
Meg