Principal's Message

Dear Families

I trust that you have managed in the hot weather we have had of late.  It has certainly made things a little uncomfortable both at school and at home.  We do, however, encourage you to continue to send your children to school in the hot weather.  Our buildings are not prone to heating up and many of them have air-conditioning.  Every day that your child is absent is a missed learning opportunity – and does impact on children’s social connections as well.  

NAPLAN testing

Children in years three and five will be participating in Naplan testing between Wednesday, March 13 and Friday, March 15.  These tests measure student achievement in literacy and numeracy at a given point in time and give parents and school clear indicators of children’s learning strengths and next steps in most instances.  We ask parents to make every effort to have their children here on those days.  The assessment is undertaken in class time in exam like conditions and reports will come home to parents indicating their child’s results in late term two or early term three.  The best way to prepare your child for these tests is to ensure they get a good night’s sleep, (as being well rested reduces anxiety,) and to make sure they have had a good breakfast on test day.  All other preparation will be done at school.  We like the children to understand that the tests are important, but we also do not want to put any undue pressure on them.  All we ask is that they give it their best attempt on the day.  

Community Picnic

Between 3.00 – 5.00pm on March 14 our school is holding the community picnic.  Classes will work with their buddy grade to put together a stall and there will be food vans available for those who are looking for a snack.  We encourage you to come along and join in the fun of this annual event which is designed as an opportunity for families to participate in school life together.  

Badge presentation ceremony

At 2.00pm on Thursday, March 14 our student leaders will be presented with badges recognising their office at our annual badge presentation ceremony.  This ceremony will honour the members of our Junior School Council and well as recognising the leadership role of our School Captains, Vice-Captains and house leaders.  This presentation will be held in the gym, and parents are welcome to attend.  

School Council Elections

AT the close of the call for nominations for membership of our school council at 4pm on Monday, February 26 we received two nominations for the parent member category, and one for the department representative and as such I have pleasure in declaring the following people elected:

                                                 Parent representatives: Sharon Gatt,  Chris Sutcliffe                                                 Departmental representative:  Sal Farfalla

As the number of nominations did not match the number of vacancies, I have issued a further call for nominations via COMPASS yesterday.  We still have ONE (1) parent vacancy to be filled.  Should the number of nominations received in this second round be more than one then an election will be called.  The ballot will be open between Tuesday, March 5, and Tuesday, March 12.  

Parent-teacher interviews

It has been pleasing to see the numbers of families taking advantage of the opportunity to participate in parent teacher interviews this week.  Our initial group was on Monday afternoon with the next round held this afternoon.  These meetings provide parents with a good opportunity to share with their child’s classroom teacher information which is relevant to their child’s school day.  This may include fears, likes and interests as well as social skills and challenges.  Please note, the teacher is not yet able to provide accurate feedback about student achievement as the school year has only just commenced.  

School oval

Have you noticed that our school oval now has grass on it?  There have also been two 50,000 litre water tanks installed to capture the water from the roof of the gymnasium which will assist in watering the grass on this newly refurbished pl space.  Whilst the oval continues to be out of bounds, we are looking forward to the day in the very near future when it will be handed back to the school for student use. 

Support services offered by the school

Our school provides a number of supports to assist with student learning and from time to time one of these staff may be in touch with you to suggest some assistance they can provide for your child.  This is inclusive of Social Workers, Psychologists, a Mental Health leader and Occupational Therapists.  Up until 2024 we have also had access to a speech therapist, but this staff member accepted a promotion position and no longer works at our school.  We are currently recruiting for another one.  It is important to note that these services do not replace the interventions you would have in place with your child privately.  We are not able to respond to requests from parents for their child to be seen by one of these people.  Their role is to support our classroom teachers to adjust programs for your son or daughter so that they are better able to experience success.  Any service provided by them is done at the request of our intervention support team who triage the load and direct the support where they believe it to be most beneficial.  We will be introducing you to some of these people in today’s newsletter and will follow up will some others later in the year.  

Have a fabulous weekend everyone.

Kind regards

Sue Seneviratne

Principal