PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Extra adults in the school

Since the beginning of Term 4 you may have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of adults around the school or in your child’s class. This is because we have been very fortunate to host close to 20 university education students who are studying to become teachers. 

We currently have students from five different universities completing placement at our school. Having these extra adults in our learning spaces increases support for our students, assists our teachers to cater for all the students in their care, and provides us with a pipeline of future employees each time we require new teachers. Only yesterday we hired one of these students to teach at Plenty Parklands in 2026.

Chess Club

In addition to the many support programs we currently offer at Plenty Parklands, we have recently reinstated our student Chess Club, which is now held in Session 3 on a Friday morning in our staff room. Facilitated by myself and Miss Jowett, one of our ES staff, the Chess Club is attended by fifteen selected students to work on their problem-solving strategies and social skills. 

If your child plays chess at home and is a candidate for this program, please let your classroom teacher know.

Parent Requests

We have recently received an influx of parent requests relating to concerns they may have as we enter the placement process for 2026 classes. Thank you to those parents who have communicated appropriately via email or hard copy. We will endeavour to add this information to what is already a very complex process.

Wind Damage

On Wednesday afternoon we had extreme wind damage to various aspects of the school. One shade sail has collapsed, and several large tree branches have fallen. Our maintenance team are currently dealing with these issues. This is a great example of why sometimes we call an extreme weather timetable at recess or lunch, should we feel, that conditions might endanger any of our students. Often the children may come home frustrated that they have missed their outdoor breaktimes, but I’m sure you’d agree, safety comes first when making these decisions.

Sports Finals

Mr. Scanu and Mr. Falcone have spent many hours in my office over the past couple of weeks organising numerous sport excursions due the outstanding achievements of your children. This week alone we have seen students go off to compete in Cricket, Volleyball, Lawn Bowls and Hot Shots Tennis. We wish all the students who are now moving onto the State level finals the best of luck!

Extension Programs

I was delighted to spend some time in the staffroom today engrossed in what our students were doing in the Cre8tive Minds Program. 

Plenty Parklands has always been well respected for the extension programs it offers, some of which are organised by us and some of which are paid for by families, such as ICAS Testing and Cre8tive Minds. These are great opportunities for students to challenge themselves and work with peers who are likeminded. 

In other exciting news soon to be announced, we have even had a student achieve “medal status in the area of science”. This ICAS award is very rare and has only been achieved a couple of times at Plenty Parklands in the history of the school.

Emergency Evacuation Drill

If your child comes home this afternoon talking about their participation in a whole school evacuation to the hall, please note it was only for one of our scheduled emergency evacuation practices. 

Have a great weekend,

David Whewell | Principal