Principal Team's Report

This fortnight at the Springs...

Again, it's full steam ahead for Pakenham Springs as we power towards the end of the term!  We've had an action-packed fortnight with some special events in addition to the usual busyness of the school.

Book Week

This year, the theme for Book Week was 'Read, Grow, Inspire' which fits perfectly with our school Mission statement.  It was lovely to see so many students, in all areas of the school, participating in the celebrations of the day by dressing up and taking part in our whole school morning parade. Thank you to the parents and families that came to cheer us on - it's fabulous that we are starting to really build our attendance figures at these special events as the Covid years disappear behind us!

Year 4 Phillip Island Adventure Resort Camp

This year we again sent our Year 4 students off to Phillip Island Adventure Resort for an action-packed 3 days full of giant swings, flying foxes, nature hunts, camp cooking, and beach walks! The camp staff reported back that our students were beautifully behaved and that they participated enthusiastically in all the camp activities. See the following page for photographic evidence of their enjoyment!

Our school staff also spoke highly of the way our students worked together, encouraged each other, and really showed resilience when faced with new and uncomfortable experiences. 

I want to give a massive thank you to our staff and helpers for giving up their precious family time to ensure our Year 4 students had such a great time away.

Staffing changes

As always at The Springs, we have a number of staffing changes to inform you about.

Firstly, we would like to welcome Melissa Bellu into her new role at the school of S38 Classroom teacher.  Mel is a familiar face around the Springs in her role as an LSA, but has now received her Permission to Teach accreditation from the Victorian Institute of Teaching and is looking forward to leading S38 into their last term at PSPS.

We also farewell Mrs Rachel Tierney who is leaving the Springs after a number of years as a Casual Relief Teacher and contract member of staff.  This year Rachel has been working in our LOTE team and has enjoyed teaching our Year 3 students Japanese.  She has also been working one day a week in S34.  We wish Rachel all the best in the future. 

Next term we will also welcome Mrs Sally Baker to our team, in the role of Leading Teacher - Mental Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion. Mrs Baker will support our staff in building our knowledge and practices to continue supporting our students to the highest possible standard.  Stay tuned for more information about Mrs Baker early next term.

2024 Planning

It's that time of year again when we need to finalise our student numbers for 2024.  Please let us know as soon as possible if you have a child starting at the school in 2024 - Step into Prep plans are underway and information is already beginning to go out to families. 

If you have a student leaving the school at the end of this year (apart from our Year 6 students), please let us know as soon as possible.  Accurate student numbers allow us to budget and employ the correct number of staff. We have already commenced our recruitment activities this year due to the state-wide teacher shortage to ensure we lock in the best staff for our students. 

On a similar note, if there are specific issues that need to be considered when placing your child in a class for 2024, these must be put in writing and emailed to the principal by the end of Term 3.  The email address is renee.cotterell@education.vic.gov.au.  Please note that requests directly to teachers may not be considered when we are finalising our overall class structures, groupings and placements for 2024. 

Father's Day

Father's Day has a long history dating to the early 1900's.  The celebration has expanded to honouring people's fathers, grandfathers and other positive male influences in our lives. Father's Day celebrates the influence of these very special people in our community. Students enjoyed shopping at the Fathers/special persons stall this week.  We were very fortunate to have wonderful community helpers, staff, and Year 6 students helping with the organisation and gift purchases.  We wish all the fathers and special persons out there a wonderful day of celebration this weekend.

Hats - Term 4

It's time to look in the back of those cupboards and begin finding hats!  These are required from Day 1 of Term 4 - students will need to remain in a hard-covered area if they do not have a Sunsmart hat at school.  Not only does this affect their play times, it also has an impact on their ability to participate fully in PE and Year Level Sports activities.  A cap or hood is not sun-smart and is not acceptable at Pakenham Springs. 

Staffing

This year we (along with other schools in our network) have been hit hard by illnesses for both staff and students. This, combined with the severe teacher shortage within Victoria, has meant that on many occasions we are struggling to put teachers in front of classes. We do try our best to book quality replacement teachers as much as we possibly can, however frequently we are not getting the number of replacement teachers we require. This then results in a class split.  Please understand that a class split is our last option.  We understand that students may feel apprehensive, nervous, anxious, or just plain sad at the thought of not having their regular teacher and their friends in their class that day, or sometimes for a number of days in a row. 

Our Year Level teams work collaboratively to ensure that our classroom programs provide consistent levels of learning for all students in the cohort.  While 'activities' may look different, the key learning goals are very similar. Our teams also look at student achievement data together and have a good understanding of the variety of needs within the group.  This helps ensure students are not having a 'wasted' day when their regular classroom teacher is absent. 

Again, we do apologise for any inconvenience or anxiety this causes our students.  Please assure them that the regular supports within the school, including the School Chaplain, LSA staff, office staff and Leadership members can all help support them if they are feeling a little lost.

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey 2023

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement.  The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.  All families are invited to participate in the survey.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is open from Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September 2023. Further details and the survey link were sent to all families on Monday 7th August.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.  Please speak to a member of the Leadership Team if you would like more information.

Respectful Relationships Education

This term, we are covering Topic 5: Stress Management and Topic 6: Help Seeking.  While this is a mandated curriculum, these learning goals also support the mission of our school to “educate, motivate and inspire all students to ensure they acquire the essential skills and knowledge to become respectful and informed members of the local and global community.”  Fact sheets have been distributed via Compass to all families so that you are aware of the content covered in this curriculum area.  If you do have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your classroom teacher or our Respectful Relationships Leader, Corrin Warn.

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 8:30 am 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.

Enjoy the fortnight ahead!

The PSPS Leadership Team