From the  Principal 

Welcome back to term 3.

I thoroughly enjoyed the semester break and used it as an opportunity to relax and recharge the batteries ready for the second semester. I do hope our students and families had a similar experience.

The mid-point of the year allows us reflection time to find out what we did well and what we can do better. We have rich data that we use always to improve what we do here at Carnegie PS. The School Improvement team will be looking at the data from a perspective of curiosity to determine ways we can ‘do it better’.

Events

We are excited about the many events and activities planned for our students, including:

• House Rewards Day
• Camps for students in Years 3, 4, and 5
• Athletics carnival, 
• Music festival, 
• Book week and Science week 
• Student-Led Conferences (July 24th) between 9:00 am and 4:30 pm

School Holiday Work

We are thrilled with the progress of our landscaping and maintenance works at CPS that mark a significant step towards creating an even more welcoming and vibrant environment for our students, staff, and community. The front facade has been rendered and repainted, giving our entrance a fresh and inviting new look. This ‘facelift’ not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of our school but also reflects school pride. The front and side gardens have undergone extensive landscaping works. Additionally, parts of Building 1 have received a fresh coat of paint. This is a ‘work in progress’ and further works are planned for later in the year and next year.

Student Free/Curriculum Day

We have scheduled our Curriculum Day for Monday 5th August. Students will not attend school on this day. Youth Leadership Victoria will run a program on this day. We will be undertaking learning around Carnegie’s agreed pedagogical model for teaching and learning and we will also undertake some further work on our values and vision. This is part of our school’s Annual Implementation Plan for 2024.

Long Service Leave

Several of our teachers and administration team  will be taking Long Service Leave (LSL) during Semester 2. Long Service Leave is an earned entitlement that our teachers and Education Support team have worked hard to achieve, and I fully support their decision to take this well-deserved break.

In light of this, we will be making every effort to ensure that our students' learning experience remains consistent and of high quality. We aim to employ known teachers who are familiar with our school and students. However, due to the current teacher shortage, we cannot guarantee that the same teacher will be available every day. 

Casual relief teaching is a flexible employment option that allows teachers to work for a half day, one day, several days, or longer-term assignments. We appreciate the adaptability and commitment of these casual relief teachers who help maintain the continuity of education at Carnegie Primary School.

Please rest assured that we will do everything possible to accommodate the needs of our students and minimise any disruption to their learning experience. Our priority remains the well-being and academic progress of every student.

We will advise you if your child’s class teacher/specialist will be taking leave.

Early Student Pick Up/Collection

A reminder to parents and carers collecting children throughout the school day: Please ensure you report to our office and sign your children out on the COMPASS portal. This is imperative as teachers have noticed that there have been some discrepancies on COMPASS. 

2025 Enrolments

If you are intending on your child commencing Prep next year at Carnegie Primary School, we are now accepting Enrolment Applications! We request that the Enrolment Forms and supporting documents are dropped into the office as soon as possible - even if you just verbally let us know now about a sibling planning on commencing Prep next year so that we may begin our planning of classes and staffing for 2025.

Enrolment forms and the process can be found on our website. If you require any further information on enrolling your child, please do not hesitate to drop into the office, call on 9571 2662 and we will happily answer your queries.

Exiting Students

Do you know if you will be exiting the school at any point this year? Please send us an email at carnegie.ps@education.vic.gov.au or contact the office: 9571 2662 Knowing this information in advance will assist the school with planning, budgets and staffing. Your plans do not have to be set in concrete, just a heads up of your future intentions will do. Again, this helps us with planning classes and staffing for 2025.

Karen Roberts

 I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which this is being read and pay my respects to elders past present and emerging. I wish to acknowledge our First Nations people and pay respects to them. I note further that these lands were never ceded and are, and always will be, Aboriginal Lands.