Principal Team Editorial
Our settled and smooth start to Term 1 has continued and, without doubt, the best part of my day is visiting classrooms, talking with students, and observing the learning and engagement happening around the College.
Although it's tempting at times to stay at my desk and respond to the many emails and phone calls I receive, the importance of seeing what's happening in classrooms and the yard far outweighs the administration tasks that are needed to be done on any given day.
As we have welcomed back students throughout the past 4 weeks, our collective focus has been on consistency. We want teachers to have a consistent approach across the College to managing behaviour and in teaching classes. As a mum of three, I know what a difference consistency in parenting can have and it's no different in teaching. It's normal for kids to push boundaries and test the rules as they grow and mature, however, research evidence supports the fact that the more consistent teachers and parents are in implementing rules and expectations, the safer kids feel and the greater opportunities they have for success.
I urge parents and carers to continue supporting us with the implementation of consistent routines, rules and expectations around:
- wearing the correct uniform,
- not using phones or earbuds during school hours,
- getting to school on time,
- adhering to entry/exit routines, and
- always being respectful to one another and staff.
Positive Green Chronicles
'Green' Compass chronical posts are a way that our teachers recognise positive behaviour and learning growth. If a student receives a Green post, it appears in their Compass and Maestro dashboards for parents, students and staff to see. It's a great way for teachers to celebrate and reinforce positive behaviour and learning. Our Year Level Leaders track how many green posts students receive and award 'Greenies' at the end of each week.
As I stated earlier, we are off to a great start to the year and this is reflected in the amount of 'Green' positive Compass chronicles that students have received. This year, across the school we have given 4431 Green positive learning and behaviour chronicles compared to 3240 at this same time last year! And what really excites me, are the 2623 Green 'learning growth' chronicles given out, compared to just 769 at this time last year! Although it's still early days, this outstanding data indicates that teachers and students are focussed on what really matters - learning!
Parent/Carers Forum
Tue 5 March 6pm - 7.30pm
Refreshments provided
Our Parent Forums are held each term with a different focus or theme. Parent Forums give parents and carers an opportunity to meet with the Principal Team, provide feedback and get to know other parents. This term our focus is Communications. We will start with a short 'meet and greet', followed by a discussion on the Communication streams of our College (Our aim, what works/doesn't work for you, etc) and then we will run some optional short workshops on Maestro and Compass, with a further opportunity to socialise.
I extend a warm invitation to all our parents/carers, particularly our new parents/carers to come along to our first Parent Forum for 2024. I look forward to having a chat, answering questions and listening to feedback, particularly on what we can do better.
Please provide your intention to attend for catering purposes HERE.
Thank you
Thank you to the school community for navigating the challenges that the power outage caused last week. The way we came together to keep the school open and run a normal timetable is a testament to our parents, students and staff. Our thoughts are with those families and staff who suffered ongoing power issues and damage as a result of the storm. It's been a tough week for many in our community!
Finally, thank you to all our Year 7 campers, students and staff - it was a fantastic camp and contributed significantly to a very positive start to the year.
Meet the Team
Last week, our College Captains sat with the Principal team to find out more about them...
Carrie Wallis
Acting Principal