Principal's Message
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
It has been nice to have a pleasant week of weather – not too hot, and not too cold, but perfect for a range of outdoor activities that have taken place this week. The weather is warming up even further over the weekend, with temperatures in the 30’s expected for most of next week. Please ensure your child comes to school with their hat, drink bottle, and sunscreen applied in the morning. No doubt the air conditioners will be in full swing next week to help keep the students comfortable in their various learning environments!
Hockey and AFL Clinics
On Wednesday two extra-curricular events took place for some of our students that were highly enjoyable for those involved. Students in Grades 1 to 4 participated in hockey clinics in the stadium with representatives from the Hamilton Hockey Association – thank you to Liz Mecham along with her children Sam and Molly, along with Liv Read and Will Cameron for coming along to provide this opportunity for our students. The Hamilton Hockey Association would love to have more children become involved in local hockey and a flyer is included further in this newsletter if your child would like to become involved.
Grade 4 students were also given the opportunity to attend an AFL Football Clinic at Mitchell Park, with a small group of players from the Geelong Football Club leading students through a range of practice drills. Again this was a great session for our students, especially Geelong fans in the group (including Mrs Clark, pictured here with Jack Henry) who got to meet some of their idols!
Term 1 – Athletics
Physical Education and Sport are a key feature of our year-long programs and throughout the year all students will get to participate in Athletics and Swimming, with students in Grades 3 to 6 also getting to experience other sports such as Cross Country, Football, Netball, T20 Cricket and Hooptime Basketball, just to name a few. In term 1 our main focus is on Athletics and students have been refining their skills in the disciplines of running (sprint, hurdles and distance events for grades 3 to 6), along with the field events of discus, shot put, high jump and long jump. It is now just under three weeks until our School Athletics Sports will be held, the running events at Mitchell Park on Tuesday 5th March and the field events here at school on Wednesday 6th March. This is a highly anticipated event on our school calendar for both the students and parents who are able to come along, watch and cheer on our budding athletes!
Lunchtime Clubs and Activities
There are a range of activities available to students during a lunch break on different days of the week. We have provided a summary of each of these activities further in this newsletter for parents to know what takes place on the different days.
XUNO
As all families would now be aware, we have introduced XUNO over the past few months as a new student management tool to enhance communication between school and home. We have started using this platform to provide information to families regarding upcoming events through either the calendar or by posting messages or notices. If you haven’t already done so, we recommend that you enable notifications in the settings on your phone so you are alerted with information, such as when the newsletter has been uploaded. If you haven’t yet done so, search for XUNO Family in your App Store and download for easy access. As of Monday, you will receive a notification from XUNO if you haven’t notified the school when your child is absent from school.
Student Photos
Our official school photos are taken early in term 4 each year however we have had Leading Image visit our school today to take photos of our Prep students, along with any other new staff and students, so these can also be uploaded into XUNO to assist our student management system. Where a student photo doesn’t currently appear in XUNO, you will soon notice this change.
Parent Payments
As advised earlier this year we had some enquiries regarding Parent Payments. Information regarding voluntary Parent Payments has been sent home with students this week. If any families have questions regarding these, please feel free to contact the office.
Art Night
This term we will be holding an Arts Festival night on Thursday 21st March that will take place from 6:00 to 7:30pm. This night will feature a range of art stations where activities are organised with materials and instructions to come and try – similar to our ‘STEM Night’ that is usually held in term 3. There will be a range of hands-on activities that are sure to be a lot of fun! More information regarding the night will be provided closer to the night but for now we ask you please mark this date on your calendars!
Prep Parents Welcome BBQ and Chat
A reminder that we will be holding a gathering for Prep parents on Wednesday 28th February. We will commence with a BBQ from 5:30pm and will then hold a chat with parents on how we teach aspects of the curriculum (e.g. our Sounds Write program for the teaching of literacy skills). This will also be a great opportunity for parents to meet one another. A flyer promoting this event has been distributed to prep families earlier this week.
Grade 6 Transition
Next Thursday all students in Grade 6 have been invited to attend Baimbridge College as a part of the annual transition program. Information has previously been provided to families and today a notice from our school has been sent home regarding this activity. If you haven’t received either of these notices, please contact the office.
Have a great weekend!
Ben Kelson
Principal