Principal's Page 

From Christian's desk....

Book Week

This week the school has had the most wonderful celebration of books and all things literary, as a part of Book Week.  To quote a parent this morning, “I love how this school goes all out!” For more see Bree’s Assistant Principal Report.

Thank You! 

As the community are aware, our Parents’ Association hosted a hugely successful Trivia Night a fortnight ago. On Friday, in a delightful addition to CHAPS’ fundraising efforts, I received an email sharing that the grandparents of a student at the school would like to donate $300 extra to the fundraiser because “$15,000 sounds like a great amount” as opposed to almost that! 

Proudly, my engagements with the family have always been so overwhelmingly complimentary of our school community:  the people in it, the programs offered, the learning climate and so much more!

Thank you for your generosity!

Wakakirri Update – We’re Through!

As shared last week our team cleaned up at last week’s Wakakirri, taking home a huge number of major awards.  This week Ros and the team were notified that they’re off to the State Finals on 4 September!

Good luck to the team and well-done Ros, Mrs Watterson, and students!

Arrival Time

A reminder the school officially opens at 8:45am. This time is the nominated time staff are on duty and able to suitably supervise students. Of concern, is a growing number of children being dropped off prior to 8:30am. The school acknowledges:

• some students arrive under the care of their families earlier than that time. 
• some parents and carers allow their children to enter the school on their own at a time earlier than 8:45am and do so with the understanding that the school has limited supervision.
• safely moving community members between the home and school in a 15-minute window is challenging a requires a united approach to supervision and duty of care.

The school provides an Out-of-Hours School Care service for families that need their children cared for prior to 8:45am.  With CCF rebates the out-of-pocket expense for families is often much less than families would think. I encourage families to explore this as an alternative to dropping their children off so early. 

Read more:

• Croydon Hills Primary School Yard Duty and Supervision Policy
• Croydon Hills Primary School Duty of Care Policy 

Concerning News Reports

Last Thursday I was disappointed with inaccurate news reports citing Croydon Hills Primary School in a segment related to teacher shortages in Victoria. The segment aired on Channel 7 News and incorrectly reported that our school is suffering staffing shortages, which is not true. 

It is my opinion that data derived to support the reporter’s narrative was manipulated and, for those who understand how recruitment in schools works, is simply part of the school’s annual recruitment processes.  Moreover, had due diligence been done, such evidence to oppose the narrative would easily have been found.

I elevated my concerns to the Department of Education to handle on our school’s behalf. 

Christian Holdsworth  -  Principal