Principal's Message
Our children are our future...
Principal's Message
We have just completed our Learning to Learn fortnight where we established the required habits, routines and procedures for students to experience success. Good habits are the foundation of a productive life. In his book, Atomic Habits, author James Clear says, "... a habit is a routine or behaviour that is performed regularly and automatically. Habits are not just single actions but rather the compound effect of repeated actions over time." Clear often uses the metaphor of habits being like the atoms of our lives, small units that, when compounded, form the building blocks of our overall behaviour and outcomes.
Staff have been working hard at standardising these habits across the school so our environment becomes predictable, and by extension, psychologically safe. We have our Big 10 Essential Habits along with our 5R's (behavioural steps) which outline for the students how to act and what happens when their behaviour falls below the expectation. They are less consequences, but more coaching opportunities to help students when they may behave in a way that can harm or disrupt themselves or our community. Our overall environment is very orderly. Staff are also coached in how to behave in front of their class. We work at all levels (students and staff) to coach and improve and that is what makes our school stand out from all others that I have worked in. It helps when children arrive from homes that are well-disciplined, which is largely the case at SMPS.
We are far from perfect, because we are human - but we try hard to create the type of environment that every parent would reasonably expect of their school. From next week, our focus turns on training the students (and staff) around how to deliver our academic program. The focus shifts from behaviour to cognition and student outcomes but we never lose sight of the fact that we operate in a community where kindness is king.
Parent Information Online Sessions
For those of you who may have missed last week's Principal's Newsfeed, below are the links which will lead you to the Parent Information Online Sessions. Although they are about 50 minutes in length, we encourage all parents to view them so you know what is happening in your child's school. We hope you enjoy the insights and we encourage you to email through any further questions to your child's classroom teacher. We will collate all questions and send a Q&A in a future communique.
Getting To Know Your Child Chats - Please Book
- We currently have 71% of families booked in for their meeting. Thank you very much!
- It is a 15 minute meeting happening this Week (Mon 12th Feb - Fri 16th Feb) between 8:00am-8:30am or 3:45pm-4:30pm.
- Prep Families have different times available.
- We are aiming for 100% attendance. Please book a meeting on Compass if you have not done so already.
- If you are finding it difficult to use Compass, please contact your child's teacher to arrange a time to meet. We can also help at the office.
- Meetings will occur in person in your child(s) classroom.
- Thank you, we look forward to continue building strong relationships together.
Upcoming Curriculum Day - Feb 19
Please be aware that Monday, February 19 is a Curriculum Day with no students attending. If you require child care on the day, please book into OSHClub using the online portal which can be found later in this Newsletter. We appreciate the support all parents give to the staff to further our learning. We empathise that it does stretch parents having to arrange for the care of the children on this day. We promise to work hard as a return on your investment and trust.
Privacy Policy
Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.
Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Microsoft 365 safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education], please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for Parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:
- Amharic
- Arabic
- Dari
- Gujarati
- Mandarin
- Somali
- Sudanese
- Turkish
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
Nominations for School Council
This is just a flag that there will be a separate Principal's Newsfeed coming out explaining the process to call for School Council nominations. We have three parent vacancies to fill in 2024 so, if you are keen, put your name down to join in.
No action is required right now as the Newsfeed will explain everything systematically. Please look at the PDF below for common Q&A's in the lead up to the process.