Principal's Report

Hello parents and families,

I hope you're all having a fantastic week! I wanted to provide you with a brief update on what's been happening at our school lately.

Our teachers have been hard at work with assessment and reporting, and we're very pleased with the growth and achievements of our students across the school. It's always wonderful to see their progress!

Our Prep teachers have done an amazing job running a transition program for our 2024 Preps who will be starting school next year. It's important to ensure a smooth transition for our little ones and it has been so good to see there happy smiling faces each time they have attended a transition session. Already it seems they know how school works, where they have to go and who the teachers are. We are confident they will settle in very quickly.

Today, our Prep, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students are having their athletics day. They've been learning new skills with Mr. Spinks in physical education, and I'm sure they'll have a great time! It's always good to see them having a go and to see them really shine. We have students who excel in Maths, Literacy etc, but it is also important to see some students perform on the sporting field and creative arts.

A big thank you to those who attended our parent helpers session on Monday with Ms. Epskamp. We appreciate your willingness to spend time in school with us. It truly makes a difference and your children love to see you in their school and classrooms. As I have said many times, we want you to be as involved as you would like. DPS is your school.

In other news, our Grade 5 students have applied for the role of School Captains in 2024. We're currently going through the selection process that includes interviews with current captains as part of the selection panel. It's an exciting time for leadership opportunities. It is such a difficult task because we have so many students who are capable and deserving of being a captain at DPS. Sadly we only have four captains.

At the start of 2024 we will be electing sports and house captains.

Additionally, some of our Grade 6 students are in serious training for the Great Victorian Bike Ride. We have a team of 16 students participating in this challenging event. We commend their dedication and, enthusiasm and keep reminding them that every kilometre they ride before the event will make it easier and more enjoyable. Preparation is important and they are improving so much. We look forward to hearing all about the ride when they get back. Each day they will ride between 65 and 90 kilometres!

There are still many activities planned for the rest of the term to keep the students engaged in their learning. Some dates to remember include the Grade 6 Graduation Night on December 5, School Captain elections for 2024, P-2 Athletics day on November 16th, Billy Bonkers ice cream day on Friday December 1st, Fun Day on December 6th, Christmas Carols and performance on December 7th and much more. There are many exciting events to look forward to, but we must remember to make the most of everyday of teaching and learning. For that reason we won't focus on or do Christmas activities until the last week of term. We also encourage parents to make sure your children attend school everyday and that they are here on time ready to start class at 9am sharp.

We continue to track attendance data of every student and those who are regularly late or absent have consequences from a phone call to parents requesting an explanation, to more serious consequences such as calling a meeting with parents or developing an individual attendance plan. 

As we finalise staffing and class structures for next year, we want to make sure we understand the needs of each and every child. If you have any information or concerns that you feel could assist us in this process, please don't hesitate to email me or give me a call. We value your input!

Last Friday our senior students presented a special assembly to acknowledge Rememberance Day. These students worked with Mrs. Keen on their speeches which the delivered with great confidence. Each class learned about the significance of Rememberance Day. 

Thank you for your continued support and remember, every day counts. Let's all work together to ensure our students have a successful end of term, and end of Primary school for our graduating Grade 6 students. 

Regards

Jim Hill

Principal