Principal's News
Welcome Back
It is so nice to return back to school to begin our final term of the year, to be graced with some longer daylight hours and the prospect of some warmer weather over the coming weeks and months ahead. Welcome back everyone, I hope you were able to find some time to spend together over the school holiday break and enjoy some new experiences or create some lasting memories. Congratulations to those Brisbane (and old Fitzroy) supporters who celebrated their 3rd premiership in a row, a significant achievement.
Term 4 is always such a fast paced term, there are so many things happening throughout the school, we are looking forward to sharing in these moments and celebrations with you and completing term 4 with our families and your children. Thank you for taking a moment to read over our first newsletter of the term, these will continue to be delivered throughout Term 4 each fortnight.
Podcast
A big thanks to Carlene and Jarrod (mother and father of Harper – Year 1) who have produced and edited the second episode of the ‘CPS Our School Stories’ podcast. The episode is accessible via the link here.
Staffing Update
I am pleased to share that Miss (Sarah) Horner will complete the school year with our Year 5/6 students following an additional recruitment process appointed her to the position for the remainder of the year. She has made a great impact in a short period of time and we look forward to having her continue in our school during Term 4.
Student Free Days
A couple of dates and reminders for the Term 4 diary, we have a couple of student free days and a public holiday in Term 4, these will occur on the:
- Monday 2nd November – Student Free Day
- Tuesday 3rd November – Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
- Monday 7th December – Student Free Day
Team Kids will run a student free day program on the student free days but the school will be fully closed on the public holiday.
A Splash of Colour
A huge thank you to Miho SB and her talented group of CPS artists that have responded to the request from Kyle P (father of Poppy – Year 1) to brighten up the corridors, reception and consulting rooms at the Prahran Urgent Care Clinic with some artwork. Prahran Urgent Care Clinic is a non-for-profit, urgent GP service, free for all visitors regardless of if you have Medicare. It’s a great service for parents if they have sick or injured kids needing an urgent appointment. Students or families who want to view their artwork in person are also always welcome. Thank you Kyle for giving our students the opportunity to make a considerable difference in the community.
School Holiday Maintenance
The school holiday period was a great opportunity to undertake some maintenance around the school, we had some minor electrical work completed and had our wooden playground support beams replaced, as many of them had rotted at their base due to moisture. It was great to have this work done over the break. In addition to this, we have an accessible building grant application approved with work due to commence in coming weeks on an access ramp and landing for the Year ¾ portable.
2027 Parent Requests
Please be on the lookout for a Sentral message on Monday morning detailing information about parent requests for 2027. In addition to this and in a move designed to ensure families are having important discussions at home, student preferences (previously undertaken in our classrooms) will be done at home via an online form. This will ensure that families are having conversations together about who children would like to be placed with in their classroom in 2027, giving students the chance to submit 5 names. We have made this change as we often receive student requests and parent requests which are in essence different, we are hopeful of creating greater alignment in this process so that families feel like they have oversight and involvement in their child’s decisions.
Grill’d Jars
Thanks so much to our hardworking PFC and Fete committee who put our school name up at Grill’d for the Local Matters Jars competition, the school was credited with a $100 donation which is a great outcome.
Attendance
There is a significant emphasis placed on school attendance in our local network and our Term 3 data indicates that 16% of students with greater than 20 days absence in the term (chronic absence is defined as greater than 5 days).
As we prioritise regular school attendance. We will work with families to ensure students are in class with their peers and teachers and enjoying all the benefits that brings. Attending school every day means experiencing what counts – the learning, friendship, fun and opportunities that can shape your child’s future.
We understand that there are times when your child will need to miss school but to ensure minimal disruption to their education, please consider scheduling family holidays or medical/dental appointments outside of school time. If your child is well enough to attend but is worried about friendships or schoolwork, please encourage them to come to school. Avoiding school can make these feelings worse and can create a negative pattern of behaviour.
If your child is having difficulty attending school, talk to their teacher or Morioka sensei, Mrs Weston or myself about getting support. We know that parents and carers can be juggling challenges daily to get your children to school. If your child must miss school, notify us as soon as possible via Sentral, email or phone call to the office so we can work together to support them.
For more information about the importance of everyday attendance, see Attendance and Missing School.
Work Experience
It was so lovely to welcome back one of our former students, Elodene A to complete her work experience in our school this week. Elodene took the initiative to return back to our school and spend some time in our classrooms helping and providing valuable assistance to our teachers. Thank you Elodene!
Judo
Congratulations to Akari Y from 1/2D. Akari competed in a South-Eastern regional club-level Judo competition. Competing in the Under 25kg division, Akari was the lightest and smallest competitor in her group but showed incredible determination and skill to earn 3rd place! Her next big challenge will be representing her club at the State Competition.
Parent Information Session
Thank you to Miss Gibson and Mari sensei who took the first steps towards welcoming our 2027 students and families with our Prep Information session held on Tuesday evening, it was a great turn out and we are looking forward to working with our newest students over the coming months as we begin our transition program and we start the first steps towards beginning school. Thank you to those families in attendance.
School Fete
Term 4 means it is one step closer to our school fete, thank you to our hardworking fete committee who have met regularly throughout the year and will begin exercising plenty of enthusiasm in seeking the voluntary support of our school community to ensure the day is a wonderful success. There are families that have undertaken considerable work, including over the school holiday break to plan and prepare for this event, please keep an eye on the sub-heading in our fortnightly newsletters as we amp up communication and preparation for our school fete.
Japan Trip
We have an excited travelling party that is getting prepared to depart for Japan on the 19th October, we look forward to sharing in some of these highlights and hearing about their exciting journey ahead. My thanks to Kurokawa sensei, Morioka sensei, Miss Molloy and Miss Gibson who have put together a very exciting itinerary for the students and have put in a of planning and preparation to ensure the trip is a wonderful event for our students.
3v3 Basketball
We began this week with 27 enthusiastic Year 5/6 students who put their hand up to try out for our 3 v 3 basketball teams who are competing at St Michaels Grammar next Wednesday in a 3 v 3 competition. We are unfortunately limited to only take 10 students for this event but it was great to support Miss Molloy and watch on as we saw boys and girls playing some trial games at lunchtime on Tuesday and Wednesday. Every student participated with enthusiasm, skill and fair play which was really impressive. This is a new event for the school and we look forward to having a go at this together next Wednesday with our two teams.
Team Kids
School Council have taken the opportunity to review and extend our contract with Team Kids as our Out of School Hours provider for a further two years, extending our arrangement until the end of 2029. We have enjoyed a great relationship with Team Kids, and they are a strong supporter of our school and most importantly, are offering a great program for our students that is well utilised and very popular, before and afterschool and during their holiday program.
A busy first week back, a busy newsletter and what promises to be a busy and exciting term ahead. It was great to reconnect with everyone this week. Enjoy the coming weekend and I look forward to seeing you around the school.
Take Care,
Edward Strain
Principal