David's Message

Dear Sunshine Heights Parents and Carers,

Today I have a few key things to share with you. Please make sure you keep reading to the end as I share some big news... 

I'll start by sharing some great photos of the learning I saw this week on my visits to the classrooms. Many of you may know that I completed my first degree in Botany and Zoology, so visiting the year 4 students as they learnt about Animal Adaptations made my heart sing, especially as they shared some key facts with me about their chosen creatures. At SHPS we know that building background knowledge is an essential part of helping students to become great readers and writers, which is why we link our core knowledge building through our Unit of Work to explicit instruction during our Reading lessons. Thank you to all the students for sharing your learnings with me, I hope we have created the next generation of David Attenboroughs and Jane Goodalls!

Each year we have a number of policies that we update. One that we are currently gaining feedback on is our Bullying Prevention and Response Policy. This week our student leaders have been consulting with leadership on the policy and what they see as the best steps to support students who experience bullying, both as the victim and perpetrator. It was impressive to see how much they have thought about ways we can create a school community where all students gain the wellbeing support to ensure bullying is prevented and responded to. We would love to hear our parent's thoughts on this too. We have created a google form which you can access through the link below:

https://forms.gle/Q2CJ9UXRDkk3CAdk9

Finally, I have some news that will be sad for all of us to hear, but which also represents a celebration. Many of you will know that Miss Francine has an amazing passion for student Wellbeing and community engagement, particularly supporting diverse communities to access education and success. Next term Miss Francine will be leaving us to join the leadership team of The River Nile School, an independent school that supports Women from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds to reengage with education. We are beyond excited for Francine, and know that she will continue to have an exceptional impact in her new role. We will always have a special place in our hearts for Francine, and she has created a world class Wellbeing and Inclusion program at our school. On a personal note, Francine has become an incredible friend and confidant over the past four years of my time here, and for all our staff, students and parents she represents the best that Sunshine Heights has to offer; someone who cares deeply about each of us, has VERY big dreams for our future, and a relentless drive to bring amazing opportunities for all. Miss Francine's last day with us will be Friday 18th October (end of week 2, term 4). Keep the tissues handy!

We have conducted our interviews for a new Assistant Principal yesterday, and so we are pleased to announce that Vicki McMahon will be joining the principal class team as Assistant Principal for Wellbeing and Inclusion. Vicki has significant knowledge and passion for supporting students from a range of backgrounds, and is herself a true champion for every student in our community reaching for the skies. She will be transitioning into the role at the start of next term, working alongside Francine for the first two weeks of term, and co-designing the future of this important work.

Also joining our school next term will be our new Speech Pathologist, Thao Tran, our new Occupational Therapist, Vanessa Wolf, and our Art Therapists Kanling Juric and Olympia Antoniadis. We are very pleased to have such an incredible team forming to be able to support our community!

We look forward to seeing you all next term; safe holidays and make sure you rest up ready for an amazing term 4.

Best wishes, 

David and the Sunny Heights Team