Wrapping Up Term 1

As we head into the final week of Term 1, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible progress we've made as a school community. Our students have shown remarkable enthusiasm and resilience, embracing new challenges, both in the classroom and through all the extra activities we offer here at the Springs. The dedication of our teachers, along with the support of our parents, has been instrumental in creating a positive and inclusive learning environment. While we've faced some challenges, it's been inspiring to see everyone come together, adapt, and grow. I’m excited about what lies ahead in Term 2!

Don't forget that Term One finishes on Friday, April 4th at 2:30 pm. School returns for Term Two on Tuesday 22nd April. ANZAC Day is also in the first week back, with Friday 25th April being a Public Holiday (no students at school).

This fortnight at the Springs

Over the past fortnight, we've enjoyed watching our year 1 and 2 students finish their swimming lessons. The progress they've made over the five sessions is remarkable, with their confidence and competence growing each lesson.

We've also enjoyed celebrating Harmony Day as a school community. This day is a celebration of cultural diversity and a time to promote respect, inclusiveness and a sense of belonging for us all. We are proud of the diverse population of our students and believe that each and every person in our community adds value. The little splashes of orange that we've seen around the school on Harmony Day were a great reminder of the inclusive nature of our school.

On Wednesday our Prep students celebrated a fantastic first term of school, with their Grandparents and Special Person visiting our classrooms. It is so lovely to see the pride on the faces of our students as they show off their learning and personal development throughout the term.

Student Learning Conferences

From your feedback, we moved our Student Learning Conferences (Parent / Teacher / Student Interviews) earlier in the year. These will now take place in Week 3 of Term 2, on Tuesday 6th May. Bookings will be available on Compass shortly. While we do set aside this evening for interviews, we understand that this date or time may not be suitable for all. Please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher to arrange a more suitable time to discuss the progress and achievement of your child.

Dance afternoon

We had so much fun this week with our Footsteps Dance Day. Throughout the day, different groups of students learned different dance styles — there were lots of funky moves on display! The enthusiasm, positivity, and participation of all students were excellent, and it was wonderful to see so many students proudly showing off their newly mastered moves to our families after school for our Community Dance Afternoon. Thank you to everyone who came along to have some fun with us!

NAPLAN

Well done to all of our Year 3 and 5 students for successfully completing their NAPLAN assessments over the previous fortnight. These tests assess our student's capability in Reading, Writing, and Language Conventions (spelling and grammar) as well as in Numeracy. They provide a snapshot of student achievement, standardised across the whole of Australia. While these tests are important for us to measure our school achievement data growth from year to year, I do want to emphasise that they are a single source of data, collected at a single point in time. They do not provide a fully rounded view of each individual student's ability, nor do they recognise the amazing personal qualities of persistence, effort, resilience, kindness and so on, that are important to the overall growth and development of each child. Individual student reports will be distributed once the school receives them later in the year.

School Photo Day is coming up!

On Tuesday, 1st April, we will be holding our School Photo Day. Please ensure that your children are coming to school in the correct school uniform, including any hair adornments in our school colours (navy, red and/or white).

Orders for photos can be placed online using the codes supplied to all families.

Safety Reminder - coming to and from school

Please, please, please have a chat with your child/ren about travelling safely to school! The number of near-misses that are reported to us, where students have walked or run straight out in front of cars, is truly frightening.

It is a school rule that bikes and scooters are walked within the schoolyard, and also on the paths adjacent to the school. Until a child crosses a road (Henry Rd, Heritage BLVD or Livingstone BLVD), or is up to the community oval, they should be walking their bike/scooter.

No child should be riding a bike or a scooter without a properly fitted, Australian Safety Standard-approved helmet on their head. Again, please have a chat with your child/ren about this - a helmet on their handlebars does not have the same protective effect!

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings. Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings. Any student arriving before 8:30 am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter. Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops. Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.

Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Have a wonderful fortnight,

The PSPS Leadership Team

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