Principal's Blog

Good Afternoon Parents Students, Staff and Friends of Derinya,  

We have had a fantastic start to the term. I continue to be in awe of our students and their commitment to their academic learning and the stunning relationships that they have with their friends.  

Curriculum Day 

Our staff professional learning day on Monday was an outstanding day with Tracey Ezard. Tracey is an educator, facilitator and was the 2023 Breakthrough Speaker of the Year.  Tracey has published three books, The Buzz, The Glue and Ferocious Warmth and is an expert in creating thriving collaborative learning cultures.  As schools are experiencing challenge around teacher shortage and retention, it has never been more important to ensure that we have strong professional relationships and a culture where we continue to learn, aspire to excellence and ensure students are at the centre of all that we do. At Derinya, not by chance but by design, we are a school of choice for staff. The sense of unity, connectedness and commitment to ongoing improvement on this day was something to be proud of and certainly has an ongoing impact on the quality of education that we provide at our school. We will be continuing to work with Tracey across the next three terms.  

DACE 

The stadium is looking fantastic, ready to go for our opening night tomorrow. For those who have never attended it is most certainly the social event of the year for our calendar where staff, families and community all come together to celebrate outstanding art, craft and jewellery. The food, beverage and entertainment make this a fun night out and is a wonderful fundraiser for our school. If you have not yet bought a ticket, don’t miss out! Volunteers are the backbone of the event, so any assistance is also gratefully appreciated.  

Please note that there will be no assembly this week.  

Assessment and Reporting  

Many thanks to all families for their engagement with reports that were distributed at the end of last term. Our next opportunity to connect will be at parent teacher interviews in week 7. A schedule will be distributed in a few week’s time so that families can make a booking. 

NAPLAN 

It is with great pride and excitement that I share that our 2024 NAPLAN results are outstanding. Students in year 3 & 5 are assessed in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy. We receive results that compare us against both the state, the network and similar schools (meaning those with a similar demographic of advantage/disadvantage). Of the ten assessments we achieved results above similar schools in eight out of the ten tests. This is an outstanding achievement, and I would like to congratulate both staff and students on their efforts. Hard copy results will be sent home with the children on Friday. If you do have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher, our curriculum area learning specialist Zoe Richey and Monica Waterworth or myself.  

Winterfest 

Congratulations to all our wonderful dancers who participated in the Winterfest competition over the holidays. Many thanks to Mrs Lindi Morrison and Mrs Madison Runchey who worked with the children and accompanied them to the event. There were some fantastic results with four first and one second place. Well done to all.  

Child Safety Policies  

All schools are required to comply with the eleven Child Safe Standards. All our Child Safe Policies are currently up to date and have been approved by School Council. These policies can be accessed on the school’s website https://derinya.vic.edu.au/. 

Our anaphylaxis policy can also be found here https://derinya.vic.edu.au/about/#policies 

Further information is provided in this edition of the newsletter around Child Safety. Our school is currently preparing for our biannual Child Safety Audit reviewing all policies and procedures.  

National Plant a Tree Day 

Next Friday we celebrate National Plant a Tree Day. Students are encouraged to wear a splash of green to acknowledge this event.   

Book Week  

Our Book Week dress up day is one of our most loved days of the year. We have a little bit of time up our sleeve but I know families appreciate time to prepare. This event will be held on Friday 23rd August and we have Children’s Book Council of the year award winning author Andrea Rowe coming to present at assembly on this day. Andrea has three published picture story books to include Jetty Jumping, Sunday Skating and In the Rock Pool, all lovely picture story books for young children.  

Finally, congratulations to Abbey Keon who was married over the holidays. Abbey will now be known as Mrs Cowley.  

I look forward to seeing you all at DACE over the weekend. 

Kind Regards,

Nadine Pye on behalf of the Derinya team.