Mr Irwin's 2024 Welcome

Mr. Irwin's Message

Welcome to the 2024 school year everybody! 

It's exciting to be leading Teesdale Primary into what we hope will be a busy and positive year of learning and wellbeing for every one of our students. A big welcome to our new families across the school, be it in Foundation or the many of you joining us at other year levels. It is great to have you joining our community and we hope you feel welcomed and enjoy sharing in your child's schooling experience with us.

This year, think growth! Growth both academically and growth socially for your child. The difficulties they'll face along the way are learning experiences which they can grow from and we look forward in supporting them on this journey.

Book Packs have arrived at school now and will be provided to students on their first day back. It is now time to pay contributions for these, which can be done via your family BPay biller code. Support in making these contributions in a timely manner is greatly appreciated. 

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide some key dates and back to school information to help families ‘orient’ themselves with the school year. Our school newsletter is the official method by which school communicates to parents. We try to include all relevant dates of events and happenings around the school. Please make a point of reading the digital newsletter fortnightly. Families who have provided an email address have been subscribed to iNewsletter and will receive an email when the newsletter is available to view. Alternatively, the latest newsletter and past editions can be viewed on our website and click on the 'Newsletter' tab. If you use Facebook or Instagram and don’t follow our social pages I'd encourage you to do so as it provides a great lens into what happens in class on a daily basis. 

To commence the year, students will participate in our annual ‘Learning to Learn’ program. This is time is dedicated to teaching expectations and routines that will operate in classes and specialists that ensure calm, orderly and rigorous learning takes place in class each and every day. Teachers will also commence literacy and numeracy assessments so as they begin to plan teaching and learning experiences they are taking into account the needs of the students. Years 1-6 students commence on Wednesday January 31st. Foundation students begin on Thursday February 1st.

Before students return, it is time to think about setting them up for success at school. What routines do you need to embed at home to ensure students come back to school ready to thrive? Have a look at the information under Read Eat Sleep Puff Chat Repeat that outlines some ideas for school success. 

Finally, this year we're pleased to invite all families to our Open Night on Wednesday February 7th from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. The purpose of this night is to provide a chance to meet and greet with teachers and visit the school early in the year. We know it can be difficult for many parents to get time to do this so wanted to provide an opportunity for this take place nice and early. There will be food trucks, a sausage sizzle along with games and activities to enjoy. All we need is for a break with the weather for it to be the perfect kick start to a positive school year!

One of the reasons for an Open Night early in the year is to foster positive relationships between families and the teachers that will be supporting their students during the year. The night will be an informal chance to meet and greet. As the year progresses your interactions with school staff may require more formal communication, even including the need to raise concerns and issues related to your child's learning and wellbeing. There are some resources I wanted to share with families to ensure expectations for interaction with school staff are clear and focussed on fostering positive relationships. 

Firstly, there is school policy that guides this, which is our Vision and Values Policy. This outlines the expected positive behaviour and intent of all community members including leaders, staff, families and students. 

Statement-of-Vision-and-School-Philosophy-2020.pdf (teesdaleps.vic.edu.au)

Secondly, Parents Victoria have compiled some informative resources around working with schools and raising concerns and issues in an appropriate manner. Think Wait Communicate is a fact sheet the provides advice on how to raise a concern. 

Tip-sheet-think-wait-communicate.pdf (parentsvictoria.asn.au)

Please take the time to read the information provided regarding back to school procedures, and I look forward to seeing everyone in the coming weeks. 

Bye for now!