Principal's Report 

I acknowledge the First People of the Wathaurong, who are the traditional custodians of the land and waters on which I work and live, and pay my respects to the Elders of the past, present and emerging.

School Council Elections

We are currently welcoming nominations for election to School Council for the 2021 school year. You can obtain a nomination or self-nomination form from the School Office.  Nominations are due by close of business on Friday February 26.

You can nominate under either category of Parent Member or Community Member.  Vacancies exist in both categories, so please consider putting your name forward, we would enjoy your input! 

Eight meetings are held throughout the year, two per term, on Monday evenings from 7:00pm, with sub-committees elected by each member at 6:15pm prior to General Meetings.

Our next meeting is the Annual General Meeting, followed by the March General Meeting on Monday 15 March from 7pm.

Student Leadership

The process for applying for Student Leader positions is about to commence. Details are outlined in the specialist section of today's newsletter. The roles and responsibilities associated with each student leadership position is highly valued and extremely important for our school. Therefore, the application and election process will reflect the importance of these positions. We look forward to encouraging and supporting all of our applicants in the coming weeks.

School Crossings

We now have three operational school crossings to support our students and families walking and riding to and from school. The Ballarat City Council have already acknowledge the high use of all three crossings this week. As explained in last week's newsletter, it is crucial that we train students to use the crossings both on their way to and from school. Maximising the safe use of our crossings, and educating students, is a shared responsibility. We can ensure the long-term future of our three school crossings by teaching your children the 'new' correct way to school.

Parking

As the building work progresses, and larger school begins to take shape, parking issues seem to be increasing. We are extremely thankful to our school community for the patience and flexibility being shown as we experience limited car park spaces and congestion on the streets around our school. Troons have been mindful of the start and end times of our school day and, as much as is practical, have minimised truck traffic during these busy times of the day. 

It has been brought to our attention however, that some vehicles may be trying to make some shortcuts to drop-off and pick-up, possibly at the risk of student safety. Please ensure that as a driver of a vehicle you are adhering to traffic laws and road rules to ensure the safety of all members of our school community. 

At this busy, and sometimes inconvenient time, as users of the roads and pathways around our school, we all need to be modelling the Miners Rest K-6 values. 

Thank you for your support on this very important matter.

Athletics Day

The 2021 Athletics Day will include all of our students, including our Foundation students. Our whole school will be attending Llanberris Reserve on Wednesday March 31, to cheer on our Sporting Houses and enjoy a fun-filled day. Further details will follow in the coming weeks.

Assembly

Thank you to all of our families that attended our whole school assembly last Friday. Our 2021 School Captains, Archie and Chloe, did an extraordinary job of hosting their first whole school event - absolute experts!

We will continue to come together as a whole school for fortnightly assemblies via WebEx, until we can gather in the Blue Hall for Senior and Junior Assemblies.

We look forward to gathering as a whole school in our brand new Gymnasium later in the year.

Important information for OSHC families

Please note, as of tomorrow morning (Thursday February 11), children attending the  OSHC Program will need to be delivered and collected through the Gallery entry. Families are asked to enter through the double doors of the Gallery until further notice. The current entry/exit door will be inaccessible due to building works. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and support.

Have a great week everyone,

Kylie Nissen

(Acting Principal)