Principal's Report

Dear Parents,

Recently we have noticed a large number of students arriving at the school well before 8:45am, with some as early as 8:00am. The school yard is not supervised before 8:50am with staff onsite busily preparing for the day ahead. As such, students should not be arriving to school earlier than this, as there is no-one rostered on to supervise them. If students need care before school please contact TheirCare to discuss options with them.

Likewise, we have also seen an increasing number of students arriving to school well after the 9:00am bell. Students who arrive after the bell are required to sign in at the office. Whilst this process is necessary, it is also very time consuming and means students arrive to class well after the bell which is very disrupting. To address both of these issues, please try to have your child at school from approximately 8:45am and before 9am.

Thank you to those parents who took part in our recent meet and greet sessions with classroom teachers. These meetings were a great chance for teachers to learn more about their students from your perspective. This information is vital to ensure we develop and understand the whole child, and will inform how the teachers work with your child throughout the rest of the year. Our next parent-teacher catch up will involve an interview regarding progress at mid-year. Of course if you need to speak with your child's classroom teacher before then, you can always contact them via XUNO or make an appointment for a longer chat, face to face for those double vaccinated, or via MS Teams.

In the coming weeks, the 2021 Annual Report to the School Community will be published for our school. In the lead up to that, the staff have been reviewing some very positive data for Mackellar Primary School. The detail will be in the report, however I can proudly tell you that:

The Engagement measure for 2021 at Mackellar surpassed the same measure for our 'Similar School' group as well as the state average. It was also stronger than our own four year average and the 2020 mark. This is wonderful news to know our students are engaged and eager to come to school and learn.
Likewise, our Wellbeing measure of Sense of Connectedness for 2021 was higher than our own 2020 score and higher than 'Similar Schools' and the state average both last year and over a four year average on both counts.
Finally, the 'Management of Bullying' measure for Mackellar in 2021 was again stronger than our own 2020 measure and stronger than 'Similar Schools' and the state average.

This is a fantastic achievement for our school and helps demonstrate the care, commitment and hard work of the staff, and of the students and parents in connecting to our school values and working together to improve. Well done to everyone on this great achievement. It is great to know that our students, your children, are coming to school very happy, safe and listened to, and ready to engage in their learning.

Regards,

Simon McGlade

Principal