Principal's Report 

RETURN TO ONSITE LEARNING

We’re all very pleased that the COVID situation in Victoria has settled and a return to school from tomorrow has been announced.  Everyone has done such a great job managing the circumstances over the past week, both at home and at school.  Circumstances vary for each family and staff member, but we know the lockdowns can be challenging. 

Having said that, it appears our school community has again made the best of the situation, meaning we are really well placed to transition back into onsite learning.  Our teachers are ready to welcome students back into the classroom and are keen to support the children as they re-connect with their peers and then re-establish learning routines.

We understand there will be circumstances where this may be difficult for some children and we’re ready to help where this is the case.  Please let us know if you need a hand.

REPORT FROM SCHOOL COUNCIL

Last night we had our July meeting, which was all very straight forward.  There was lots to report given it had been two months since we had last met and because of the events of the past week.  The following will give you a snap-shot of some of the issues covered.

Trudy Coles, our new Business Manager, reported to our School Council for the first time.  Trudy is doing an excellent job and we know she will be terrific for our school.  As part of finance discussions, we discussed uniform pricing and decided it’s time to get our Uniform Sub-Committee of School Council together to look at pricing.  Please don’t think this means we’re about to lift prices, as that’s unlikely.  Our aim is to make sure we sell quality clothing at prices that are similar to or better than other local outlets.

Because our new bus has arrived, School Council is now an official bus operator, which comes with a range of responsibilities that we have covered.  We’re really pleased with how Base 1270 is tracking, although enrolments have been knocked around with the latest lockdown.  The Excursions and Service Events Policy for Base 1270 was reviewed and approved.

We discussed the fact that we have had a number of staff changes mid-year, which is unusual for us.  Despite this, we have fallen on our feet and managed to employ quality staff to fill those vacancies.  We still have the Japanese specialist position to fill for the last 15 weeks of the year and a teacher aide position to fill, but hopefully there won’t be too many more changes in the short term.

We have the opportunity to apply for a few grants at the moment, so are working on those.  One is an Inclusion grant, for which we are preparing an application to upgrade the grade 3/4 adventure play equipment at the Buninyong Campus.  This set of equipment is very tired and doesn’t cater at all for students with a disability, which is the focus for Inclusion grants.

The second opportunity is a Minor Capital Works grant, for which we will make a separate application for each campus.  For Buninyong we will prepare an application for the senior toilets to be refurbished.  These toilets are now 31 years old and are in need of attention.  A few years ago we installed new cubicle walls and doors, which was a big improvement, but there are plenty of other elements in these toilets that need some attention.  We haven’t completely decided what to apply for at Scotsburn, but are leaning towards applying for drainage to be installed in the oval.