PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Building Update

This week Ms Nixon and I toured the new facility which is due for completion on Friday September 1st. With the internal painting all done, the joinery in and the doors now in place, it is really starting to look like a hub for learning. Plans are for the ramps and concreting to be completed early next week so it is exciting to see the final stages before the grand opening. 

Support Programs

Our Assistant Principal overseeing student wellbeing is Jenny Loorham. She recently audited our school support programs and added two more with a literacy focus. Rachel Quintero will assist a targeted group of students from year 1 and 2, while Teresa Hanley will do the same in year 3 and 4. With these additions, Plenty Parklands now offers extra support/extension to 190 of our 710 students, across nine different programs. We are proud to be able to cater for 27% of our student group in this way, adding to the important work done by classroom teachers.  

Teachers Doing Some Learning

Whilst our students enjoyed a long weekend, our staff spent Friday engaging with our literacy consultant Deb Sukarna. With a focus on teaching reading, the year level teams reviewed best practice pedagogy (how we teach) and their curriculum content (what we teach). The real winners will be our students who have already displayed excellent growth in their learning based on the latest NAPLAN data presented to me at our leadership meetings. 

Upcoming Dates

Please note that the Book Week whole school dress up day is on Wednesday August 23rd. Our Concert is on Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th September. The first day of Term Four is a student free day as staff are involved in meeting with parents for 3 Way Conferences. 

Congratulations - Off to State Finals

On Monday our Senior Girls Soccer team completed a clean sweep in the regional round robin finals event in Thornbury. After an excellent Interschool Sport season last term, Mr Scanu and the 14 team members entered the event full of confidence and only conceded one goal for the day. After winning the final 1-0, they move on to the State finals in late August.

Broadening Horizons

Whilst we never like to lose great staff, we do owe it to the Victorian Education system as a whole to grow the capacity of our staff and then support them to seek promotion to lead other primary schools in the state. One of the most satisfying experiences for a principal is seeing students develop. It is also very pleasing to see growth in teachers. We congratulate Mr Stephen Zhang (5-3) on his recent appointment as Acting Assistant Principal at Tarneit Rise PS. He follows in the footsteps of Courtney Smith (Acting Principal at Kinglake West) and Julie Gatt (Acting Assistant Principal at Lalor East) who have moved onwards and upwards from their roles at PPPS in the past 18 months.

David Whewell | Principal