Dear families,

School is back in full swing. It feels like the summer was a lifetime away. I am really pleased with how quickly we have pulled together as a learning community this term to get our school up and running.

The students have stepped up into their new grades like they always do. The staff have been brilliant making sure school is welcome, friendly and engaging for children. Parents have taken all the changes in their stride and have been really supportive when we pass in the schoolyard. The ability to communicate and work with the community is really easy at this school and is something I continue to be grateful for. The winners this term really are the students!

Congratulations

I would like to wish Sue Brown in OSHC a happy retirement. Today was her last day and we held a lovely morning tea. Sue has been part of the OSHC care team for 20 years at Rolling Hills. She has had her own children attend school, as well as her extended family. I wish her well in the future.

Staffing

Two weeks ago I shared that we had gained a grant to build our STEM / Science program at RHPS. We have hired Mr. Paul Taylor who will be joining us from Hazel Glen College. Mr. Taylor brings a wealth of STEM knowledge with him particularly in the area of design and technology. Mr. Taylor will join Mrs. Granger in the Primary School Science Initiative that has been funded by the government for the next years. The aim is to improve STEM / Science education in schools. By having two teachers with a strong sense of design and Art leading this program we will be in a great spot to add the A into STEAM education.

We have also finalised our plans for how we will use the financial support we have been given for the DET tutoring in schools initiative. In term 4 we focussed our efforts as a school on ensuring we did not leave children behind because of COVID. In 2021 we will focus our efforts on supporting teachers in class to spend more time with their children in a 1 to 1 or group setting.

Ms. Sarah Tattersall will be joining the grade 1 teams for two days a week (Monday/Thursday). Miss. Rene Schilte will join the grade 34 and two of the grade 2 classes for 3 days per week (Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday). Mr. Reuben Langerak will join the grade 56 team and Mrs. Hailey's grade 2 class for two days (Tuesday/Wednesday). Mr. Langerak is also a student-teacher here completing his rounds. We will start next week with in-class support with our aim to provide all children with support across all classes in grade 1 to 6.

Thank you

A number of families helped in the holidays with a prep delivery. I would like to say thank you to those that helped, offered to help and organised help. I am grateful.

We do have a few jobs around the school like laminating etc if anyone finds themselves lost for something to do next week. We would appreciate any help.

Volunteers will begin soon with parents having the chance to help in our reading program, library, or the office. The canteen already has helpers but Wendy would always appreciate more. Talk to Mel in the office.

Changes to the school day

The slight change to the school day to 8:45am will help increase the literacy block and our morning specialist lessons by 10 minutes without the need to change recess or lunch. The main reason is to have more time on writing, an area we need to improve. The change will offer 33 hours of additional writing time per child, per school year.

8:45 School starts

8:50-11:00 Morning session

11:00-11:30 Recess

11:30-1:30 Middle session

1:30-2:30 Lunch time

2:30-3:30 Afternoon session

Thank you for supporting the change.

Information Nights

It is always great to know what is happening at the start of the year. This term we will run our information nights for families for all grades to cover what has changed as your child has moved through the school.

23rd FEB INFORMATION NIGHT (G34 6.30-7.15PM) / G56 7.15-8pm

25th FEB INFORMATION NIGHT ) (PREP 6.30-7.15PM) / G12 7.15-8pm)

Parent-Teacher - Getting to know you

2nd MAR PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS – 3.40-7.20PM

4th MAR PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS – 3.40-4.40PM

- book on Compass.

Parking in and around school

There is not an easy solution for managing 300+ families arriving at school at the same time. There are better solutions and we are always looking to improve things. We are continuing to try to make pick-up and drop-off processes better. Safety is our number one priority and will always supersede ease (although we want that for families as well).

For now PLEASE use the existing pathway and do not cut through the car park in the morning.

I would like to explore a new bike space for children's bikes and scooters as well as incentives for walking, riding and scooting to school. The JSC and Captains will be consulted late this month. If you have children in grade 1 to 6 it would be helpful if you dropped to Landscape Drive during Term 1 to give the prep families space to drop their children.

We have grown in the prep area and relocated the preps to the Boorai. This comes with many wonderful advantages for those children, as well as some inconvenience for those families. I know that for term 1 many prep families will want to drop and pick up their little ones at the door.

There is a new kiss and go area. There is a new drop zone. There is a new pathway. This will be signposted within a week with new large signage that will help.

What we do not have is a safe pathway out of where the drop zone is. We do have an existing pathway for families to use and I strongly encourage all families to use the pathway. I am exploring how we work with the council to add anew pathway on the school side of Cheriton Drive up to Statesman Cres and in time a link from the new drop zone to that new pathway.

I am also working with the council to create a safer parking area in that area. At the moment the school side has no restrictions. From a safety point of view that is not great as children can step out from behind cars. There are PM restrictions on the far side of the road but not AM. This leaves the scenario where cars are double-parked. I am hoping the council have some ideas to ease the parking while also not restricting prep family access to school too much. Watch this space. For now, please be careful and choose kind.

Special working Bee - Friday 19th February

There is a curriculum day on 19th February. The teachers will be focussing on writing. We are looking to make the new drop zone safer by adding some safety fencing. We have a post hole digger to help with the hard work. We are looking for some families to help between 8:00-12:00pm at the rear entrance. If you can offer some time we would appreciate it. We are happy for the senior students to come along and help if they are with an adult.

Laptops @ home

During remote learning, we loaned out a number of laptops. We have a small number of laptops we can give out to our families as part of a government initiative to bridge the digital gaps for students. If you would like to request to keep one of these school laptops for your child please complete this 30-second survey.

Note: It may not be the same one you received during remote learning. I need to finalise numbers by Monday 15th February.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIQ8JTyuf0qrb8Ss6gXDZ1sn6zCG-vAZUhr6-0QZ6lxE7ARg/viewform

General reminders

Just a few quick reminders for this next two weeks

school nominations are active for 2021/22 school council and close next Wednesday 17th (just email in and we can update a form later)
hats and sunscreen are needed....summer is finally arriving next week
If you haven't paid any fees for 2021, feel free to pop in and see Jenine or I and we can have a chat
School Photo Day - Thursday 18th Feb.
Curriculum Day - 19th February - No students
23rd Feb - INFORMATION NIGHT (G34 6.30-7.15PM) / G56 7.15-8pm
25th Feb - INFORMATION NIGHT (PREP 6.30-7.15PM) / G12 7.15-8pm)
P&F Rainbow run is coming up - Friday 26th 2:45pm followed by a welcome picnic / BBQ.
Parent-teacher - Getting to know you interviews are the 2nd March (3.40-7.20pm) and 4th (3.40-4.40pm) - book on Compass.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Craig Bradley

Principal

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