I have continued to be so impressed by the positive attitudes and perseverance of all of our students and staff as we continue to adapt to the ever-changing situation of COVID restrictions. It was a wonderful little get back together for a short period there and we certainly made the most of it with a series of fun activities and celebrations. I cannot wait until our classrooms are filled with children again.

I would like to thank our staff for their continued responsiveness, adaptability and collaboration to adjust between remote and on-site teaching. The news of remote learning is often given with very little notice and preparation time but our staff have always been able to work together to provide our students with a fun, engaging and high-quality program that balances academic and social-emotional learning. THANK YOU!

Parent Survey

WE WANT OUR PARENTS/CAREGIVERS/GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, student engagement and experiences of remote and flexible learning.

It is a really important data set for us as we plan for further improvements to our school. The survey was completed by a large percentage of parents and carers last year and all of that data was used when planning our Annual Implementation Plan and has been a key piece in our ongoing school review.

Information about this survey will be sent via Compass shortly and I encourage as many people as possible to take the time to respond.

Camps

Cam has been busy rescheduling our Year 4/5 & 6 camps. They were scheduled to run this term but with the uncertainty of the current situation, we decided to source alternative options for our kids. Unfortunately, this has meant that both camps are now at different places with different providers. The Year 4/5 camp is now at Camp Howqua from Wednesday 3rd November to Friday 5th November and the Year 6 camp is now at Camp Campaspe Downs from Monday 15th November to Friday 19th November. Both camps have a lot of fun activities for the students and will be a nice way for them to end what has been a rollercoaster of a year.

School Events

Athletics Carnival

We had a terrific day at our 3-6 athletics carnival on Wednesday 4th August. It was great to get out of the school for the day as many of the students commented that this was the first time they had been on any type of excursion for over 18 months! All of the students tried their best in all the different events and were supportive and encouraging of their peers throughout the day. Nancy is compiling the results of the different events and working out who will progress to the next stages of competition. This information will be published in the near future.

A huge thank you to Nancy for arranging the day. She has had to regularly change plans for this event to occur which has taken a considerable amount of time, effort and persistence. Your hard work paid off!

100 Days of Prep

We also celebrated 100 days of school for our prep students last Wednesday. Like the athletics carnival, we were really fortunate to be able to hold these celebrations on-site. The 2020 and 2021 prep students have had such a rollercoaster start to their primary schooling but they have all dealt with the challenges and changes of routine so well. The students were excited to see their classrooms decorated for the special occasion and they all came dressed in all things 100. The whole day was filled with a range of fun activities, games and celebrations!

Potato Olympics

The 2/3 students got caught in the Olympics hype and held their own Potato Olympics where each student created their own potato athlete who competed in a range of events across the week. The events included Long Distance Roll, Gymnastics, Dance and Diving and then the whole cohort came together for the closing ceremony.

Term 3 Events

We have a number of events planned for Term 3 but we have already had to make many changes due to the changing restrictions. We will continue to work on providing as many of these experiences for our students as possible and will reschedule when safe and possible. Please see the Parents and Friends update in this newsletter for the current plans for the fundraising events and key an eye out on Compass for updates about other events.

Book Week was originally planned for next week. We have decided to push it back to week 7 with the hope of being together on-site for events such as our annual dress-up day.

Thank you all for your continued patience, understanding, support and positivity during this ever-changing time. Please remember that if you are concerned about your wellbeing or that of your child to contact the school to see how we can support you - we will do whatever can to help.

Take care,

David

LEAP into Learning