Principal's Report
Dear Parents and Carers,
As we enter week 3 of term 2 we find ourselves tackling staff absences due to illness, as well as attending professional learning training. As with many schools across the State, employing Casual Relief Teachers (CRTs) to replace teachers who are absent is nearly impossible. We have had a number of booked CRTs cancel at the last minute (usually due to their own illness) who cannot be replaced. There is simply a huge gap in this employment market, with not enough CRTs available to support the absences in schools. This impacts on our specialist programs, including the intervention sessions teachers have planned, however there is not much we can do until more CRTs are available to work. Unfortunately I do not know how long this will actually take
Strategic Plan: At the School Council Meeting on Monday night, the 2022 – 2025 School Strategic Plan was endorsed.
Our new Vision is: We are an inclusive learning community where students, families and staff collaborate to celebrate diversity, nurture curiosity, and encourage each other to achieve and grow as life-long learners and our values are:
• Respect • Kindness • Teamwork • Honesty • Resilience • Communication
We will continue to work with the whole school community to articulate what these values mean and how they will be enacted, including how people demonstrate these whilst at our school. We look forward to involving parents and students in this process, alongside our staff.
NAPLAN: This week our Year 3 and 5 students participated in NAPLAN and will complete 2 more tasks next week. This year is the first year all test are delivered via a computer or iPad and is administered across Australia for all Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students. The results will be available some time in term 3. This information is important as it helps us know whether our work is effective as well as providing individual reports for individual students identifying areas of strengths and will help identify areas students need additional support with. Thank-you to the students for their efforts completing these tests and to the teachers for adequately preparing them. So far everything has gone to plan.
Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs): At this stage I have not heard that the use of RATs twice per week will continue after week 4. Thank-you to those families who have continued to test frequently, identifying positive cases early, helping reduce the transmission of this disease. We will not be sending home more tests as we have before, unless we revive notification from the Department that they would like the testing program to continue. However, if you require additional tests, due to your child having symptoms, we have some spares available at school. Please call the office, or drop in requesting an additional box.
SPPIKE: Over the last 3 days Mrs Mills, Mrs Cobbledick and myself have participated in a training program called Strengthening Professional Capability of Principals in Koorie Education (SPPIKE).The program is designed to contribute to expanding the quantity of Victorian school leaders who promote positive narrative for Koorie learners, Koorie Community participation, and create exemplary schools, capable area networks and an inclusive Education State. It is designed to challenge and equip school leaders with the knowledge, skills and tools to be transformative for whole school culture change pertaining to Koorie Cultural Inclusion and high expectations. We have learnt a lot about the importance of connections and identity and will be working on a school based project over the next few months to improve in this area.
School Photos: We have almost finalised the proofing of the school photos, and the design of the final product. Thank-you for your patience as we worked with a new company to design and produce a high quality product. This has taken a little bit longer than we anticipated and was affected by the additional work we are undertaking due to staff shortages and absences. Please accept our apologies for the delay.
Long Service Leave (LSL): From Friday 20th May I will be on 2 weeks LSL travelling to the Northern Territory and Broome in WA. This trip was planned for 2021, as a celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary, however as with most travel, it was cancelled due to Covid. Jenny O’Connor will be acting Principal in my absence and will be ably supported by our Leading Teachers Mrs Sarah Mills and Ms Jenna Davies. I will be returning on Monday 6th June.
Staffing: Mrs Bird is almost ready to start her leave as her baby is due in June. We wish her and Mr Bird all the best with the birth of their first baby and will update the community with news as it arrives.
High Levels of Learning for All
Michelle Costa
Principal
