Principal's Report

Hi Everyone,

The first few weeks of this term have been eventful! City Camp was on 20th-21st and from all accounts everyone had a terrific time! The activities provided something for everyone. Please take the time to have a look at the photos later on in the newsletter. Thankyou to staff, our parent volunteers, and to our students. A city camp brings the challenges of traffic, the public and the need to be somewhere at a certain time. Well done to everyone for making it a memorable and safe trip to Melbourne.

The weather held out for our Athletics Day on Friday 28th. Thankyou to staff and parents who made the day such a success! Thank you to Mr Furphy who had been very busy organising the day for everyone. His work is not done yet. He is now organising our students for the next athletics day which will be in Bendigo on the 10th. 

Isn't it wonderful when we can get the enthusiasic support of our local secondary school to help us with Physical Education sessions. Our weekly visitors from Kyneton High School have been learning a lot from planning the PE classes they are running and our students are benefitting from having the support from older students. There are photos and an article further on in the newsletter.

It looks like the F/1 class was suddenly taken over by the elderly for 100 days of School. I hope all those old folk enjoyed themselves at Newham Primary. Photos further on in the newsletter.

A very important message for all parents. 

Should you have any photos for our social media/newsletter. 

Please forward them to school. 

We have students here at school who cannot be in some of our publications or on the internet and therefore it is essential that ALL media is run through our checks and balances at school before it is disseminated for school/public consumption.  

There are many reasons students cannot appear in our media and the ramifications of them appearing could have consequences for their family. Please also consider carefully the photos you choose to post on your own social media outlets. For further information, refer to our photo permission policy on our website.

Parent, Caregiver, Guardian Opinion survey.

Every year, everyone who has direct involvement in Newham Primary School is asked to contribute to the school via surveys. Students and staff  have done so already and now it it the turn of our parents. The survey provides information which when considered with that provided by our other school cohorts allows for the planning of School Wide Positive Behaviour sessions, Professional development for staff as well as tailored curriculum programs and tutoring, just to name a few. The survey is run by the Department of Education and we will be sending home a PIN to ALL our families. This PIN will be required to unlock the survey. The survey is not compulsory but is does have a time frame in which it needs to be completed. Please see the message from D.E. in the notices section for further information.

Using uEducateUs (and email)

Unfortunately, there have been a few incidents of staff receiving messages from parents who appear to have forgotten what can best be sent via this carriage service. uEducateUs is not built to take extraordinarily long communications on a topic.  It is also always a wise idea to check your content and remain respectful, as meaning can be misinterpreted. 

Following is some guidance around protocols to be used when communicating with staff.

uEducateUs is appropriate for

Brief enquiries about general school matters.

School related issues only.

To pass on relevant information to the appropriate personnel e.g. minor issues.

As a communication tool between teachers and parents.

When agreed between the teacher and the parent (following a face-to-face contact) it may be used as a form of regular short communication about a student's day at school in place of a communication book.

uEducateUs is not ideal for

Your child's academic progress. This is best addressed through a telephone conversation or a personal conference with your child's teacher.

Use as a tool for in-depth discussion. It can be used briefly to raise a topic to be discussed at a face-to-face meeting.

Sending non-vital messages by this medium. For example, do not send a uEducateUs message to a teacher informing them that your child is to meet you somewhere when the day ends. Instead, use the telephone to contact the office to be sure that the message is received and clearly understood.

Threatening, offensive, derogatory remarks and language aimed at or about staff and other students.

When sending a message

Identify yourself as the writer, the name of your child and the topic of the message, e.g. I wish to book a meeting about her spelling, etc.

It should be addressed to the intended recipient. Pease note that staff will often cc the principal into their return messages if deemed appropriate.

Ensure your messages are respectfully written. As mentioned, meaning can be misinterpreted.

We ask that parents not send messages to staff, wishing to discuss a matter, on the weekends and holiday periods. Parents are welcome to send a message to the office indicating longer student absences, book a face-to-face meeting etc.

Staff will endeavour to acknowledge messages sent to them within 2-3 working days, between the hours of 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday. Please be aware that messaging may be a fast and convenient way for you to communicate but this may not be the case for our staff. Teachers read their messages at different times of the day or may be absent and so an immediate reply is not possible. Depending on the nature of the message, you may not receive a message in reply at all, since the staff member will determine how best to contact you: by message, by email, phone call or to schedule a personal conference.

Please remember that the content of a message is not necessarily confidential and can be subject to FOI (Freedom of information) and 'use of a carriage service' regulations/laws.

Confidential information should be conveyed by phone or personal contact.

Due to privacy, other-student information and confidential information under Departmental regulations will not be available to parents and the general community.

Please join with us to use our message systems effectively.

Friday 4th was Principal's Day

A huge thank you to all our students who made this such a memorable day!