From the Principal 

THE WEEKS THAT WERE!

It is wonderful to see so many smiling faces each day, enjoying learning together. At Carnegie Primary School we value the opportunity to provide a rich, engaging curriculum for our students. It is extremely important we acknowledge the efforts of staff and parents, many of whom put in hours of their personal time to ensure such terrific programs and activities occur. How lucky we are to have so many amazing people at CPS. 

😊 Thank you to the parents who so generously gave their time to support a number of recent events. The Mother’s Day/Special friends stall, the Apple and Pear drive, our recent working bee and this weekend’s Election Day BBQ. On all these occasions our parent volunteers/PFA work together giving their time so generously to support CPS.

😊 I was proud to be part of our Prep Expo that was held last Saturday. This was an excellent opportunity to showcase what Carnegie Primary School has to offer prospective parents. A number of our Year 6 students did a great job taking tours and talking to future parents. In addition, our 4 school leaders, spoke passionately to our visitors about their memories of prep and how they feel about Carnegie PS. Thank you to those staff who also sacrificed part of their Saturday to showcase our classrooms and learning spaces. We had many visitors on the rainy grey morning who were excited to be guided by our year 6 students.

😊 Seeing the enjoyment surrounding yesterday’s Open Morning opportunity. With restrictions finally eased it was lovely for our children and their teachers to share a little of their learning spaces and work. We do hope we can offer another opportunity before too long. 

😊Enjoying the opportunity to take some time to see bookwork from year 6 & 5 students. Much learning in a school day is supported by Digital Technologies and whiteboards but the more traditional book work still has a place. Each week I try to take the time to see students work and provide a little feedback to them. 

LOVELY NEWS TO SHARE

Keren Freeman shared the lovely news that she and her partner are expecting twins later this year. How precious this time is for them. Due to the high risks involved in this pregnancy, today is Keren’s last day teaching her class.

I am sure you will join me in congratulating them on this lovely news and we eagerly await the new additions to their family. 

TERM TWO PUPIL FREE DAYS - NO SCHOOL

The next Curriculum Day elected and approved by School Council is Wednesday 1st June. On this occasion staff will be focusing on Assessment and Reporting. At the end of term one we also received notification from DET about our professional practice day for term 2. The date we have selected is Tuesday 14th June, the day following the Queen’s birthday public holiday. Teachers will work on their term 3 planning on this day.

These dates are a few weeks away but please pop them into your diaries there will be no school for children on these days. Youth Leadership will offer a Before and After Care program on both days. 

NAPLAN – NATIONAL TESTS

Our grades 3 and 5 children have been completing their national tests in reading, writing, maths and language over recent weeks.  We wish to congratulate students for taking this important work in their stride. They have worked very hard practising and we know will be doing their best each day. Whilst this is considered an important assessment tool, we must remember it is just one snapshot on a given day. Classroom teachers are undertaking a range of ongoing assessments to provide comprehensive evaluations of each student’s learning in order to inform their future teaching and to provide accurate semester reports to parents.

HEALTH NEWS

We have had significant absences over the past week. Thank you to those families who are ensuring their unwell children stay home until they feel well enough to be at school.

COVID TESTING

The Department of Education have notified us that the RAT program will continue for the remainder of this term. The testing advice has changed and people who are close contacts are required to RAT each day for a week. Symptomatic people are also advised to test. Please continue to notify us of any positive cases.

INFLUENZA

We are also aware that for us in Melbourne, we are heading towards a particularly serious flu season this year. Please familiarise yourselves with the symptoms as some are similar to covid symptoms. Please seek advice from your medical practitioner with regards to flu vaccination.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Linda Jones & Karen Bentata-Grimm