Assistant Principal's Report

A Joyous Return

What an exciting few weeks we have had at FPS! Watching our Foundation students returned to face-to-face teaching last Monday was such a joy. Seeing their happy faces and hearing their squeals of glee as they saw their friends in the school yard was priceless.

Our Year 1 and 2 students came soon after, and settled back into the school routine so calmly, you would not have thought they had been away for so long. Then on Friday, we were able to welcome our Year 5 and 6 students earlier than expected! Today our Year 3 and 4 students return, and we are delighted to have them back onsite as well. 

Our priority this term will be firstly to support our students to settle back into the school routine, and to ensure they are feeling safe and happy at school. We know that students can only learn if they are feeling safe and happy – and this will happen at different times for different students. Teachers have many strategies in place to help support students who may be feeling overwhelmed or anxious about being back onsite. For some, the sounds and sights of many people can be enough to trigger uncomfortable feelings. Teachers are experts at picking up on these feelings and will put strategies in place such as offering the student a quiet space to sit away from the group in the classroom, encouraging the student to take a friend with them for a walk, or visit me in my office where we can play with some fidgets while we talk about how they are feeling and what we can do to move back into the green zone.

Teaching and learning is happening simultaneously with wellbeing. Explicit literacy and numeracy lessons are in full swing, and teachers are making use of the beautiful outdoor spaces we have at FPS. Below are some pictures of our students back onsite, learning and playing together at school. 

~ Sarah Abbot, Assistant Principal