From the Principal 

REFLECTING ON SEMESTER ONE

Once again, 2021 has thrown some curveballs at us in Victoria. Firstly, thank you to our families, students and staff for their united efforts throughout the recent period of lockdown and return to home/remote learning. Families were patient while we worked together to again develop purposeful opportunities to connect with students and families alike. We were impressed at how confidently the vast majority of our students quickly regained their confidence in the remote environment.  We do know the demands on parents/carers was immense and that many of you are juggling supporting your child/ren parallel to your work commitments A big thank for your efforts, patience, positive responses and feedback. The learning environment we developed again allowed families to have some flexibility within the weekly timetables.  The remote learning day was not and cannot be the same as a regular school day and it was wonderful welcoming everyone back on site on Friday, 11th June. 

A very special thank you to the anonymous prep family who generously provided delicious morning tea for all staff last Wednesday. Your kindness and generosity was much appreciated by all. 😊

It seems hard to believe that term 2 is almost over.  As we reflect the achievements of the first semester, we wish our students, families a relaxing break at the end of the week. Even with the recent restrictions it has been a more settled year than this time in 2020, which we are grateful for.

Our prep students enthusiastically settled in to school life and it is hard to believe they arrived at the beginning of this year having had a disrupted final year of kinder. Their transition to school has been a positive one and we thank the prep team for all their efforts in creating a warm and welcoming environment. Our preps are joyful and energetic and enjoying their start to formal education. It never ceases to amaze us how quickly they settle to school life gaining confidence in all areas of their learning each and every day.

In March, our year 6 students attended Camp Manyung on the Mornington Peninsula. We were proud and pleased to see numerous examples of teamwork and problem solving as students participated in activities that aimed to make them more resilient and confident. 

In stunning weather, our students enjoyed both beach activities and those located at Manyung itself. Thank you to all of the teachers and staff who volunteered to attend camp and spend time away from their families. The year 3 and 4 teams are currently planning their camps for early August.

Our students participated in incursions and excursions to support their learning. Teachers work hard to ensure these activities are targeted at specific learning needs and fit within an already busy curriculum. The preps have almost competed their Footsteps dance sessions and are preparing to wow us with their dancing. Year 1 students went back in time when they held their history dress up day, followed by the History incursion last week. The year 2 students had a very successful visit to Rayners Orchard learning about fruit picking, preserving apples, culminating in designing labels for their preserves and taking them home to share with their families. Year 3 students were due to see a live performance of an indigenous Australian Opera, however to the most recent lockdown this was transferred to a streamed performance. Our Year 4 students visited Scienceworks, they were also busy at school with a writing incursion. Year 5 were due to visit the Melbourne Museum in addition to ACMI. This excursion has been rescheduled and we know they will all make the most of the day early in term 3. Our Year 6 science days were a great success being led by a number of scientist parents resulting in very engaged students making a lot of learning growth. 

On the sporting front, both the House Swimming Carnival and House Cross Country were very successful events with a number of children moving onto the next level of competition and beyond. Having to move the swimming carnival away from the local pool to a new venue, at short notice, was a challenge and we wish to acknowledge the work behind the scenes of staff and parents who helped us to secure this venue. Our students rose to the occasion and their house chants could be heard from the local streets!  The year 5 & 6 students also enjoyed their interschool team competition during term 2. Several of our teams have progressed to district finals. Our PE team are currently working on our whole school swimming lessons that are planned to take place at GESAC in term 3. 

We were ecstatic that we could open our school to prospective 2022 prep families at our Prep Expo on a Saturday in May. Congratulations to all of our year 6 students who did a fantastic job as tour guides, engaging the visitors and sharing their perspectives on our school. Our four school leaders spoke passionately about their reasons for loving CPS. We look forward to all those considering Carnegie next year completing the enrolment process over the next few weeks. 

We wish to acknowledge the contribution of our staff this semester. Their dedication, their flexibility when moving to and from remote learning and their willingness to build such strong relationships with their students and their families are much appreciated. They work diligently and very long hours each week. Our staff are lifelong learners and yet again they have continued to learn and develop their knowledge in order to teach your children in the best ways possible. They continue to fill the students’ days with opportunities and activities. During their break and lunch times staff lead the 2 choirs, SRC, JSC, the regular planting and harvesting of the vegetable patch, Japan Club, kinder buddy visits, Homework club, lunchtime library and Envirostars. The coming holiday break will be the perfect opportunity for them to recharge their batteries.