Principal's Report

Nearly at the End...

It’s so hard to believe that we are 3 weeks from the end of term! It’s disappeared like lightning. Unfortunately, I’ve needed to spend quite a deal of time out of the school lately, as I have taken on the role of Chairperson of the local Principal’s Network. As Principal’s, much of our work is outside of the school with responsibilities beyond our school boundaries, especially to our broader network. We are part of the Casey South network and it encompasses some 18 schools. Of course, my prime focus, as it has been for nearly 10 years, is Lyndhurst PS, but it has been interesting to work more broadly with network colleagues and schools. Part of the value that this brings is great learning from wonderful colleagues, all of whom have fantastic things going on in their schools.

School Council

This week, we had our first School Council meeting for the year. The first meeting is always a bit of a trial due to DET requirements for various policies and processes, but the meeting went on with good humor and a real commitment to the well-being of our school, our students and our community. I thank all of the school councillors for their commitment to the role. It is such an important part of our school and a wonderful connection to our community.

2020 School Council members are:

Parent members

Emma Casey-co-opted

Diane Gakhal

Dan Lehman

Sarah Middleton

Tameeka E-Sui

Andrew Dalla Rosa

Community members

Adam Rowson

Arun Doraiswamy

DET Employee members

Greg Lacey

Meagan Donaldson

Katrina Mills

Elaine Lesiuk

Assistant Principal Position

This week, we have also completed the selection process for our new Assistant Principal, replacing Marc de Ley, following his promotion to Principal at Courtenay Gardens PS. We can’t officially announce the successful candidate at this stage. There is some official work to do to finalise the appointment. However, we are very pleased with our appointment. The new AP will join us in term 2.

Census

We have just completed the final census and we will officially begin 2020 with 900 students, a new record.

PFA AGM

Last week, we had the PFA AGM and the first meeting of the PFA. Kym Craig has taken on the Presidency again and she is joined by an enthusiastic team with plenty of plans for the upcoming year. We so very much appreciate all that they do for our school and I trust that the community does all it can to support their efforts. It was very gratifying to see so many new face at the recent meeting too, so that’s great news!

Pupil Free Day

Tuesday 10th March is a Pupil Free Day. All of the staff will be off-site, further developing our ability to work together collaboratively and exploring several areas of the curriculum. Long Day Care will operate on the day but the rest of the school will be completely closed as office staff will also be attending off-site.

Official Farewell for Marc de Ley

At our final assembly on the 23rd March, we will be having an official farewell for Marc de Ley. This has been a long time coming as his call up to Courtenay Gardens came so late in term 4 last year. I hope that many, many of our community members who were supported by Marc during his time here, will make it along to our morning assembly.

Leadership Badges

Finally, at that last assembly, we will also be presenting the last of our leadership badges, following the announcement of the team last week. I hope parents are able to come along to that.