Loch Primary School

Principal's Prattle

Thank you

Thank you again for the continued positive communications I have with parents, carers and students of Loch Primary School. I am thoroughly enjoying being out and about in the playground, spending time in classrooms, talking to children before and after school. All of our students continue to show how respectful, friendly and

engaging they are.  Whenever I am given the opportunity to show our school to visitors I always comment on the strong community we have and the like minded parents who value education and are partners in developing such positive relationships with our school.

 

We continually reflect back on past efforts of our students and consider the programs we have implemented to ensure we are focusing on every student succeeding on a daily basis. Last  week our Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in the Nationally implemented NAPLAN tests that focus on spelling, grammar and punctuation, writing,

 

reading and numeracy. I am extremely proud of all of our students. It was wonderful to see how much effort all students put in, but it was even better seeing how confident and resilient our students were. Year Three and Year Five students, you are all amazing! These tests will provide us with the opportunity for a snapshot of data against students from like schools, from the State and also from the Nation. I commend the students and teachers for their efforts in learning and teaching.

 

 

Student have enjoyed a number of special events over the past few weeks.  We have hosted mothers' day stall and a pampering session, a visit from Responsible Pet Ownership, participated in maths workshops with Michael Ymer, worked with Julie Martin on our handwriting and enjoyed a delicious hot lunch.    Both the year 5/6 class and the 2/3/4 class have hosted student teachers who are completing their placements. Mrs Daylene Bolch finished her last day of placement on Friday with hugs and lots of cries of, "We will miss you!" from students. We thank her for her efforts and work with our students and look forward to hearing of her journey as an educator.  Mrs Emma Dowson will be with us for another week and will return again later in the year to complete her placement. 

 

Teachers have also been busy with professional development sessions. They spent a day with Occupational Therapist Julie Martin and participated in a workshop on handwriting with a focus on posture, pen grip and strategies to assist students who have difficulties with this important and crucial skill.

 

Last Thursday we were extremely lucky to have Michael Ymer, maths consultant, working in classrooms with teachers and students and providing a workshop for teachers after school.   Mrs Spence and Ms Geerts are busy in their new roles as Maths Specialists and have hit the ground running with lots of activities for our teachers. 

 

School Council have been busy over the past few weeks participating in training and ensuring that they understand the requirements of council and their responsibilities. I thank those councillors who have given up their time and attended these training sessions.

 

We have also been very lucky to have access to increased Speech Therapy support this year and our Speech Therapy Assistance program is now underway. This program provides three sessions a week of support for nominated students provided by one of our integration aides who has undertaken training and works under the supervision of a Speech Therapist.  We are very excited to be able to offer this extra support to our students.

 

The next few weeks will see our school  involved in

  • 'Adults Only' movie night
  • Parenting Program
  • Lightning Premiership Sports
  • Play is the Way training for staff
  • Attitudes to School Survey for students
  • Starting the Premiers Reading Challenge

We will again be hosting the 123 Magic & Emotion Coaching program for parents. This parenting program comes highly recommended and I encourage parents to a take advantage of this opportunity. We are also investigating the possibility of an evening program to cater for parents who are unable to attend during the day. 

 

I would like to advise parents that we have postponed the Loch Colour Fun Run until later in the year due to the weather and our busy school calendar.  We will provide students with plenty of notice leading up to this event which we know will be approached with much excitement after last year's success.  

 

Our school bus will soon relocate its pick up and drop off to the school car park. This will clear space on Victoria Road for a drop and go zone to be created for parents. Parents will be able to drive and stop while their children exit or enter their car and then keep driving. This will reduce the traffic congestion and make more efficient use of the space at the front of the school fro traffic.   A submission to council requesting that kerbing and gutters be installed at the front of the school has been made. The Loch community is currently considering the next phase of its 'street scape' development and unfortunately Loch Primary School is not currently included. It is hoped that our submission will be successful and works will be completed to  assist in increasing the safety and traffic congestion at the front of the school.   New signage for the school car park will soon be installed ensuring that parking requirements are clearly marked.  I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of our families who have been considerate and mindful of the need for safe driving and parking around our school environment.

 

 

Tracey King

Principal