Principal's Report

Solar Success

On Sunday we had several teams representing Syndal South in the Solar Challenge, they all did an amazing job. This year the competition was held at Brunswick East Primary School. Syndal South enjoyed a very successful day, taking out 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in the Solar Boat Competition. The winning team of Daniel, Samika, Vanshi and Diya also won first prize in the the poster competition. The solar car teams took out 1st place in the best uniform section and also did an awsome job with racing their cars.  The teams had worked extremely hard over a number of months to prepare for the challenge. From Term 1, Mrs Giannone-Perri has been assisting Mr Ian Gardner and Mr Stephen Perry who have volunteered their invaluable knowledge and skills to support the teams. 

Winner!

Yes, $550 coming our way for coming third in the ‘Vote For A Tree . . . Win Cash for a School’ promotion at Brandon Park Shopping Centre. Our students under the wonderful guidance of Mrs Mann did an amazing job of decorating the tree in the Springtime theme. 

Congratulations 

Congratulations to Pakhi in Year 6 for winning  the silver medal in the Victorian State Boulder (Rock Climbing) Titles. She is now ranked 2nd in Victoria and 4th Nationally. Wow! What an achievement!

Fundraising – Why?

After having our fundraising opportunities suspended over the past few years due to COVID-19 we are now in a more advantageous position to raise invaluable funds to support projects that we would otherwise not be able to afford. A major example of just how important fundraising is to our school, is the soon to be built new Library which is part of the capital works project. The cost of the Library which is $550,000 has been fully funded by locally raised funds, raised over a number of years. A remarkable effort by all our past and present families. 

The proceeds from the planned fundraising activities for this term including the upcoming Concert, the Election Day BBQ and Cake Stall and the Colour Explosion will go towards fittings, furniture and books for the new Library. Landscaping around the new buildings will also be an added expense as we move forward into the future.

Concert - Space Spectacular

Excitement is further building around the school (if that is possible) as the school concert fast approaches. Final touches are being made to costumes and props while rehearsals are in full swing. 

The students engagement in the concert definitely has a high fun factor but there are a number of other learning benefits gained, for example resilience through trying something new and taking oneself out of their comfort zone, persistence through the learning of lyrics and actions and tolerance through working with others and confidence which will be highlighted on the nights as the students perform on stage. If you haven’t as yet booked your tickets, please do so as it is an experience not to be missed.

Don't forget to get your order into the office for the Concert Video.

Election Day BBQ and Cake Stall

With the State election taking place on Saturday 26th November, the School Council Fundraising Committee and the Parents Association will shortly being calling for donations of cakes, and home made jams and of course volunteers to help out on the day.

Curriculum Days

We have two curriculum days planned for this term. On Monday 31st October teachers will be collaborating together analysing student achievement data and working on their student reports. On Friday 2nd December in the morning Andrea Hillbrick will be working further with staff focusing on the finer details of the writing process, sentence structure and punctuation, for the remainder of the day teachers will be planning  for the start of the 2023 school year. TeamKids will be available on both these days.

NAPLAN Results - Overview

At the end of last term we received our 2022 NAPLAN Data and I would Like to commend all of our wonderful students that took part and did their best.

NAPLAN as an assessment can at times receive some bad press however it is one key measure schools have to compare and contrast teaching practices, efficiency of learning , and our impact across not only cohorts of students within our school, but externally as well.

We now have the group, individual student and Five Year Trend reports. We are extremely encouraged and excited to see that the success of our reading program using the Fountas and Pinnell assessment tool, the intensive work completed with Andrea Hillbrick in relation to the teaching of writing across the school and the teaching of a structured synthetic phonics program can be evidenced in the excellent results we have achieved. 

In the table below you can see the percentage of our students that have achieved in the middle and top two bands for their year level.

Uniform

As the weather is finally warming up our students are beginning to wear the summer uniform.  Our uniform:

• Promotes equality amongst all students
• Establishes a sense of belonging within our students
• Clearly identifies students as representatives of Syndal South Primary
• Our students can wear it with pride
• Is cost effective, practical and appropriate for all school activities and weather conditions

We appreciate your support in ensuring your child is wearing the correct school uniform and are appropriately dressed for the weather conditions.

Working Bee

Save this date! We are organising a family working bee for Sunday 13th November from 9.00 am to 11.00 am. The focus will be on weeding the enclosed pond areas and a general clean up of the garden beds.

Safety around the School

A few reminders when crossing the roads around our school.

• Parents and Children should be crossing the road at the crossing with the Crossing Supervisor
• Parents and Children must watch and listen to the Crossing Supervisors when crossing a road.
• Parents and Children must be respectful to the Crossing Supervisors.
• Parents and Children should not be walking through the carpark!

Follow the safe road crossing procedure – STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and THINK.

• STOP one step back from the kerb or shoulder of the road if there is no footpath. 
• LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic. 
• LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic. 
• THINK about whether it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear or all traffic has stopped.

Finally, I look forward to seeing you all at Space Spectacular next week!

Helen Freeman

Principal