Principal’s News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Best wishes for a lovely weekend. I hope you enjoy some family time, children's sport or what ever else the weekend throws your way.  I am not to confident about how my Kangas will go against the Magpies on Saturday night but I will be there cheering them on anyway.

Maria Ruberto Information Session #1

In Term Four, 2024 the Principals from the five Rural Schools in the Outer Eastern Zone committed to offering their staff an opportunity to work in an ongoing way with Maria Ruberto, a strengths-based practitioner who moves people in personal and professional coaching toward mental fitness and life- health. Rather than limiting access to staff, we have partnered with St Brigid's to allow our parent community access to Maria's wisdom, insights and practical parenting advice.

I was struck by the statement from Maria that "Students need to experience some discomfort in order to learn."  To some, the idea of discomfort for students sounds 

incompatible with learning.  However, when we consider the continuum between low stress and high stress, it appears there is a mid-point between the two where motivation to learn is at it's greatest.  The goal is in site and achievable, yet not too easily attained.  Maria refered to this as eustress, from the Greek prefix eu- meaning "good", and the English word stress, to give the literal meaning "good stress". In this way, we can see how some level of challenge or discomfort is a necessary condition for learning.

One parent remarked, "This should have been compulsory for all parents."  While it great she appreciated the night, 100% attendance was never an achievable goal.  However, it would be great if we could have as many of you along to the second night as possible.  Prioritising the development of the resilience and wellbeing of your children is one of your most important duties as a parent. It doesn't necessarily come naturally and there are things we inadvertantly do with the best intentions that can actively disempower our children and undermine their resilience.  Maria has an ability to clearly communicate this in a supportive and, at times funny way.

Please refer to Katie's Deputy Principal Page and Rebecca's Student Wellbeing Page for their takeaways from the evening.  

School Buses not running on the following days

Upper Yarra Secondary College (UYSC) has advised us of some of their student-free dates to add to your calendar. If your children catch the bus, please organise alternative transport to and from school on these days.

UYSC Student Free days:

Friday the 30th May

Monday the 21st July

Thursday the 28th of August

If you have any queries regarding this information please contact the office.

Upgrades to our Wireless Network

To address some Speed Issues, we have engaged Invotec Solutions to upgrade our Wireless Network Infrastructure this week.  We did consider holding these works over until the holidays but decided to put up with the minor inconvenience of having technicians in our school to ensure these issues are addressed to improve the efficiency of student and teacher workflow.  Rest assured, all of the technicians working on-site work regularly in schools and have undergone rigorous Working With Children Checks. 

Supervision of Students before and after School

Responsibility for the supervision of students before and after school rests with parents.  The school assumes responsibility for the supervision of students who are on-site at 8:30am, or any time after this when the children are dropped to school.  Staff are engaged in classroom preparations, before school meetings, etc in the mornings and are unavailableable to supervise children at this time.

In the afternoon, students are supervised by staff in the pick-up zone until their parents arrive to collect them between 3:00pm and 3:15pm. Any students not collected by 3:15pm will be taken to the office and their parents will be contacted. Parents collecting their children from the pick-up zone and remaining at school are reminded that they assume responsibility for the supervision of their children.  Students are expected to comply with all school rules while on site and parents are expected to provide adequate supervision, in their line of site.

Children attending Basketball Training in the SPA Centre and their friends, syblings, etc are expected to remain in the SPA Centre under the supervision of their parents and coaches.  Should any children need to exit the spa Centre, they must be under the direct supervision of a staff member at all times.

Parent-Teacher Interviews - Save the Date

Our Mid-Year Parent/Teacher Interviews will be taking place on Thursday 3 July between 12:00pm and 8:00pm.  The primary goals of these 15 minute interviews include:

1. Feedback on academic performance: Teachers will provide insights into your child’s strengths and areas for development.  They may reference specific assignments, exams or projects to enhance their feedback.
2. Discussing behaviour and social interactions: Discussions about your child’s class behaviour and interactions with peers are crucial. Teachers can often offer observations that may not be visible at home, and you can provide information that may not be apparent to the teacher at school. 
3. Identifying areas for improvement: This includes academic support and/or behavioural strategies. Teachers and parents can work together to address any concerns and set goals for improvement.

Best wishes for the week ahead.

Nick.