From the Principal

Dear Families,

Just like that we come to the end of term 1. What a term it was. Congratulations to our prep students who completed their first term of school. It is great to see them grow and develop in such a short period of time. Their excitement to say hello to staff when they are moving around the school as a class, has been a major  highlight.

School Finish Time

A reminder that school dismissal time tomorrow is 2:30pm. Families who require support for the early dismissal can access Team Kids after school program from that time.

Digital Learning - message and chat groups

Recently I have presented to the Grade 5/6 students and spoken with the year 3/4 students to create awareness around the use of messaging tools and apps. In particular group chats.

Group chats are by far the most common online digital challenge that the school deals with.

The challenge for us is that almost all the concerns raised occur outside of school.

On this week’s Digital Learning page, Steven Puhar has provided some great resources and information for parents to support and guide them through this space.

As a school we implement the Departments mobile phone policy, year 3-6 students receive digital safety workshops from the school’s leadership team each term, while we also partner with eSmart to deliver parent and student presentations. We believe education in this space starts at school to support the students to be responsible digital citizens.

We highly recommend all families read the information on the digital learning page as we believe it is essential for managing this often changing space.

Open Afternoon - Thank you

What a turnout it was for our first open afternoon on Tuesday. Classrooms were a buzz with parents/carers and family members as students shared their work for the term. This was a great opportunity to share the learning journey. A big thank you to all those who came along and supported our Willy Kids

Our next open afternoon will take place in term 3.

JSC Cupcake Stall

Our annual cupcake stall which looks to raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday appeal was a hit on Tuesday. The stall raised an amazing $1800. A big thank you to  all the families who gave the time to bake for the event.

Easter Hat Parade

It is here. The eve of the Easter Hat Parade. No doubt there will be some busy homes as the final touches to easter hats are completed. All families and friends are invited to join us on the front basketball court at 9:15am.

Easter Raffle

A big thank you to all the parents who came in and coordinated the easter hampers. 67 hampers in total are waiting to be won. With lots of goodies ready to be eaten. Make sure you get your raffle tickets in. Good luck everyone.

Seaside Fair

On Friday 2nd May (Week 2, Term 2) we will launch our 2025 Seaside Fair with a casual dress day and gold coin donation. A reminder will be sent out next term but November 23rd will arrive quickly.

Gateways

Gateways, our academic extension workshop, took place today for some of our year 1-6 students. This term’s focus is Language and Literature Ignite — Plot Twist! 

On the day students developed and extended their writing and expressive skills and:  

• Were exposed to notable authors and their works to scaffold and inspire their own creative writing and written expression.     
• Learned literary techniques, formats, and structures; broadening their ability to shape their expression and personal voice.    
• Developed creative thinking skills when approaching content (e.g., character, setting, conflict, etc.) and construction (e.g., form, metre, cadence, etc.).    
• Were encouraged to extend their reading and writing choices to enrich their practical and conceptual understandings.

Student selection for this program is based on academic data, while families of the students pay a fee 50% of the overall cost is subsidised by the school.

Next term the workshops will have a mathematics focus.

Building Projects update

The school is still working with the VSBA on its two building projects.

• Major Maintenance Project
• Junior toilet redevelopment

Unfortunately the major maintenance development has been delayed. The project involves major roofing, window and external rectification works.

While the toilet redevelopment is now at the design tender stage. We look forward to sharing details of these projects as they develop.

Holiday Break - Stay Safe

We would like to wish all our families and staff a safe holiday period. Have an enjoyable Easter and a quick reminder that the first week sees a public holiday (Easter Monday) on the Monday and the Friday is ANZAC Day, resulting in a 3 day week

Warm regards,

Mat