From the Principal

Welcome to Term Three

How quickly time flies! This term will be filled with rehearsals and preparations for concert and the SA Schools challenge, as well as sleepover for Year 2, school photos, Book Week, and much more! To begin the term, Miss Jess Robinson is leading the school as Acting Principal. I will return from annual leave at the beginning of Week 3.

Also on leave, Miss Hayley Woodward will return to her Year 5 class in Week 6. Thank you to Miss Alisa Ferrara for taking Year 5 Woodward in Hayley’s absence.

We also wish Miss Rebecca Heinjus well on her extended leave, as she is taking long service leave for all of Semester Two. We will miss you in SPLASH, Rebecca, while you enjoy a well-earned break, and some holidaying in there also.

Whilst some of us are taking a break, we also welcome our new Reception families as children begin their mid-year Reception journey, as well as new children and families to the school in other year levels. Welcome to St Paul Lutheran School! May your education journey be blessed in our community.

SPLASH Building Open

Many of you will now have had a chance to see the new SPLASH building, with some of our children making very good use of the space during vacation care. We will hold a formal opening for the building later in Term Three; stay tuned for further information.

July Professional Development Week

I’d like to extend our gratitude to families for the extended July school break, which we acknowledge most children love, and yet care for families for school holidays can often be a full logistical exercise. This week for training is incredibly important for our staff and for the continued development of the school.

Our first day of whole staff training, on Monday 1 July, provided all St Paul staff with information for understanding trauma, how this impacts children and learning, and recommended strategies. Much of the training reinforced our beliefs and practices, giving us a more specific way of including these across all areas of the school. We followed this with a full day debriefing and planning day led by Miss Jess Robinson. 

Teachers and classroom LSOs spent a day on Wednesday 3 July with Graham Buxton during our PD Week, continuing to plan with intention for inquiry and integration using Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum. 

Thursday 4 July was a whole staff training in our new learning management system, Compass. Integration of a completely new system is an enormous job, and I acknowledge the work of Mrs Jessica Deer in the many hours, weeks and months of preparation. As the capabilities of Compass are rolled out further, parents and caregivers will be introduced to applications for use from home, including absentees and school reports.

Please note, you may start seeing information coming through from Compass eg. Medical Entry (first aid or medication information). Stay tuned for more information about Compass soon.

Our Connected Schools staff and board members joined together on Friday 5 July for Connected Schools staff worship. Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Para Vista, hosted the event this year, with attendees touring the school after worship, before joining together for food, drink and connecting through conversation.