Assistant Principal's Address

WEEK 6 | TERM 1

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S AWARD

Ms Lina

Mrs Gavin

Dear Parents, Guardians and School Community,

Thank you for your ongoing support in helping to create a safe, consistent and caring school environment for every child.

🎓 Attendance – Term 1: Every Day Counts

Term 1 is an important and busy time of the year. Every day at school matters to ensure students stay engaged in learning, complete important tasks and participate fully in classroom and school experiences.

To help families understand attendance patterns, we use the Spectrum of School Attendance Scale, which supports schools in identifying attendance trends and working with families to support students.

To encourage strong attendance, teachers are currently reviewing attendance records and may contact families via phone or email if students have been absent. This is to ensure students remain connected to their learning and to provide support where needed.

Tips for families this term:

• Plan holidays or appointments outside of school days where possible
• Notify the school promptly if your child will be absent
• Work with your child’s teacher to catch up on missed learning

We understand that families often manage many challenges when getting children to school each day. If your child must miss a day of school, please notify us as soon as possible through Compass so we can support their return.

Remember: Every Day Counts. Together we can continue building a strong start to the year and support every child to thrive both academically and socially.

🚌 Student Behaviour on Public Transport

As previously outlined, the school’s responsibility is to supervise students while they are on yard duty. Parents and carers are responsible for ensuring children travel safely to and from school.

We have recently been made aware of an increasing number of incidents occurring on the bus to and from school. We ask that families please have a conversation with their child about expected behaviours when travelling on public transport.

Students are expected to:

• Follow bus driver instructions
• Remain seated where possible
• Keep hands and feet to themselves
• Use respectful language
• Represent our school positively within the community

While this is concerning, the school has limited authority over behaviour on public transport. Any concerns, complaints or incidents that occur on the bus must be directed to Public Transport Victoria (PTV), as they are responsible for the operation and supervision of the service.

As a reminder:

• The maximum capacity of the bus is 73 passengers (43 seated). Once capacity is reached, students may not be permitted to board.
• School staff will continue to check the bus stop at the end of the day. Any student unable to board the bus will be brought to the office for parent/carer pick-up.

The safety of our students is always our first priority. We encourage all families to ensure there is a clear and safe plan in place for how your child travels to and from school.

✏️ NAPLAN 2026

Students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in NAPLAN assessments this term. The 2026 NAPLAN testing window runs from Wednesday 11 March to Monday 23 March 2026.

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) is a nationwide assessment that measures students’ skills in:

• Reading • Writing • Spelling • Grammar and punctuation (Language Conventions) • Numeracy

The purpose of NAPLAN is to provide schools and families with information about how students are progressing in key literacy and numeracy areas. The results help schools plan teaching and learning programs and identify areas where students may require additional support.

NAPLAN Assessment Schedule

• Writing: Wednesday 11 March • Reading: Thursday 12 March • Language Conventions: Monday 16 March • Numeracy: Tuesday 17 March

Students will complete the assessments online across these sessions. Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the format and feel supported throughout the process.

Families can support their child by ensuring they: • Get a good night’s sleep • Eat breakfast • Arrive at school on time

NAPLAN provides just one snapshot of student learning, and we encourage students to simply do their best.

🧠 Occupational Therapy Support at School

We are pleased to have Kellie, our Occupational Therapist (OT) who works with our school to support student learning and participation.

It is important for families to understand that this service is not for individual private therapy sessions. Instead, the OT works alongside staff to support whole-school practices and classroom strategies that benefit many students.

The focus of the OT’s work includes:

• Supporting teachers with strategies for fine motor development and handwriting
• Providing advice on sensory regulation and classroom engagement
• Helping staff create inclusive learning environments
• Supporting approaches that align with our Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) goals

By working with teachers and leadership, the OT helps build staff capacity so that strategies can support a wider range of students across the school.

📚 Book Packs

Thank you to the families who have already organised payment for their child’s book pack. These resources support classroom learning and ensure students have the materials they need for the year.

We are aware that a number of students are still waiting to receive their book packs as payment has not yet been finalised.

If you have not yet arranged payment, please contact Shana at the school office as soon as possible to organise a payment plan if required. We understand that financial circumstances can vary and are happy to work with families to ensure all students have access to the resources they need.

Please see Shana at the office or contact the school to discuss options.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support of our school community.

Regards,

Bianca Gavin & Racheal Zappia 

Assistant Principals