Principal Team's Report

This fortnight at the Springs

It was such a privilege to accompany our school Aerobics team to Adelaide last weekend to participate in the National School Aerobics Championships. Our Springers Satellites performed so well, really showing a huge amount of progress over time. They placed a respectable 5th place in the National Championships, and we could not be prouder of the way they conducted themselves, both on and off the stage. A massive thank you to Emily Sach for taking the girls to the National competition, and Wendy Turner and Emily Bradford for their ongoing support of the Aerobics program at Pakenham Springs. We look forward to seeing what our Aerobics teams can achieve next year.

On the subject of extra-curricular activities, our students have been so lucky over this past fortnight to have the opportunity to participate in a number of fabulous experiences. We've had two netball outings, which were very successful for our teams. We've had students visit the Immigration Museum and explore the different groups that have immigrated to Melbourne, their purpose for immigration and the value they have added to Australia. We've had all of our students hear from successful author Adam Wallace and gain some inspiration from him around the power of writing and illustrating. We've also donned our best disco dancing gear and boogied the night away at our annual School Disco. A massive thank you to Jay Allen for his provision of DJ services for the night. Our student learning programs continue to be strong, and we are incredibly proud of the Victorian High Achievers Program we also run at our school. There is so much to be proud of at The Springs - it's a pretty great place to be!

Strengthening Student-School connections

One of the key features in our Student Wellbeing and Engagement strategy is our Staff-Student buddy program. Every single one of our Year 6 students is matched up with a staff member (in addition to their own classroom teacher) who is available to provide additional support and guidance for students throughout their last year of school. This not only gives students another set of ears to listen if they're having a tough time, or want to celebrate an achievement, but it also shows our students that the whole school values them and is genuinely committed to making sure they feel a strong connection to the school. At Pakenham Springs, there is ALWAYS an adult who cares and will be there. 

An important part of our buddy program is our termly Buddy Breakfasts, where our staff cook pancakes for our Year 6 students and give them a regular time to catch up with their buddy. There are always a lot of big smiles, laughs and lots of chatter throughout these mornings and we thank all of the staff for giving up their own time to ensure they pop down and touch base with their buddy.

We want to hear from you!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey and is seeking your feedback. The survey, offered by the Department of Education, is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement.

Your opinions are important to us and will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. The department will use the results from the survey for research purposes and to improve outcomes for students.

The survey will be conducted online and only take 20 minutes to complete. It can be completed on any internet-enabled device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.

To complete the survey, simply:

1. Click on the link below or copy and paste the text into your browser. 

This link will take you directly to the survey - https://www.orima.com.au/parent

2. Select the School and Campus name:

School Name: Pakenham Springs Primary School

Campus Name: Pakenham Springs Primary School

3. Enter the School PIN below.

PIN: 617659

4. When complete, please click on the TICK button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity.

Planning for 2025

It's hard to believe that we're already planning for 2025! Our budget and workforce planning take place now and it is important that we have the most up-to-date information possible. If you know that you will not be returning to Pakenham Springs in 2025 (not our current year 6 students!), please let us know with as much notice as possible. This allows for our class structures to be finalised as early as we can.

If you have a request that should be considered before placing your child in a class for 2025, please address this in writing to myself at renee.cotterell@education.vic.gov.au with the subject line "2025 Request". Please note that requests for specific teachers are generally not considered. Likewise, friendship group requests from parents cannot always be considered for many reasons. 

Illness

There seems to be a perfect storm of bugs and germs around at the moment! We've been hit hard by staff illness during Term 2 and the beginning of Term 3, and we thank the entire school community for being understanding and flexible when things have had to change, sometimes at the last minute. We understand that splitting grades or having casual relief teachers can be a little unsettling for students. Whilst splitting a grade is a last resort, sometimes this cannot be avoided. This is often a last-minute decision as well, so communicating this in advance is near impossible. 

We ask families to keep students at home if they are unwell. Whilst we encourage good hygiene practices within the classroom, germs spread easily between children. If students come to school unwell, they are miserable, and not focused on learning and it is a health and safety risk to other students and our staff. Please advise us on Compass if your child is unwell and staying home on a particular day.

Uniforms

Parents and Carers are reminded that a condition of enrolling at Pakenham Springs Primary School is adherence to our School Uniform. This includes the wearing of school-approved jumpers and polo shirts, the minimal wearing of jewellery, and also the requirement that hair colour be natural. Please note that our old red polo shirts are no longer acceptable. If you are having trouble securing uniform pieces, please contact our office for some assistance. Uniform breaches will be recorded via Compass, and we ask for parent/carer support in rectifying them as soon as practicable. Possible actions following frequent breaches of our Uniform policy are listed in the document attached. 

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30 am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  

Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Have a wonderful fortnight Springers!

The PSPS Leadership Team