Acting Principal's Report

Hello DPW Community

Happy Book Week!

DPW students have been reading the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s (CBCA) shortlisted books and making predictions as to which book they believe would win. 

Congratulations to the 2026 Book of the Year winners on announced on August 21, 2026:

• Older Readers: Darkest Night, Brightest Star by Barry Jonsberg (Allen & Unwin)
• Younger Readers: Inked by Karen Wasson, illustrated by Jake A Minton
• Early Childhood: The Emperor's Egg by Rae Tan
• Picture Book of the Year:Once I Was a Giant by Zeno Sworder

I was extremely excited to be a guest reader for our Foundation students on Monday, sharing the beautiful book, Derek by Anne Donaldson.

The Book Week Parade is tomorrow! Sadly, I won’t be able to attend and see all the wonderful characters that will be brought to life at school. I can’t wait to see the photos and hear all about the fun everyone has.

Parents / Carers Survey - Please Tell Us What You Think! 

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Carer Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. 

The Parent / Carer Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 17 August to Friday 18 September 2026.

All families are invited to participate in the survey. 

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The link to the survey was sent to families/carers via Compass on the 19th of August. 

We now have some iPads available at the office for use if needed. Please pop in and ask for one to complete the survey.

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / carers who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.Please speak to the office if you would like more information.

Vale Sue

I am very sad to share the news that our beloved cleaner, Sue, passed away at home last Thursday evening after a short battle with cancer. 

All staff have been rocked by this as she was one of those people who had a special connection with each of us. Her funeral was scheduled for Wednesday, 26th August. I would like to formally acknowledge and sincerely thank our Network schools for their generosity and support during this difficult time. Several schools volunteered staff to attend DPW on Wednesday morning to ensure our school could continue to operate effectively while enabling some members of our staff to attend Sue's funeral or view the service online. This act of kindness and collegial support is deeply appreciated and reflects the strong sense of community that exists across our network.

On behalf of all staff at DPW, thank you for standing alongside us as we honoured and celebrated Sue's life.

Uniform

I’d like to take this opportunity to advise DPW families that we will be introducing new school uniform shirts and jackets in 2027. The new uniform items will only be compulsory for 2027 Foundation students.

In the meantime, our uniform supplier Academy Uniforms on Robinsons Road, is holding a one-off sale for DPW families who may require uniform for their child/ren who have outgrown their current uniform. Please see the flyer below for the amazing discounts! All DPW students are expected to be wearing the school uniform every day.

The DPW school bag is also included in this sale. I do encourage families to purchase this bag as it comes with a lifetime warranty – this means that if the bag breaks at any time during primary school, it will be repaired/replaced at no cost to you! The DPW school bags are made to have plenty of room for take-home readers, lunches, jackets and a water bottle.

Coughs and Colds

We are noticing that quite a few students are coming to school with a bit of a cold and/or cough. As always, if your child has a fever or is very unwell, please keep them at home so that they can recover quickly.

When they are at school, please remind them to follow the steps to reduce the chance of making others sick:

• Always cover your mouth and nose when you cough (with a tissue or your elbow)
• Wash or sanitise hands after coughing or blowing your nose

Kind Regards,

Deanne Scott

Acting Principal