From Our School Leaders

Changes For 2024 - Timetables, Breaks And Bell Times

In 2024 we are making major changes to our school timetable, bell times and breaks throughout the day.  We are looking to maximise the learning time for our students, and the morning is prime learning time, as they are fresh and ready for the day.  We are altering our timetable to maximise the morning sessions. 

The first major change is moving to 50-minute lessons instead of hour lessons. This small change enables us to run another teaching session in the day. We will be calling this new session Morning Rigor. 

The second major change is moving lunchtime to an earlier time in the day, and the third change is having two breaks of similar size in the day. Previously our breaks were a 30-minute recess, a 50-minute lunch; the new timetable will have 2 x 40-minute breaks. 

Below is the 2024 timetable. In consultation with staff and School Council, we have agreed to the following timetable changes for 2024. 

Things to note about the new timetable structure:

• New session - Morning Rigor. Each day we are starting with our short, sharp, skill-based lessons - Spelling and Maths skills practise daily. 
• Play breaks remain 80 minutes broken into 2 x 40-minute sessions.
• Timetabled brain food break.
• Lunch will be eaten earlier at 11.30am - students may choose to eat all of their lunch, or half of their lunch, at the first break and the rest at the second break.  We are mindful that some little people wake early and eat early, and then need replenishing. 
• Heavier cognitive load lessons (English and Maths) will be earlier in the day.
• Specialist classes to continue but will not interrupt the Morning Rigor session.
• Every class will have all 5 specialists next year. We have increased Science and LOTE to weekly lessons for ALL students. This will bring better continuity to these subjects.
• SEL (Social Emotional Learning) will replace our Wellbeing Hour. 

We are looking forward to implementing this new approach to learning at SPS. If you wish to discuss these changes, or have any concerns, please email Nic or Sue with your questions or book a time to come in for a chat.

Staffing And Classes For 2024

We have almost completed the workforce planning for 2024 now. We have employed new staff and have almost completed 2024 class placements for students and staff. 

Next year we will be running 9 classes:

F............1 class

1/2.......2 classes

3/4.......3 classes 

5/6.......3 classes

In 2024 we are expecting a slight drop in numbers with many families moving on. Some families are moving out of the area, Year 6s are leaving to transition to secondary school, and some are moving to schools that are closer to home. We do have a number of students transitioning into Scoresby PS as well. 

We are moving levels around next year to suit the needs of our students 

To better accommodate class sizes next year, we are moving the school around. We want all levels to be able to benefit from working collaboratively and have a shared learning space.  Working in this way builds community with students and also allows our teachers to team teach. 

Moving day will be Monday 18th December.  Grades will be working from the new classrooms for the remainder of the last week of term.

School Leadership Meeting

On Thursday, our School Leadership Team met to discuss our priorities and expectations moving into 2024.  It was a fantastic day for all the leaders as we looked at all we have achieved this year and our next steps in 2024.  Next, we will be writing our Annual Implementation Plan for 2024 and setting our goals for the year.

Wellbeing Week

This week has been our first official Wellbeing Week at SPS. Our week started with our School Captains greeting our students as they entered school and handing out positive affirmation cards. Throughout the week we have run a variety of lunchtime activities, including chalk drawing, bubble blowing, discos for our F-2 and 3-6 students, and mindfulness colouring and bracelet-making sessions. 

Please come up and see all of our photos from our Smile Project activity – lots of fun dress-up photos with props and smiles! They will be on the school foyer TV from next week. Here is a sneak peek of a few of them:

Our staff also got into the wellbeing spirit with dinners out, a paint-and-sip experience and a lunchtime shoot-out competition.

It has been a lovely way to celebrate our wellbeing.

UR Strong - Friendology 101

Next year, as part of our Social Emotional Learning program, we will be doing the UR Strong Program – Friendology 101. 

Friendology is a program that is designed to create a community of belonging and kindness through friendships skills. 

Our Foundation students will learn about naming emotions and calm-down tips, and they will learn how to go from the red-zone to the green-zone. They will learn to be 'Firefighters not Firelighters', practising how to talk-it-out through role-play with their fuzzy friends from home.

In our Junior Unit, our students will learn to name their emotions and express their feelings in friendship. From role-play with teddy bears to ninja-style tricks for making new friends, they learn how to create healthy, green-zone friendships. 

In the Middle Unit, students learn to handle tricky friendship issues such as hurt feelings, following and copying, and feeling left out. Students learn the difference between 'Friendship Fires' and 'Mean-on-Purpose' behaviour, locking in their very own Quick Comeback.

Finally, our Senior Unit will be looking at digging deep into those gut-wrenching friendship issues. Groups, gossip, texting, rumours…students learn a framework and language to help them handle the tough stuff and create boundaries.

More information about this program will come through our newsletters as we begin teacher training and program implementation. 

Grateful For A Donation

We have been gifted a lovely, brand-new AEG leaf blower by the Murphy Family (Delilah and Jhett).

Michael Murphy heard that we were keen to purchase a blower to keep the stage area tidier.

We are ever so grateful for this generous donation to Scoresby PS. Please accept our HEART-felt thanks! It will be well used!

SUE HARTLEY AND NICOLE RHEUMER

Scoresby Primary School Leaders