Principal's Report 

Dear SEPS Families, 

Later this afternoon, our staff will be joining Laureen and the Walton family to celebrate the life of their beloved Geoff. Most of you will remember Geoff taking impeccable care of our school buildings and grounds for many, many years before his retirement in 2025. In the short time that I got to know Geoff, his knowledge and passion for engineering was obvious. Above all he was a gentle, kind and caring human who clearly loved the Sandy East community. It will be with heavy hearts that we say our final goodbyes.   

Communication

It has been a difficult couple of weeks, not only with the news of Geoff but with so many personal things happening for several members of our staff. Last week my own family had a rollercoaster of a week with my eldest son having surgery, my new baby grandson unexpectedly arriving 8 weeks early and me coming down with shingles.

 I often tell our students that we never quite know what is happening in other people’s lives, so we always need to maintain kindness and respect during interactions, no matter how angry or upset we might be. Children are surprisingly very good at practising these skills when we explicitly teach them within our School Wide Positive Behaviour framework. 

We are very fortunate at SEPS to be part of a beautiful school community, in a calm and happy environment where the majority of interactions are positive. This is a timely reminder that communication (or miscommunication) usually sits behind most issues that arise within a school. We expect that all interactions by parents & carers, whether it is with staff or other parents in the yard, be respectful at all times. While we value the notion that it takes a community to raise a child, I would like to also remind parents that is is unacceptable for them to approach other children in the yard. Please always seek assistance from your teacher or the leadership team if a child in our school has behaved in a negative way. We thank you for your ongoing support. 

Classes for 2027

As advised in previous newsletters, the cutoff date for any parent requests for 2027 was FRIDAY 6 NOVEMBER. Unfortunately no further requests can be considered due to the extensive work that is now underway to create classes, based on the information we have regarding the academic and wellbeing needs of every student, the parent requests that have been made while also honouring every student’s peer requests.  

Our formal transition program for our 2027 Preppies starts tomorrow. It has been an absolute delight meeting all 73 of our new students and their families during our ‘Step Into SEPS’ program and the individual Early Years Interviews. The large intake has resulted in a 4th Foundation class for 2027. This is wonderful for future projections as the student ratio is perfect for three classes in the senior school. Class sizes for the current senior school are proving problematic however, due to the recent budget constraints and funding cuts that have been announced. At this stage it is likely that we will create one or two composite classes to avoid large class sizes next year. The principals in our local network are working clsoely together to identify solutions that will best support all of our schools. As an example, we are currently collaborating to seek better pricing for transport to prevent the constant rise of excursions and camp costs. I will keep you updated but please do not hesitate to reach our to School Council members if you would like more information.     

We look forward to seeing you at the Colour-run this week if you are able to join us. 

Have a great fortnight ahead!

Jane Briffa