David's Message
Dear Sunshine Heights Parents and Carers,
This fortnight has been a busy one. We had the opportunity for our parents to meet their child's teacher and form those important home/school partnerships that are essential for our students to thrive. Our preps have finished their shorter weeks and are now full time at school. Already they have been sharing their learning with me as they develop their confidence with letter and sound correspondence, identification and transcription.
We also concluded the process for our School Council Elections. A big thank you to our new school councillors for volunteering their time for the next two years, we know your contributions will be gratefully received and support our community to grow. Please welcome Brenda, Kent, Annalise and Natalie to the team; we will share their photographs and information in the next newsletter. We also have to say a sad farewell to Amy, Ha, Steve and Deidre, who have contributed significantly over the years.
Today we finished up with our assembly, where our first two teachers were slimed. Our amazing Spanish Teacher, Tash Vargas, joined our slime-hungry Sam Allardice for an epic sliming. We have currently raised $13,242 which means we aren't far away from out next teacher sliming. There is also a rumour that, if we reach $20,000 before next Friday, Mr Elliot, our STEM teacher extraordinaire will be joining our other mystery teacher for a dunk in the green goo. If you haven't been able to yet, do try and share your child's fundraising pages with colleagues, family, maybe try a local business! All funds raised will support improvements to Breakfast Club, including a shade sail, fenced area and improved seating. All students, regardless of fundraising, will take part in the Colour Fun Run on Thursday 19th March at 1:30pm, and should ensure they have a white t-shirt ready for the day.
Over the past few weeks, our teachers have been working on our Systemic Knowledge curriculum, that covers a wide range of subjects from History to Science, and Civics to Human Biology. We have created critical knowledge understandings that build on the Victorian Curriculum and deepen the knowledge we want students to leave school with. We call this Systemic Knowledge, because we also want students to have a firm understanding of the application of this knowledge to new settings. I have enjoyed visiting classrooms to see how this has been going, and especially enjoyed my time in the STEM room with Mr Elliott and our students exploring Light and Sound. Chat to your child's teacher to find out what areas they are covering in their Systemic Knowledge Units, and to see how students are building their background knowledge and vocabulary.
A special thank you to our new breakfast club volunteers who have been supporting Katie Butler, our Breakfast Club Coordinator who has taken over from Marlo Crawley. Our school could not provide the breakfasts and keep our students ready for the school day without your support. I have to give a very special thank you to Marlo for her work over the past few years, keeping the Breakfast Club crew proudly serving our students. I know that all our students feel the same level of gratitude for her dedication to our community and we are also grateful to Katie for taking over the baton.
Please check the compass messages in relation to Harmony Day on Friday 20th March (and booking tickets) and regarding the Cultural Dress Day/Community Picnic on Monday 16th March. We look forward to seeing you all at these special events.
Best wishes,
David and the entire Sunny Heights Team