From The Principal's Desk

Term 4 Week 10 2023 

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Welcome to Week 10 and the final newsletter for the year.  There have been many accomplishments throughout the year and so much to be proud and thankful for.  Many of these accomplishments have been listed and detailed in our school Yearbook, so make sure you order a copy through the QKR app for $25.  

Last week we announced our School Captains for 2024.  I would like to congratulate all students who were nominated for school captain and demonstrated their willingness to take on the role.  We had many quality applicants, which is a credit to them and their families.   Congratulations to the following students:

Laykin B 

Jake K 

Mackenzie C 

Chloe N 

This week we move through the remaining positions we have on offer for students in our school. They will be presented with their badges at the final assembly on Monday 18th December commencing in the stadium at 2.20pm.  We will also be farewelling our Grade 6 students, families and staff that are leaving the school in 2024.  

In our farewell assembly we will also recognise those students who have been successful in gaining scholarships as they move across to secondary school.  Congratulations to those students.

Grade 6 2023 Delacombe 

Phoenix Scholarship students

Kaylee R                         Community

Haydar V                       Academic

Reeni P                             Academic  

Oscar D                          Academic

Benjamin H                    Academic

Ollie A                            Sport

Grade 6 2023 Delacombe 

Ballarat Grammar Scholarship 

Druv G                           Academic

On Tuesday 12th December student reports will be posted on Compass that will outline the accomplishments and growth of your child in 2023.  We have been providing the reports a week earlier than previous years to provide any opportunity parents may wish to take up on what is written in the report.  

On Tuesday 12th December is our Orientation Day (9.00 - 12.30pm) for our Prep students  in 2024.  It is also our “Meet the teacher” morning for Grade 1 to Grade 6 students.  They will be informed of their classrooms at 9.00am by their current classroom teacher and then move to their new classrooms.  We have a number of new staff joining us in 2024, that we look forward to making a difference in our school.   Below is our classroom and specialist allocations.

Specialist Roles: 

Physical Education Mrs Suse O’Brien, Mr Adam Storey 

Arts Mrs Mary-Clare Svilicic , Mrs Kate Peldys

Chinese  Mr Jason Shorter 

 Music     Mrs Aileen Shearer-Cox  

Digi-tech Mrs Lucinda Wall, Mr Adam Storey

Tutoring Mrs Kyra Miller, Ms Gabby Williams 

Music     Mrs Aileen Shearer Cox

Our school in 2024 has grown to 570 students and we have placed those students across 27 classrooms. That is an average of 21 students per classroom which is lower than the average of what the department provides as a recommendation (P-2) - 22 students and Grade 3-6 - 26 students.  

Below is the map of the school, the classrooms and the yard duty areas.

We also have a number of staff that will say farewell at the end of 2023.  They are:

Jess Johnstone (Prep B) 

Madeleine Pitts - family leave 

Ryan Cox - moving to Footscray West PS 

Abby Boyle - traveling overseas 

Briella Christofferson (Fisher) - moving to Forrest St PS

Kate Austin - family leave 

Rebekah Dawson - family leave 

We wish them all the best and thank them for their contribution to the school.

We have some upcoming events that require some further explanation.  

COLOUR RUN

On Friday 15th December we will be holding the Colour Run event at 2.30pm (NOT 12.00PM) on the school oval and it has reached over $20,000.  More information is included in the Colour Run page.

PICNIC DAY 

Below is a list of activities that will occur at the school on Picnic day.  This will occur at the school and commence at 11.30am and wrap up around 1.15pm.  The cafe will be open for parents.

How we encourage our students to manage student issues? 

These simple posters have been created for classrooms for 2024 on how students are encouraged to deal with an issue at school.  

There is a process for parents to follow in regards to student issues they may have.

BUILDING NEWS

We will have our Chinese and Music Modular building delivered to us on Tuesday 12th December.  This building was purchased out of school self raised funds such as our DASH program that generates a profit for our school and goes back into school needs.  This building allows us to keep class sizes low.

Our new P-2 area has opened and the younger students have had a wonderful time exploring their new space.

UPDATED POLICIES

SCHOOL HISTORY WALL 

For some time there has been a team of people working on the idea of an Australian History wall that recognises the History of first settlement and our First Nation’s history in Australia.  We are excited to announce that we are ready to proceed with this initiative for 2024.  We plan to install two murals that recognise historical moments in our nation's history.  These will be located in prominent locations in the school and we plan to utilise these murals in our school curriculum.  They both indicate the timelines of significant events in Australia, Ballarat and in our school so that the students can recognise and connect with our school and country.

An example of our First settlement wall will contain the following (still to be finalised by Digital artist and dates continue up to 2020)

On behalf of the school we wish you all the best for the new year and look forward to seeing you next year.

Have a wonderful Christmas break – Scott, Marnie and Stephanie