Monday 26th & Wednesday 28th February

‘Meet and Greet’ Interviews

Parents of students from Year 1 - 6

Monday 26th February

Foundation Information Session &

Welcome BBQ 3.30p.m.

Principal Report

I was delighted to have three of our new foundation students visit my office earlier this week to ‘show off’ their writing. With just 4 weeks of school completed, these students showed they are prepared to ‘have-a-go’ at independent writing, whilst demsontrating the important skill of academic resilience when they made correctable mistakes.

The students were so proud of their efforts! I am looking forward to this week’s assembly when Mrs Williams will announce the first of our ‘7 Steps of Writing Awards’ at assembly on Friday.

The ‘B-word’

It is interesting when students experience conflict amongst others they often use the term ‘bullying’. A bully is usually someone who targets one person on a regular basis often using the support of what we call ‘satellites’ who are others that stand around and watch or support the bully in action. More often than not, this interactions are misunderstandings and one-off incidents.

We work extremely hard to promote our core value of Respect. We do not tolerate students making others feel uncomfortable or upset. We do not accept students isolating others from play activities and we certainly do not tolerate physical or verbal outbursts. If your child experiences something at school that is cause for concern we encourage you to empower them to ‘tell their teacher’. If they do not feel comfortable doing that then we hope that you would contact us and let us know what is happening so that we can address the situation immediately.

Specific training about bullying is a significant factor in teachers’ ability to effectively respond to bullying. We have a restorative practices approach which views incidences as an opportunity to mend relationships and learn from the wrongdoing. This is why teachers facilitate on-the-spot discussions with individuals concerned, as well as follow up discussions – often using the classroom Circle Time platform to bring issues into the open.

A strong correlation has been found between positive teacher–student relationships and both lower levels of bullying and increased feelings of safety for students. Our Quality Beginnings unit is also about ensuring that every child has a trusted adult at school who can be a ‘go to’ person; in most cases this is the classroom teacher, but it may also be a specialist teacher, an Integration Aide, Dana Kroenert (our Student Wellbeing Officer), Mr Michael Mottershead or myself.

We take bullying very seriously and will always seek to work through issues. As always, our doors are open to support families and students experiencing bullying or any other personal challenges, so please feel free to speak with us, as the only way to get on top of bullying is by being aware of it.

Pedestrian Safety

We were deeply saddened last week to hear of the tragic death of a young student from a local school, which occurred close to Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre. I urge all parents/ carers to remind children about all of the important behaviour needed to be safe when walking near the road, including looking both ways, holding hands with an adult if young, walking not running and ALWAYS cross using the pedestrian crossing (not just crossing between cars in front of the school).

You can find safety tips for pedestrians here: Crossing the road safely : VicRoads

Stop, Look, Listen, Think

Follow the safe road crossing procedure – STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and THINK.

STOP one step back from the kerb or shoulder of the road if there is no footpath.
LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic.
LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic.
THINK about whether it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear or all traffic has stopped.

When crossing, walk straight across the road. Keep LOOKING and LISTENING for traffic while crossing.

This information is particularly relevant to young people learning to cross roads. But it also provides a useful reminder to everyone particularly to those who may be distracted when crossing the road.

Student Leaders Badge presentation

School Nurse Visit for Foundation students

Recently parents of Foundation students were provided information about the Primary School Nursing Program, along with a link to an online version of the School Entrant Health Questionnaire.

You can access and complete this questionnaire on a mobile phone, computer or tablet. If you have not yet completed the questionnaire and would like to do so, please use the link below to access the questionnaire:

Link: https://students.educationapps.vic.gov.au/sehq/s

It is important that all students in Foundation have access to the free service to schools, which supports the health and wellbeing of our youngest students.

Judy Drew

Principal

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