From the Principal 

Diana Ellis

Welcome back to term 4, Spring and notoriously fickle weather. Term 4 is always a busy term, and this year is no exception. We will have camps, incursions, excursions, transition, and graduation. Term 4 is always a time of reflection and celebrations but also usually a time to farewell students, families, and staff. 

Elissa and I are well along the way with planning the class structure for next year based on our current and future enrolments. We currently have 50 Foundation enrolments for 2024 and we are hoping to offer 3 straight classes again. If you know of anyone who is yet to enrol their child, please give them a gentle reminder to do so immediately. 

Student Placement

This week we are beginning the process of student placement. Whilst we generally do not accept parent requests because of the volume of students in our school, we know that in some instances there are special considerations. All students will be asked to write down a minimum of 3 of their friends that they would be happy to be with. Obviously, we can’t accommodate every child getting 3 of their friends with them but we certainly endeavour to ensure all children have at least one friend. It is important however that we also stress that the classroom is for learning, not socialising and sometimes having friends can be a distraction and impact negatively on learning. 

If you believe that there are special considerations regarding your child’s placement, reasons must be stated to the principal, in writing or through a phone call. Requests must not go through class teachers. 

School Concert 

Our whole school concert is on the afternoon of November 16. We are very excited about this whole school Australiana extravaganza and look forward to a fun filled evening. 

See our flyer in the newsletter.

Curriculum Day

Just a reminder that our next Curriculum Day is on the day before Melbourne Cup Day – Monday November 6th. This day will be used for staff to collate and analyse data from assessments, and to write reports.

Grounds and Facilities

Over the holiday we had a number of different trades here completing work on our facilities. Some of the tasks included replacement/restoration of our old wooden window frames, removal of asbestos and ongoing plumbing to fix roof leaks. With the volume of rain we have had this week, we have already experienced some furth roof leaks.

Sun protection

In our last newsletter I touched on Sun Smart practices and our school policy. With the change of weather to our current cold, wet and windy conditions it is likely that you are not thinking about sun protection. Whilst we have a break from the sun I urge to find your child’s wide brimmed hat and also provide them with sun block in the form of a small roll on tube that they can keep in their bag. People often query why we longer provide sun block in every class. This was mainly to do with student allergies and also the constant need to be checking use by dates. At school we always remind students to wear their hats and to play in the shade. I am currently updating our Sun Smart Policy to be in line the Department of Education Policy that is now called Sun Protection. I will take the draft version of the policy to our next School Council Meeting next Monday October 9th and once it is endorsed, I will share it with our school community.

Carlsruhe Info night

Next Wednesday we are having our Carlsruhe Information Session. This session is for parents of 2023 Year 3 students who will be transitioning to Carlsruhe next year. The session will cover the Carlsruhe Programs and the purchasing of devices for Year 4 students. 

Footy Colours Day photo's

Principal

Diana Ellis