From The Principal's Desk

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Welcome to Week 8 and the end of our assessment weeks for our students and teachers.  In the remaining four weeks our teachers will be finalising the Semester 2 reports and these reports will be posted on Tuesday 12th December. On Monday 27th November it will be a student free day to allow our teachers to write the reports.

This week we have our Energy Breakthrough team heading off to Maryborough to compete against over 100 primary school teams. The students are very excited and the weather looks to be kind to us for this year. Mr Toan has been busy preparing the team all year and has been assisted by Phil Mc Grath and Ms Bianca Gerrard as support. We wish our 2023 Energy Breakthrough team all the best and hope they enjoy the experience. A big thank you to our sponsors for the team this year who have allowed our team to get access to the best equipment. Below is the schedule of the event for the next 3 days.

We have some upcoming events that require some further explanation.  

• This week on Wednesday we will conduct one of our first Kinder transition days for our 85 preps enrolled for next year. There will be another transition day set for next Wednesday, followed by the Orientation Day on Tuesday 12th December (9.00 - 12.30pm).
• On Wednesday 29th November at 2.30pm in the stadium we will hear from eleven students who will be pitching their reasons for being school captain for 2024. The students from Grade 3-6 will hear these speeches and then cast their votes (four) for who they think will be the best students in these roles. We have a number of really strong candidates and from this process we will then look at our next tiers of school leadership. 
• On Tuesday 12th December we have a “Meet the teacher” session. This is on at the same time as our Prep Orientation. This is an opportunity to meet the new teacher and new classmates and begin the transition of stepping up into the new Grade level.
• 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 almost hit $20,000. Students will be encouraged to bring a white t-shirt on the day and wear this to school. Some more specific details will be provided to parents prior to the event. 

Picnic Day and Grade 6 final assembly – Monday 18th December

We will be holding our Picnic day on the school grounds again like we did last year.  Here are few details of this day:

• Picnic will run from 11.30am -1.30pm inside the school grounds 
• Parents are welcome to attend during this time to enjoy the fun and the games with their children  
• Please pack a snack, lunch and drink as usual 
• Coffee will be available at the stadium canteen for parents throughout the day 
• Please feel free to bring a picnic rug

Following the picnic students will return back to their classrooms to clean up and prepare for the final assembly which will begin at 2.30pm sharp.

Grade 6 students will aim to complete the final walkthrough the school at 3.10pm.

STAFFING NEWS

About two weeks ago I was informed by Wendy Ruddick that she would be officially retiring from her position at Delacombe PS. Wendy has played a significant role in our Garden program since its inception. She has also been an educational support staff member who has supported new educational staff members coming to our school for many years and many of our students at Delacombe. We will have a chance to say farewell to Wendy at our final assembly on Monday 18th December and acknowledge her contributions.

DOGS ON SCHOOL SITE

We are well aware that many of our parents walk to school with their pet dog to collect their children. There are some children in our school that do have a fear of dogs for a range of reasons and we ask that parents with dogs on the school site ensure that they stand well back from any classroom doors or building exits.

BUILDING NEWS

Over the last few weeks we have been dealing with some flooding issues that many local residents also had to deal with and also some break ins to our school buildings. This has made our normal routines a little more challenging than normal.

Our shade sail over our portables is starting to come together and will make a big difference in summer and winter.

UPDATED POLICIES 

  Have a great week – Scott, Marnie and Stephanie