Bridging the gap between home and school

As we strive to create the best possible environment for our students, we understand the vital role that strong communication between parents and teachers plays in achieving this goal. Building these connections not only enhances our children’s education but also nurtures a positive and collaborative school community. Our staff is committed to maintaining a proactive approach when it comes to communicating with families about important matters. We understand that keeping you informed is essential for our students' success both academically and for their wellbeing. However, we recognise that there will always be instances where situations arise that we may not be aware of. In such cases, we encourage you to reach out to classroom teachers or leadership directly and request a call back or a meeting. This allows us to gain a full understanding of the situation and investigate it accordingly. Your insights are invaluable in helping us provide the best support for our students and ensure their wellbeing.

Here are some ways you can connect with our dedicated teaching staff:

1. Emailing Through Compass

You can reach out to teachers and school leadership directly via the Compass platform. Please allow up to two business days for a response. When emailing, we encourage you to keep your messages concise and to the point. If your enquiry requires a more in-depth discussion, we recommend arranging a phone call or meeting with the teacher or leadership. Please note that staff are not expected to return emails or phone calls outside of business hours, so we appreciate your respect for this approach.

2. Contacting the Office

If you prefer, you can contact the school office at 03 9752 8555 to schedule a meeting at a convenient time after school. Our office staff are here to assist you and can help coordinate a time that works for both you and the teacher or leadership. Additionally, if you have a brief message for your child's teacher, feel free to drop into classrooms at 8:35 AM.

3. Maintaining Respectful Communication

We believe that respectful and sensitive communication is essential. By approaching our conversations with kindness and understanding, we can work together more effectively to support our students' learning and wellbeing. Remember, we are all on the same team, striving to provide the best opportunities for our children.

We truly appreciate your partnership and commitment to fostering a supportive educational environment. Thank you for your continued collaboration and understanding.

Seeking Support - 2025 Student Learning Groups (Repeat)

Next month, we will begin to work with students, to identify five (5) students in their year level that they work well with.

I ask that you also have the same conversation with them at home as well. We all know, someone we work well with is not always our best friend and it may also be someone in another class.

By having those conversations at home, it prepares them to understand the importance of providing the best 5 names to assist in their development as learners. Furthermore, these 5 names are not preferenced but a list of names in which we will match at least one of them (in most cases multiples). If you have sent a request in over the last few weeks and included names of children to be paired with, please have the same conversation with your child to ensure these names match-up.

I strongly encourage all families to take the time to have these small but important chats. By doing so, it not only goes a long way in helping us in making the best learning environments for 2025 but also it significantly assists us in formulating the best class groups we possibly can based on the information we have available.

It is important to note, that now that the class placement process has begun, it is extremely difficult to make changes after the fact. My hope is that families recognise and respect the huge process in formulating grades, using the information provided to us and understand that changes cannot be made once the communicated timelines have passed. In the interest of fairness, should any requests from parents be made in which is outside the parametres that were clearly communicated (such as listing up to two pairings and/or separations, or not to include specific teacher names), only the first two student names listed will be taken into account when formulating classes for 2025.

Melbourne Cup Day (Repeat)

Tuesday 5 November is Melbourne Cup Day. This is a Public Holiday and students are not required to be at school.

Staff Professional Practice Day (Repeat)

Wednesday 6 November, is our whole school staff Professional Practice Day. Teachers will be spending the day writing student reports, therefore students will not be required at school on this day.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please feel free to pop in for a chat with either Carrie, Brendan or I, should you wish to discuss anything.

Our doors are always open!

Take care,

Mr. Dale Blythman

Assistant Principal - Welfare & Wellbeing

Carrie Chalmers