Principal's Desk

Whole School Christmas Concert 

After the great success of the whole school Christmas Concert last year, another one has been organised for Wednesday, 4 December. The concert will be outdoors, starting at 5:45pm. This concert will give our whole community the opportunity to come together and celebrate the musical achievements of our students. The location of the concert will be situated on the school oval. Fingers crossed that the weather will be fine. Please put this date in your diaries - it will be so great to hold a whole-school community event!

Grit

Does your child possess ‘GRIT’? Not the stuff you might find on the soles of their shoes but an inner drive to succeed. An article by Carol Dweck who believes that IQ is not a reliable measure for school success but rather whether students have the character strength of ‘grit’. Grit is the ability to apply yourself on a task until you get the job done. How many people do we know who we went through school with who may not have been the brightest (academically), but they have become quite successful in life. I am sure that they possessed the character strength of ‘grit’. We need to ensure that our children have the opportunities to develop passions, whether it be dancing, playing a sport, learning an instrument or developing an academic talent. Passions, I believe develop ‘grit’. Also, another success measure is the ability to keep on task for a period of time without distractions. Year 3 students should be able to keep on task for 20 minutes and for each additional year it increases by 10 minutes.  Does your child have opportunities to focus on a task for a period of time (this doesn’t include television watching and technology game playing)? 

Planning for Next Year

We are approaching the final stages of planning our school structures and classes for next year. Teachers are working diligently to finalise our 2025 classes and prepare for our Whole School Transition Meet the Teacher and the Class session that will be held later this term. 

During this session, students including all current and new students attending Park Ridge PS in 2025 will meet their 2025 teacher and spend some time with their new class for next year. 

Our teachers also complete comprehensive handovers from 2024 to 2025, including student learning and wellbeing needs to ensure our students are supported in their transition to their new year levels and classes. 

To support our planning for next year, we need to have a clear idea of exactly who will be here. This information is very important for us as we form classes so we can ensure that they are balanced in all aspects including friendships. One child moving away can leave another child without a friend in the new class. If you know that your child will be moving away next year, please send us an email to park.ridge.ps@education.vic.gov.au letting us know where your child will be attending school next year. 

2025 Foundation Information Night

Next Wednesday, 27 November at 6:00pm, our 2025 Foundation teachers will be conducting our annual Foundation Information Night. In 2025 we will have 3 Foundation classes with an average class size of 19/20 students per grade (below the DET expected average of 21 students in F-2).

This evening will provide families an insight to how our Foundation year starts and how they can prepare their child for a successful start to school. This session will begin in the Wentworth Building before a presentation in each of the Foundation rooms and some important Q&As.

Last Day of the 2024 School Year 

The final day of the school year for students and staff is Friday 20 December. Like in previous years, we will finsh the school day at 1:15pm.

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