Principal's Report

Welcome to our newsletter at the conclusion of the ninth week in term 4. With another two-and-a-half weeks of learning to go in this school year, our students continue to produce outstanding learning and are still having plenty of fun along the way! We have some great celebrations to share with you in our newsletter today, displaying that, as a school, we are on an excellent pathway of ongoing improvement. 

Last week we received the results of the DET Parent Opinion Survey (POS). The link to this survey was sent to all our families during Term 3 and I would like to thank everyone who completed this. The results will continue to inform our areas of focus, alongside the students ‘attitudes to school’ survey and the ‘school staff survey’. 

Pleasingly, in 17 of the 18 measures that are reported on in the POS, we showed improvement on the results in 2022. Most significantly, each of the following measures improved by more than 10% compared to last year:

• General School Improvement +26%
• Parent Participation +21%
• School Communication +17%
• High Expectations for Success +15%
• Confidence and Resiliency +12%
• School Pride and Confidence +12%
• Not Experiencing Bullying +11%
• Stimulating Learning Environment +11%

These improvements reflect the collective commitment of our students, staff and community to make our school a great place to be every day.

As we look forward to 2024, I would like to invite any interested parents to join Georgia and I next Thursday 7th December to:

• Reflect on the student learning and wellbeing goals, strategies and targets that were set in our 2023 ‘Annual Implementation Plan’.
• Preview the student learning and wellbeing goals, strategies and targets that we will set for our 2024 Annual Implementation Plan’. 

We will meet straight after drop-off, at 9:05am, in the hall and will provide tea, coffee and biscuits. This opportunity will be the pre-cursor to a more formal ‘education sub-committee’ of school council next year, where we will review both the annual and strategic planning documents, the annual report and DE policies. 

If you would like to join us, please send me a short email to confirm your attendance (link here). 

Our final Parents Association event for the year is scheduled for next Thursday 7th December from 4:30pm until 7:30pm. Led by key organiser Adele Karmy and her group of volunteers, our end of year picnic will be a wonderful opportunity to spend time together before the school year concludes. Thank you to Adele and her team for organising this event and again to our PA President, Jess Tuszynski, and all our volunteers across the year for the incredible time and effort that has been put into ensuring our students can participate in great events and we can raise funds to continue improving our school.  

As I shared in our previous newsletter, our students in Prep to Year 5 will find out their 2024 classes and teachers on Tuesday 12th December. A couple of key notes:

• Our staff have spent the past several weeks ensuring each class balances the learning and wellbeing needs of all students across each cohort. 
• The specialist teaching teams have cross-checked the classes and provided input from the perspectives they gain in their programs.
• The leadership team has given final approval to classes, focusing on the balance of learning and wellbeing needs of each class, as well as assigning best-fit teachers for each group. 

As I have stated throughout the communications this term, the classes provided on this date are final. Respectfully, please do not contact the school to request your child to be moved to a different class. I expect your trust in the judgements of our staff and won’t enter into any further correspondence regarding class placement.

Thanks for your ongoing support and keep doing your best.

Rohan Cooper

Principal