Principal's Report

In this week’s newsletter:

Appreciations and News

• New Language - New Teacher
• Prep 2027 Welcome Event
• Bike and Scooter Park Improvements
• Prep Wildlife Xposure Incursion

Coming Up Tomorrow

• Round 1 Summer Interschool Sport
• Assembly

Coming Up Next Week

• Inform and Empower Cyber Safety Online Incursions
• School Council
• Water Leak - Works Next Wednesday
• Western Metropolitan Region Athletics Carnival
• Grade 5 Annual Kangaroobie Camp
• Prep Play and Story Experience followed by Parent & Carer Information Session

Appreciations and News

New Language - New Teacher 

Community members will be well aware of the challenges we have had in securing a qualified and capable language teacher. This year due to an inability to find a suitable teacher of Italian the program was forced to lapse. This is a statewide problem, one that was tackled as a challenge by our ComPol sub committee of School Council earlier this year. Many of you will have completed the survey that determined an interest in a variety of language preferences for a new program in 2027. This preference enabled school leadership to advertise for teachers of language for any of the following languages: 

Mandarin, Japanese, Auslan, French and Spanish.

There was significant interest due to this broader approach (but not applicants from each of the listed languages). Late in the holidays and in the first week of term, the panel consisting of Liz, Carolyn and Lee White shortlisted, interviewed, spoke extensively to referees and then determined that in 2027 the language we will introduce will be Japanese! We will welcome our new language teacher, Ms Na Gu, who will start with us from the beginning of the new school year. This has been a challenging and comprehensive process. A big appreciation to Carolyn - who has managed the process from the start, along with Liz and Lee.

Prep 2027 Welcome Event 

Appreciations to Karri for her preparation and for providing a warm start for next year’s preps with a welcome event held throughout the day on Monday. Karri remarked on how appreciative she was of our grade 6 captains who provided a supportive and positive welcome to the children and their families. Our new families will return next Wednesday (see below).

Bike and Scooter Park Improvements

We appreciate that our bike and scooter commuters managed the disruption of the bike and scooter park on Wednesday without a hitch. The new, high fence has now been installed and the scooter stand at the southern end has been moved to the newly concreted area providing a delineated dedicated space for scooters.  

Prep Wildlife Xposure Incursion was held Today 

This is an amazing annual opportunity for our Preps. Xavier from the Wildlife Xposure team provides the most marvelous of experiences. The moments when kids get to touch and hold exotic creatures provide some priceless photo opps.

Coming Up Tomorrow

Round 1 Summer Interschool Sport

The Year 6 Summer Interschool Sport program commences tomorrow with an away game to be held at Dinjerra PS.

Sports being played in Term 4 are Cricket, Bat Tennis, Basketball and Newcomb. They will be held each Friday between 9:30am and 10:30am at alternating locations (see below). We encourage parents and carers to attend should commitments allow.  

Due to Sunsmart requirements summer sports are played early in the school day.

Assembly 

Tomorrow will be held at the usual time with grades moving across to the Eagle Building at 2.40pm ready for an assembly starting by 2.50pm at the latest. We will of course feature our Pupil of the Week Award winners for Week 2 and hear from our Year 6 sports reporters about the first round of Year 6 interschool sports.  

Coming Up Next Week

Inform and Empower Cyber Safety Online Incursions

Our online incursions start from next week (grades 1 -6) for our final end of term session.   Prep sessions will be held in Week 6. Parents and carers can anticipate receiving information on this term's program from the teaching team. The program provides a wonderful entree for parents and carers to informally discuss these very relevant matters with your children.

School Council 

School Council meets online on Tuesday evening. I will share a report in next week’s newsletter.

Water Leak - Works next Wednesday

As we have access to the Schools Water Efficiency Program, we became aware of a continuing and significant water leak over the last few weeks. When we become aware of a leak we usually quickly identify the cause. In this case there is no evidence of the leak. Consequently, we contacted a specialised water detection plumber who through acoustic sounding has indicated that the location is likely to be under the asphalt below the synthetic grass and / or newly laid concrete adjacent to the Wallaby building. We have subsequently contracted the plumbing firm who recently effectively installed the new drainage system near the gazebo area and repaired an irrigation leak on the oval. This work will be set to start next Wednesday morning. This will cause significant disruption to pedestrian movement, with access to Wallaby from the rear door blocked and reduced access from school crossing gate and car park to the southern access to Wallaby and the rest of the school buildings and grounds. All areas affected will be clearly marked to ensure that safety for our community remains our priority.

Western Metropolitan Region Athletics Carnival  (for qualifying students) 

The Western Metropolitan Region Athletics Carnival will be held next Tuesday, 20th October. As our representative ranks reduce in size due to the level of competition, we are unfortunately unable to afford to staff attendance at this event and provide transport. We wish our 14 Year 4 - 6 representatives all the very best for a positive competitive experience.

Grade 5 Annual Kangaroobie Camp 

Our Grade 5 Kangaroobie camp will be held from Wednesday to Friday next week. There is lots to do in preparation for a wonderful camping experience. A big appreciation to the teaching team for their work, in particular Dan Whiting who has done all the significant work in preparation for our event.

Prep Play and Story Experience followed by Parent and Carer Information Session  

The next event will be a play and story experience held in groups next Wednesday, followed by a parent information session in the evening. All new prep families of course directly receive detailed information on all Prep 2027 events. 

Best regards,

Brendan

Repeated and Revised Messages