Principal Team's Report

This fortnight at the Springs...

This fortnight has again been a busy one at the Springs. There's some fabulous learning taking place in our classrooms, with amazing written pieces being produced and some high-level mathematical work also taking place. Our staff are working hard on implementing our new learning around effective teaching and learning practices in the classroom. We're particularly focusing on checking for understanding after teaching concepts and making sure we're maximising the engagement of students in their learning throughout all sessions. 

Social Media and Online Safety

Parents are reminded that our young people need guidance and support in learning how to use social media and other internet features in a safe, healthy and effective manner. 

We encourage all families to use the age guidelines of various online environments to ensure the content being accessed by your children is appropriate. We also urge you to implement regular supervision measures and initiate frequent conversations around the safe use of devices and online behaviour.  

An important conversation to have as a family, is 'What will my digital footprint look like?'. We encourage families to discuss that all content we post, all messages we send, and any photos we share all contribute to our digital footprint and are available online forever - they can never be fully deleted or erased. 

When posting, or sharing content, our young people need to ask themselves; 

• Is this kind? 
• Is this helpful? 
• Would I be happy for my parents or my school Principal to see this? 

If the answer to any of these questions is 'NO', they should think twice about sharing. 

Young people should also know what to do if they access inappropriate or distressing content, whether receiving it via message or 'snap' from a friend, or inadvertently coming across it through general browsing. They should know that they can ask for help, or report any issues to a trusted adult, without fear of being in trouble or having their device taken away. Young people should also know that if they have made a mistake, or posted something they regret, there is someone they can go to for support.

If you would like further information, please use the following link to view the eSafety Commissioner website:

Fences

You will have noticed that our fence works have started and will quickly make their way around the perimeter of the school. With the amount of vandalism over weekends and also in the interests of student safety, our School Council approved this work to be done. This will mean some changes to the way we enter and exit the school in the future, however further details about that will be communicated shortly. 

Uniforms

Parents and Carers are reminded that a condition of enrolling at Pakenham Springs Primary School is the adherence to our School Uniform. This includes the wearing of school-approved jumpers and polo shirts, the minimal wearing of jewellery, and also the requirement that hair colour be natural. Please note that our old red polo shirts are no longer acceptable. If you are having trouble securing uniform pieces, please contact our office for some assistance. Uniform breaches will be recorded via Compass, and we ask for parent/carer support in rectifying them as soon as practicable. Possible actions following frequent breaches of our Uniform policy are listed in the document attached. 

World of Maths

All of our classes from Prep to Year Six have visited the World of Maths incursion. Through these sessions, they have explored different concepts and applications around mathematics. They've had the opportunity to work together to solve challenges and use their reasoning and logical thinking to find various solutions. The students have really enjoyed these sessions and it has been wonderful to see them so engaged in the learning. 

Future Prep Enrolments

We have recently sent home a notice asking for you to inform us if you have another child joining us in Prep for 2025. We would like to be able to confirm our sibling enrolment numbers as soon as possible, so please let us know if this is the case. Our Prep enrolment processes will begin shortly, with our Enrolment Information Evening being held on Monday 27th May.

Solving Problems in the Yard

Quite often we hear from families that their child has reported an issue to the Yard Duty teacher and, in the perception of the child, 'nothing was done'.  With minor incidents and disagreements, we encourage all students to use the 5 Finger Plan (see picture below). 

This encourages students to work through a number of strategies for solving problems in a calm and positive manner.  Students are reminded to always skip straight to 'Ask a teacher for help and support' if it is an issue involving intentional physical contact or other more serious incidents.  We thank you for your support in assisting us in teaching our students how to solve problems in a positive way.  

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30 am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

The PSPS Leadership Team