Dear Families,

This week has been a great week at our school. We have finalised the Review and we now have a concrete plan in place outlining what goals and key improvement strategies are needed to further improve and build on the wonderful work our staff, students and parents have achieved in under 3 years since we came onsite together as Echuca Twin Rivers School. School Council will now need to endorse the panels recommendations and then we will share our Four Year Strategic Plan with our community. We'd like to extend our thanks to everyone who contributed to the process; we are very grateful for your feedback, input and wonderful ideas for our school.

Emergency Evacuation Drill

Today both Echuca Twin Rivers Primary and Specialist Schools had a fire drill just before lunch. This went very smoothly and our students responded in a clam and respectful manner. Everyone was commended on their quick response and level of responsibility that they demonstrated throughout the drill.

2021Class Structure Update

We have been working hard to finalise our class structure for 2021. Based on the number of enrolments for next year, we will be running 12 classes. The class structure will be as follows:

2 x Foundation Classes

3 x 1/2 classes

3 x 3/4 classes

4 x 5/6 classes

3 specialist areas

We will be providing extensive support for our students with 2 full time intervention teachers.

Our staff are beginning to work on class lists for next year. If you have any requests for your child in regards to their peers, please provide this in writing no later than next Friday 27th of November. While we welcome requests, there are a number of factors that are considered when putting classes together. This includes but is not limited to academic ability, gender balance, friendship groups, student requests, behaviour and individual learning needs. While we will do our best to accommodate your requests, this may not always be possible.

Welcome to our New Families

We'd like to warmly welcome the many new families who have joined us this term. It has been wonderful to see so many families choosing our school for their children. We hope all our new families are settling in well and look forward to you joining in many of our school events giving you the opportunity to meet our fabulous school community. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to ask us or one of our family members who will be more than happy to help you.

Traffic & Pedestrian Safety

As many of you will know, the traffic around the school at drop off and pick up time is quite horrendous. We urge all families to please use common sense and caution during these times, especially along Wilkinson Drive. If you do park on the other side of Wilkinson Drive, please take the time to walk your child across the road, and please make sure when parking you are not in the Bus zones or too close to the Bus entrance area to the front of the school.

All students who are riding bikes or scooters need to be wearing a helmet and slow down until they are through the pedestrian traffic along the footpath. I am speaking to the Shire of Campaspe around ways we can make this a lot safer than it currently is.

I thank you for your increased safety and vigilance around this issue.

End of Year Classroom Celebrations

And finally we can celebrate! All classes are planning end of year celebrations in the last week of school. More information including permission notes and associated costs will be forwarded home next week. Families who have paid their excursion levy can use this to pay for this event.

Graduation

In what has been a challenging year, we are finally getting the opportunity to give our Grade 6 students the farewell they deserve on Wednesday, December 16. Please ensure that all Grade 6 students bring a baby photo along with an early school photo to include in the Grade 6 presentation.

Notes about this and the event have been sent home previously. Please contact your child's teacher if you require more information about this.

Transition

It has been so lovely to welcome our 2021 Grade Prep students over the last few weeks to begin their transition. This will continue until the end of the year, with our Prep teachers planning on having visits to the kindergartens very shortly as well.

Our Grade 6 students will also be able to start their next step into Secondary School, which is a very important part of their transition.

We will also be starting our internal transition program "Step Up Days "where our students move up into the next year level. There will be three planned days concluding on December 8.

Tutoring Funding

All schools in Victoria have received funding to provide tutoring support for students who have either struggled throughout the periods of remote learning, or have thrived in the changed environment.

This will have a significant impact on many of our students in both Literacy and Numeracy in 2021. The school received almost $100,000 in additional funding to staff this important program for 2021.

It will be exciting to see the outcomes of this funding for our students.

School Dentist

Information went home last week about the School Dentist Van visiting our school . We rescheduled the visit for the 30th of November. Depending on the number of eligible students will depend on how long they will be visiting. Please ensure all forms are returned to the school by Friday 20th of November. If you have any questions, please call the school.

School Wide Positive Behaviour

This week's focus area is learning and revising the behaviour expectations when using the toilets. This looks like:

keeping the walls and floor clean
ensuring everyone has a right o privacy
washing your hands after using the toilet
considering the next user
using the toilets during break times
flushing the toilet after use
leaving the toilet area when finished
telling a staff member if the toilets are unclean.

Wishing you all a great weekend. Don't forget to slip, slop and slap, it is going to be a warm one.

Kind regards,

Rob and Anthea

Spotlight on Writing

This week we are showcasing some of our students wonderful writing.