Week 9 Term 4

Our last two weeks are jam-packed with events and celebrations and I urge you to attend where you can. We have a great history of supporting community events and I look forward to speaking to many of our mums, dads and grandparents.

Mrs Hayden's Retirement

Mrs Hayden will call an end to her wonderful career educating our children in week 10. She has been an outstanding teacher at BAPS and a wonderful advocate for our children and staff. Recently, she has spent a great deal of time helping support children with additional needs and I know our community will join with me in wishing her well.

Canteen

After many years of service to our school canteen, we wish Mrs Heather Sinclair well in her future endeavours. Our canteen was put to tender and will be under new management in 2019.

Support Classes

We are welcoming two new staff to teach our support classes in 2019. Ms Emily Hurst and Mrs Jane O'Donnell will be joining our team. The classroom teacher position for the additional class is currently going to open merit and a teacher will be appointed on the last day of school. Ms Mel Rudd will also be supporting the class.

Academic Reports

Students will receive their academic reports after our Presentation Day on Monday 17th December, Week 10. As I have mentioned to the children a few times over the last week, reports cards reflect our children’s progress and provide parents with an overall picture of academic and social success. Please remember all our children are on a continuum of learning and are all working at their own level. We need to focus on meeting each student at their point of need and helping them achieve their own personal best. It is often the case that children will spike and plateau throughout their schooling. Our focus needs to be on continual improvement.

Extra Class Demountable

Our school will be increasing by 2 classes in 2019, creating the need for another demountable classroom. The Department of Education is endeavouring to have this building available for day 1 next year, but I have discussed a contingency plan with our P&C if this is not possible.

Parents and Citizens Association

We have a wonderfully supportive and active P&C. They not only support the school financially but also give their time freely to support our many teaching and learning programs. In 2019, they have already committed to Reading Eggs and the installation of our new LED Sign. Work on the new sign should commence Term 1, Week 2.

Holidays

Sadly, over the last 2 weekends, we have had a number of youths enter our school grounds and damage classrooms. If you see any unauthorised people on school grounds after hours, please contact the police. Many of our families report the unlawful entry to me on Monday but that makes it very difficult to catch them. We are working hard to ensure our students enjoy wonderful learning environments. We would greatly appreciate your support in reporting any issues to the police.

2019 Staffing changes

We wish Mrs Brookes, Assistant Principal of Chittaway Bay Public School and Ms Burden, Classroom Teacher at The Entrance Public School, all the best in their new ventures. We welcome back Mr Jamie Stephen from The Entrance Public School and Ms Kiara Xerri as a new graduate teacher.

New Classes for 2019

Transitioning to a new school year is an exciting time, but for some students, it can feel a bit overwhelming. It might be helpful for you to reassure your child that they will still be able to see their old teacher in the playground and maybe show their old teacher some good work next year. You might also remind them that their new teacher will help them learn any new work and that they will know lots of children in their new class. If your child is feeling overly worried, please speak with their teacher.

This will be our last full newsletter for the year. As always, take the time to remind your children how special they are.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at our Presentation Day.

I want to wish all of our families a Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Mr Dalkeith

Early Action for Success