Welcome back to Term 2.

I hope you all had a wonderful break. The classrooms have been settled and the students are focussed on achieving their goals this term. We look forward to an exciting term of learning, excursions, incursions and sports.

At our whole school assembly, we discussed the importance of goals and knowing the incremental steps it takes to achieve them. All students are setting literacy, numeracy and disposition goals. In their sub-schools and classrooms, the students have been digging deeper to identify the dispositions that they need to display to achieve those goals. Parents were identified as someone who can help and support them to achieve those goals. Please take the time to chat to your child about their goals, what they are doing to achieve them and how you could help.

Absence letters

Absence letters are sent at the end of each term. They are automated from the data on Compass about each individual child. They tell you the dates and times that children have not been accounted for on Compass. This can be because a box was not ticked by the teacher, or a parent has not given a reason for the absence. It is important that we have accurate records, and these letters support us to ensure that information we have is correct.

Parents approaching children

We just want to remind everyone that it is important that parents do not approach children who are not their own, in the yard and speak to them about incidents that may have occurred at school. We try very hard to maintain a safe environment for our students but as you can imagine, they do not feel safe when approached by parents they do not know. If there is anything that needs to be followed up or an issue to be resolved, please let the classroom teacher know or the appropriate member of leadership and we will work with you to manage the situation.

Parent Information Nights

We ran two information nights last term to highlight what we do here at school to manage incidents between students at school and online and strategies you could use to help support them as well. Below are three reflections from parents who attended the evenings:

The parent information night presentation was fantastic and left a positive impact on all attendees.

The presenters were well-informed, engaging, and presented the information in a clear and concise manner. The examples and practical advice provided were extremely helpful and will undoubtedly make a difference in the lives of our kids.I particularly appreciated the positive approach taken towards online safety. Rather than focusing on fear and risk, the presenter highlighted the many benefits of technology and the internet, while also providing practical strategies to stay safe. Kapi

We would like to share our appreciation for having invited and attended the parent information night on the 20th of March 2023.

I acknowledge the effort and time that the teachers and principal have spent in organising these information sessions. These parent information nights should not be taken for granted as it was an opportunity for parents and teachers to communicate all matters relating to our children’s education and wellbeing.

The topics covered in the information session were relevant and it was good to hear that the school is very passionate on creating a safe environment for our kids. I can tell some of the subjects has greater significance such as; bullying, inclusion and guiding parents on how to model problem solving behaviour. I really liked hearing useful perspectives on how to encourage our kids to take risk and be ok when things go their way. As a full time working parent its often in my blind spot as to what my child needs to help him deal with problems. I like to raise my boys to eventually deal with their problems independently and calmly.

Sometimes after school I would ask my child how his day was and often I don’t get much back. I would like to know more what is being taught in class each term, what the focuses are so I can mirror something similar at home to reinforce what they learnt in school. I would appreciate more advice/discussion on what more parents can do to help with inclusion, getting reading done each night, how to encourage our kids to share more about their day at school etc…

I really appreciate the resources sent on Compass to guide parents with some open ended questions and thank you for improving the technology to allow the slides being viewed better at the session. This works really well – especially for those who couldn’t make it in person.

Thank you for all the teachers present at these information sessions it was really lovely speaking with my son’s teacher. After having met his teacher if gives me confidence that my child is being educated by a knowledgeable and caring person.

These information sessions prove to be valuable each time. Keep up the good work guys. Anne B

Last term I attended the parent information session around supporting our children. It was a great session that gave me, a first time school parent, some great insight into how I can help to keep my son engaged and happy in the school. The information provided has helped at home when we talk about his day and how things are going. I also found it very encouraging to learn about the support structures and programs the school has in place to support our kids in the day to day of school life. Alisa

These sessions are on our website and we encourage you to view them.

We will be running more sessions throughout the year, some onsite and some online. It is a great opportunity to build strong community ties to our school.

We would like to say that we appreciate how the school organises these information sessions. The sessions have been very informative and has allowed us to voice our own concerns. We were very impressed with the professionalism and knowledge of the staff during these sessions. We highly encourage parents to attend these sessions as they give great insight. Sinem

Parenting Assistance

We get lots of questions from parents about a variety of topics that are difficult for them to talk about or manage as parents. We are happy to share strategies with families and work with you, but I have included a resource here that families may be interested in exploring. There are short clips, readings and strategies around a large number of ideas which might be helpful. www.myfamilycoach.com

Traffic

I sent out a Compass post recently, alerting the community to the fact that there has been a number of children who have been hit by a car on the way to or from school. That number has continued to rise. As I said, all children are safe but that could easily have not been the case. It is difficult to ask children to follow the rules when a large number of our parent community are not. We realise that the traffic can be problematic and so we ask that you allow plenty of time to drop off and pick up, arrange appropriate meeting places for those children old enough to manage that and follow the simple traffic and road rules. We must work together to keep all of our children safe.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Reports will be available at the end of the term. We are offering two nights of parent teacher interviews as a follow up to the reports in third term on Tuesday 18th July and Wednesday 19th July from 3.30-7.30pm.It will be an opportunity for you to discuss your child’s progress with the teacher. Please note these dates in your calendar and we will provide more information as the dates get closer.

We hope you and your family keep warm as the days get shorter and colder. As always, we look forward to working with you and your children to support their learning and well-being.

Classroom Volunteers Needed!