Hello Holy Cross families,

The year is flying past, it's hard to believe that November is almost on the horizon. We are full steam ahead with learning and teaching experiences for our children. Please see our Learning & Teaching news item for a quick snapshot. This term we welcome five new children to our school. We hope that Allyria & Wyatt Gatty, Oscar & Tate Pellegrino and Kyle Williams enjoy continuing their learning and making new friends amongst our community.

After school pick up

As mentioned in my first letter of the term we are asking the children not to play ball games on the asphalt during pick up time. Our pick up area is the main gathering point for all members of our community, grandparents, toddlers, school children etc. We want pick up time to be a pleasant experience where families can safely navigate their way to cars and bikes. We also acknowledge that our children love playing together after school. We ask that the children play on the grassed areas during our main pick up time which is 3:30pm - 3:40pm. After this time the children are welcome to play on the basketball/netball courts, under parent supervision.

Working Bee - thank you

Sincere thanks to our Maintenance Committee members for organising our working bee. Over the holidays Mark Lewis worked on levelling out a section of our bike track and on filling in some areas near the dam. Thanks Mark! In addition we had the following families join us; Gatty, Goble, Middlemast, Briganti, O'Connell, Death, Thomson and Szostak. We spread softfall under the pyramid climbing frame and removed shelving in anticipation of refurbishment works.

Reminder - Students not returning in 2024

Before we begin the process of looking at next year’s class lists it is important to know who will not be returning next year. If your child is not returning in 2024 (other than Year 6 students), please let the office know.

In the coming weeks we will begin the process of class placements taking into consideration the varying needs of each child within the school. Please note that class teachers are not set until later in Term 4, we look at grouping children first, then class teacher placement.

Ceiling replacement/Classroom set up for 2024

As all families are aware we will soon be entering into a ceiling replacement process. We are aiming to have as little disruption as possible, however we are also planning a strategic process that will tie into our 2024 plans. We are redesigning our spaces to make better use of each area of the school. From 2024 the P-2 children will be in the current Yr 5/6 area, with the 5/6 children making use of the current Prep - Yr 1 space. We are remodelling the storage spaces in between the classroom to create modern, useful, break out spaces for our children to use for target teaching groups and project work. As ceilings are replaced, we will move classes into their 2024 areas so we have minimal changeovers per class. As each ceiling is replaced I will write directly to the relevant classes so everyone is aware of the impending changes. Our Specialist classes will be moving out of the portable classrooms as we will have space in the main school building in 2024, this will provide more modern facilities for our children and staff.

Government Grant submission

I am currently in the process of applying for a substantial grant to address a number of issues on our school property. The key areas being addressed in the grant submission are: extensive drainage works, complete replacement of the entire driveway and carpark, demolition of the portable classrooms, introduction of a wetlands area at the current portable classroom site, small extension to the kitchen and refurbishment of Room 9&10 into a STEAM area for specialist classes. Submissions are due on 20th October, we will not find out if we successful until July 2024, however I am very hopeful that with the support of MACS we will have a positive outcome for our school community.

Kinder Visit

We were delighted to welcome children from Goodstart New Gisborne to our school this week. Charlotte, one of the kinder teachers got in touch to say "I just wanted to say thank you for having us to visit yesterday and for the very warm welcome. The children had a wonderful time and were very excited to share with their families what they did (The leaf hunt and crowns where a hit)". We love sharing our school with the wider community.

School Closure Day - Friday 20th October

A reminder that we have a school closure day on Friday 20th October for staff professional development. There will be no students on site on this day.

Have a restful weekend,

Aoife

Happy Birthday!