Dear Families,

Welcome to our Newsletter for week 7. I trust that all our families enjoyed the long weekend and were able to find a way to stay cool.

Our students are enjoying our various Lunch Time Clubs and I encourage parents/carers to continue the chat with children regarding the various clubs we have on offer. These clubs are designed to engage students who prefer structure and wish to try out new and different activities led by an adult.

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

Our first School Council meeting will take place on Monday 18th March 2024 at 6:30pm.

Thank-you to our 2024 parents/carers who have put themselves forward to be part of our school council and help to oversee the governance of our school. In addition, thank-you to our staff who have committed to School Council.

Parent Members for 2024 are as follows:

Sean Bassett
Damien Hodor
Michael Stone
Alexandra Louise Elliot
Jessica Furness
Louise Cashen
Melissa Johnson
Rebecca Borg
Michael Stone

DET School Employee Members for 2024 are as follows

Kathy Cvitkovic
Louisa Beckenham
Donna Matthews
Meagan O'Sullivan
Michele Tabone

NAPLAN

NAPLAN started on Wednesday 13th of March for all our year 3 and 5 students. Writing was the first test followed by Reading on Friday 15th March. In the coming week students will sit Language Convention and Mathematics. Students who are absent will have opportunities within the timetable to do Catch Ups.

We wish all our students the very best as they continue to work through the NAPLAN testing period next week.

PREP TOURS

We have started our prep/foundation tours. The dates of our tours and information sessions are:

Friday 1st March 9:30am
Tuesday 19th March 2:30pm
Monday 13th May 9:30am
Wednesday 29th May 6:00pm

Parents/Carers who know of family and friends who have children due to start school in 2025 please share with them our tour dates.

BERRY STREET EDUCATIONAL MODEL

Our next Twilight session will be held on our school site on Tuesday 19th of March. The focus for the session will be. Ready to Learn Scales, Mindfulness and Ready To Learn Plans. Our staff are adopting practices from the Berry Street Education model to ensure all student needs are met through appropriate adjustments to learning for individual students and groups of students.

REAL ROBOTICS PROGRAM:

A group of our Year 5 and 6 students attended the R.E.A.L Robotics Program last Friday 8th March at Dulap Wilim Community Hub.

The program itself comes under the ‘First LEGO League - A Hands-On Approach to STEM Learning.’ Our students will be participating in the ‘First LEGO League Challenge for Years 4 - 8.’ More information about this program can be found at:

https://firstaustralia.org/programs/first-lego-league/

Our students involved in the program take part in a Lunch Time Club (5/6 Robotics Team). During this time the group, together with Ms. Lisa Jones, work on their project.

MHIPS: Mental Health In Primary Schools

MHIPS is a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff and families. Our school is participating in the training modules that focus on the following:

build the capacity of school staff, in particular classroom teachers, to identify and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom
support our school to create clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention
coordinate targeted mental health support for students by working with regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers and external agencies
advocate for student voice and agency in their wellbeing and mental health needs.

The training program is developed and facilitated by the University of Melbourne.

Warmest Regards,

Kathy Cvitkovic

Principal

‘Building the foundations for success and happiness’.

Student Wellbeing/Inclusion