Principal's Message

From the Principal

 From the Principal –    The Important role of our families 

As we come to the end of our first term I have been reflecting on the great support and involvement of our families to start the year.  Whether it has been ensuring children are ready for a day of learning, cheering students on from the side lines at our Aths events, or having fun at the Art night our families have all been there for their child. This is great to see as one of the most vital elements in a child's education is the partnership between families and school.  We know that students whose families are actively involved in their education tend to have a more positive experience at school. 

Each term our school gives consideration to ways to actively involve our families. Last night’s Art Festival is an example of this. Our Art Activity count indicated we had 196 children having a go at the various Art Activities supported by parents, grandparents and other special people. The Open Learning Area was a buzz of excitement, colour and conversation. A terrific evening for building and strengthening relationships within families, across families and with the school. Thankyou to all who were able to attend and thankyou to Ms Emma Brown and staff for making this night happen. 

Next term there will be further opportunities for families to be involved with a variety of other activities planned. Following last year’s success there will be a Mother’s Day/Special person activities on Friday May 9th. This will be accompanied by a bake and produce sale on the same day led by School Council as our second camp fund raiser for the year. More details on this will be sent out at the start of term. The term will also include our Year 3 – 6 Cross Country at the lake at the start of the term, the start of our swimming program for students in grades 3 & 4 and parent-teacher interviews towards the end of the term. 

I encourage families to follow our Facebook Page,  and read the fortnightly newsletter to keep any upcoming events on your radar. 

Division Aths 

Following our school athletics carnival many of our Year 3 – 6 students proceeded onto the Hamilton District Athletic Carnival last week. It was great to see the broad range of events our students were involved in across the various track field events, with some students showing terrific adaptability across both. We are proud of all our students who attended, the way they represented the school and composed themselves. I would however like to acknowledge our age champions – Georgia Lewis (11 year old girls) and Jobe Lewis (11 year old boys) who achieved strong results in each of their events.

Tennis and Regional Swimming 

This week Georgie Whale competed in the Regional Swimming Carnival in Horsham in Breaststroke. Whilst Georgie did not achieve a placing she swam well and will take away some learnings that she will apply to future swimming events. This week we also had Sophie and Archie Stewart, as well as Jobe Lewis represent the school in the Hamilton District Tennis carnival. Each student played against representatives from other schools and were proud of their efforts, having fun and winning some of their games. We thank each of these students families for making time in their day to get their child to these events and supporting them. 

Easter Raffle 

A huge shout out to the school community for the amazing support of our Easter Raffle. As a result of the donations provided on our recent casual dress day we were able to make 60 prizes. A thankyou as well to Bec Doheny and Leesa Dorman for their work in organising this first fundraiser for the year. There were many happy recipient drawn out toady in Assembly with the  results listed further in the newsletter . 

First Week Back 

 A reminder that with Easter at the end of the holidays Term 2 commences on Tuesday April 22nd. The first week will also only be a three day week as the Friday is a public holiday for ANZAC day. During this first week we are excited to be welcoming First Aid for Schools by St John’s Ambulance. This free Program teaches primary school students on the importance of First Aid and what to do in an event of an emergency. This will be a great launch into some of other health visitors across the term with Smile Squad Dental Van and Glasses for Kids visiting. 

Pending Curriculum Days – Term 2 and Term 3

The following are dates for your calendar that we have allocated as Curriculum Days, pending approval by School Council. Our Term 2 date will be Friday June 6th leading into the King’s Birthday long weekend. This day will be for staff to complete report writing. Our Term 3 date will be Friday August 22nd. This means we will not be taking Sheepvention on the Monday as has been usual practice.  The change of date is a result of all staff attending a professional development day where the date was already set by the Network. 

Term 1 End Time 

A reminder that next Friday April 4th is the end of term. There will be no Assembly on this day and we will be finishing an hour early at 2:30pm. We wish all our families a safe and relaxing term break.