Dear Parents and Families,

Welcome back to the 2026 school year – we have had a wonderfully settled and positive start across the school. Our teachers and students have been spending considerable time establishing thriving classroom cultures and consistent routines for learning.

Student Leadership ~ 2026

Last week, in sweltering conditions, we presented all our Year 6 student leaders with their badges in a special assembly. I am excited to collaborate with our school captains, Ryan, Violet, Annabella and Dom and the entire group of student leaders. We have included some photos later in the newsletter of these presentations if you were not able to come along to assembly last Friday!

Year 1-6 Meet and Greet Meetings

Thank you to all the parents and carers who have already booked in a Meet & Greet meeting for next Wednesday, 11th of February on Compass. A reminder that these meetings run from 10AM until 6PM, and it is a Pupil Free Day to enable these to take place for our Year 1 to 6 students (not Foundation students). Most of our specialist teachers are also available to meet on this day, which we strongly encourage. Meetings run for a strict 10 minutes – and if parents and teachers decide collectively a longer meeting is required, that can be arranged.

Morning Energisers and Yard Duty

This year we are starting to run “Morning Energisers” in Penberthy Hall on Mondays and Wednesdays at 8:45AM. All students are welcome to come along where Mrs Morris will be running a variety of activities and rotations across the year to offer students another transition opportunity into school one those mornings.

So far this year we have also noticed a large number of students arriving before school (prior to 8:45AM) who are not remaining either in the front yard or courtyard, and making their way to the oval, basketball court, or back playground. Yard duty teachers are not on yard duty until 8:45AM in the mornings, and until those teachers release the students to head out of the courtyard area they are required to remain in the courtyard. This is a duty of care and safety issue, and we ask that parents help us with this.

Parking

We have taken a number of phones calls already this year from neighbours reporting that cars are parking over driveways during drop-off and pick-ups, and they have asked us to communicate with our families to ask that this not occur. We are fully aware of the challenges for parking, etc at these times, but ask that everyone is mindful of our neighbours in these cases.

Parent Payments

Thank you to those parents and families who have already made their annual Parent Payment to the school (this includes those who have made a payment plan to do so too!). We would like to remind all parents/carers with outstanding parent payments to make payments as soon as practical or alternatively to reach out and speak to Katrina or Fiona to arrange a payment plan. We are very conscious of the financial pressures on families and households in the current climate. I would like to take this opportunity to outline that schools like ours are facing tightening budgets as well, and that these contributions help us to ensure we can maximise our budgets and provide the best possible opportunities, resources, and facilities for the children. It gets harder for the school to cover unpaid costs, and we are more than willing to work with families to help find a solution.

I am very much looking forward to the year ahead, and the next great event on our calendar is the Foundation Family Picnic on Monday the 9th of February at 5:30PM – I cannot wait!

Have a wonderful weekend, and until I see you in person, take care.

David Garner

Principal

“Believe you can and you're halfway there.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

CSEF