Principal's 

Report

Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Community,

What a term!

It’s hard to believe we are finishing up our first term of the year. So many wonderful things have been achieved over these last 11 weeks, with many wonderful opportunities provided to our students. Congratulations to our students who, by majority, come to school ready to learn and try their best. Thank you to our wonderful parents and carers who work in partnership with us. Your support is invaluable. Finally, thank you to our teachers who are here to provide the best opportunities for our students, whether that be sporting opportunities, extra-curricular, in the classroom and the absolute care, belief and support.

ISLHD Dental Van

Our school has really embraced the opportunity for our students to receive a free dental checkup, with almost 60% of students seeing the dental team. I have been told that this is an extraordinary success rate, particularly for a school our size.

A massive thank you to the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District team, who were extraordinarily kind, generous and supportive of our students and school. If your child didn’t get to see them, you can still access dental service through clinics in Dapto, Warilla and Wollongong. For more information - Dental Health | Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) (nsw.gov.au)

School Jumpers

Students in K-6 are expected to wear our school uniform at all times, as this promotes our school values and a sense of belonging. We have noticed a number of other items being worn to school, with this creating a ‘contagion effect’. We ask all parents to support us in maintaining these standards. Uniforms can be bought from the school office, or if you are seeking a second hand uniform or require some assistance, please contact our office.

In addition, if your children have outgrown their uniforms, please consider donating to our school so we can support other families.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Thank you to the large number of parents and carers who met with their child’s teacher to discuss their academic, social and emotional development. If you were unable to make an appointment, please don’t hesitate to make contact with your child’s teacher. They would be happy to make another time to meet with you or you can discuss your child’s progress over the phone.

Resource Pack

In previous years, our school has charged fees to parents for a resource pack, which covered the costs of IT subscriptions, textbooks and other stage related resources. This year we have revised the resources we have purchased as well as covered the cost for these resources and subscriptions for Maths Online and Decodable Readers Australia though our school funds. We hope this will be a welcomed relief for families, especially with the current cost of living.

School Uniform Feedback

In partnership with our P&C, we are seeking your feedback on our current school uniform and possible changes. It has been raised through the P&C on a number of occasions that the current uniform, specifically the yellow polo shirt, is extremely hot in Summer and doesn’t wash well.

Each school’s uniform, and subsequent changes, requires formal consultation with students, staff and parents, including the P&C. There are a number of factors that need to be considered, including:

•  wellbeing - suitable for all body types, genders and activities
•  health and safety – sun safe, visibility, appropriate for all weather
•  manufacturing – affordability, supply, quality

A survey has been sent to all families using School Bytes and we ask you to complete this to indicate your feedback on our current uniforms and possible changes. If it is determined there will be a change in uniform, a transition period of up to 3 years will allow for parents to make the necessary changes.

Newsletters

Due to the increasing number of ways we can successfully communicate with our families, we have decided to publish only 2 newsletters each term. The number of parents accessing our newsletter is not as great as it has been in the past, with more concise and timely pieces of information being shared through School Bytes, as well as other platforms such as Facebook, Class Dojo/See Saw and Kinderloop (preschool).

School Holidays

Term 1 comes to an end this Friday, 12 April. We hope our students have an enjoyable and safe break. We look forwarding to seeing them return refreshed and ready for another successful term of learning on Tuesday 30 April.

Kind regards

Jodi Niedermayer

Principal

11 April 2024