Principal's Report

2024 Parent/Caregiver Opinion Survey

The Department of Education and Training (DET) survey is open again and all families are invited to participate. The data collected gives us an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement.

Please refer to the email or Compass newsfeed for login details for the survey. Taking only about 20 minutes, it can be completed on a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone and closes Friday 30th August.

Mid Term Progress Reports

Term 3 Progress Reports will be available to families on Compass after school on Friday the 9th of August. These reports focus on the learning behaviour of students, with an expected level of achievement for all students being 3. Early in the term is a good time to view these reports and discuss your child’s progress with them to set some learning goals for the rest of the term. If you have any questions about your child’s progress that arise from these reports, or in general, please don’t hesitate to contact your teachers, either via email or a phone call.

The Buzz

We have great staff at our school, who are dedicated and committed to our students’ education. However, with some less than positive data over time, actions to improve staff morale and create a thriving and collaborative learning culture was added into this year’s Annual Implementation Plan, in order to work towards building a more cohesive team. Signing up to Tracey Ezard’s “Buzz Academy”, the first part of the year was planning what areas and topics we needed to focus on with our staff. We also re-surveyed staff to see if any of the improvement initiatives that were implemented at the start of the year had made a difference. It was great to see an increase in all 3 areas that create a “buzzing” learning culture; mindset, environment and dialogue. From December last year, to May this year, mindset has moved from 54% to 61%; environment has increased from 42% to 55% and dialogue moved from 50% to 62%. Our overall benchmark score has risen by 10% over that time period. While there is still room to improve, this is a great start! This term, the Leadership Team have been running selected “Buzz Academy” workshops with staff, starting with Minimum Viable Practices (MVPs) – determining expected behaviours from staff in the 5 areas of communication, clarity, consistency, collaboration and community. We've now moved on to Adult Learner Mindset – looking at how our actions contribute to a learning community.

Water Works

With the water rectification works finally completed, our water is now crystal clear! I’d like to thank the VSBA for funding these works. Not only were new water pipes and a water inlet to the school installed, but we have had a drink bottle filler, all new drinking stations/taps installed externally, a new water bottle filler/drink tap in The Cafe, new basins and taps installed in many areas, an exhaust fan and urinal step (epoxy resin, not tiles and grout) installed in the boys’ toilets and a new Zip hot/cold water tap installed in the staff room. Thanks to Marta from Power Partners for all her effort in coordinating these works and minimising the disruption to the school routines.

Fundraising

As a result of the School Council‘s fundraising sub-committee and their efforts, we were able to purchase a new industrial dishwasher for The Cafe. Thanks to Sarah Shuttleworth, Rachel Fallon, Bron Gray and Kelly Roffey for their efforts, especially Sarah who organised entertainment and extra prizes for the last fundraising event; Mountain Monk Brewers for hosting the raffle and to the community that supported the fundraiser. Keep your eyes open for the next fundraising event!

Positions Vacant

While we are fully staffed for all classes, we are still seeking some extra staff to fill other roles within the school. Please feel free to share this information with any suitable applicants.

Instrumental music instructor – brass/woodwind.

0.4 EFT (2 days), family leave, fixed term position from 26/08/2024 – 25/08/2031. ES 1 – 2.

Recruitment On Line reference #: 1428013. Apply by: 18/08/2024.

Mental Health Practitioner.

0.2 EFT (1 day), ongoing, from 19/08/2024. ES 1 – 4.

Recruitment On Line reference #: 1427330. Apply by: 13/08/2024.

Wellbeing/counsellor position

0.2 EFT (1 day), fixed term position from 02/09/2024 – 26/01/2027. ES 1 – 3.

Recruitment On Line reference #:1428645. Apply by 21/08/2024.