Principal Team's Report

Welcome to Term 4!

We've hit the ground running yet again and have gotten straight into a new term of learning! It has been wonderful to see our students settle in so well and set some challenging goals for themselves for the coming weeks.  Our students continue to amaze me with the maturity of the language they use to describe their learning - ask our Year Prep and One students to explain what they're doing in literacy!  Some of the complex spelling and language rules they can now articulate are even new to me!  I love learning from our students and hope they enjoy the structured, targeted and engaging lessons our teachers work so hard to provide.  I look forward to visiting more classrooms over the coming weeks to view the learning of all students.

Community Engagement

Education does not solely happen at school - at Pakenham Springs, we recognise that a strong school-home partnership is crucial not only for successful learning, but to develop a sense of connection and belonging for all community members.  We're trying our best to increase the opportunities for parents, carers and friends to come and spend time at our school, some of which include:

Monday assemblies - which now run from 8:50am-9:00am each Monday morning. Students come straight to the basketball court on Mondays and all families are welcome to join us. 

Springfest - our bi-annual celebration of our Specialist Programs, including short films, an Art exhibition, and demonstrations of sport and culture. This will be held on Friday November 17th and will also include rides and food vans. 

Christmas celebration - will be held on Wednesday December 6th.  We will present a variety of Carols and performances on our Outdoor stage and celebrate a successful year of learning. 

Breakfast Club - is available for all students and family members.  It's so lovely to pop in and see families enjoying breakfast together!  This is a free service and is provided from Monday-Friday, 8:30am-8:45am in the Multi-Purpose Room. 

Don't forget that families are also invited to spend time in our classrooms, helping with reading or sharing a special skill you may have. Please speak to our classroom or specialist teachers if you would like to volunteer your time to help out.

Community engagement is so much more than just being physically at school - the conversations you have with your child/ren at home about their learning, what they are enjoying and how they're feeling are also perfect examples of creating that home-school partnership.

Upcoming changes for 2024

We are excited to announce a number of changes to our programs in 2024.

Firstly, we will be re-introducing STEM to our school, with all students, P-6 enjoying an hour of specialist STEM instruction each week.

We will also be changing our Language studies program, with all teachers, Learning Support Assistants, and students learning Auslan. This will take place throughout the school week, with a 30-minute dedicated Auslan lesson running through the classroom teacher, supported by a new Auslan-trained assistant. 

We have introduced some additional camps, adding a one-night camp for both Year 3 and Year 5.  Our school council is very excited about this and we look forward to providing more information, including confirmed dates, venues and estimated costs very shortly. 

We have also listened to your feedback regarding our school Reports, and will be moving back to a Semester One and Semester Two report only. These will feature more personalised comments and reports on the learning achievement of your child/ren. 

Stay tuned for more exciting bits and pieces coming to PSPS!

Day for Daniel 2024

The Day for Daniel is to honour the memory of Daniel Morcombe.  On this very special day, we encourage everyone to talk to children and young people about personal safety and how to stay safe in our community. 

We are asking our school community to ‘wear a splash of red’ on Friday 27th October, to remember Daniel.  Red represents child safety and is the colour of The Daniel Morcombe Foundation.  Students at Pakenham Springs will participate in an activity to learn about child safety on the day. 

Here is the website if you would like to make a donation to support The Daniel Morcombe Foundation.  Your donation will help educate children about safety and support young victims of crime. 

https://danielmorcombe.com.au/get-involved/donate/

2024 Planning

It's that time of year again when we need to finalise our student numbers for 2024.  Please let us know as soon as possible if you have a child starting at the school in 2024 - Step into Prep plans are underway and information is already beginning to go out to families. 

If you have a student leaving the school at the end of this year (apart from our Year 6 students), please let us know as soon as possible.  Accurate student numbers allow us to budget and employ the correct number of staff. We have already commenced our recruitment activities this year due to the state-wide teacher shortage to ensure we lock in the best staff for our students. 

Hats - Term 4

It's time to look in the back of those cupboards and begin finding hats!  These are required from Day 1 of Term 4 - students will need to remain in a hard-covered area if they do not have a Sunsmart hat at school. Not only does this affect their play times, but it also has an impact on their ability to participate fully in PE and Year Level Sports activities.  A cap or hood is not sun-smart and is not acceptable at Pakenham Springs. 

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30 am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Enjoy the fortnight ahead!

The PSPS Leadership Team