From the Assistant Principal 

Elissa Campbell

Branch Out / Tuning in to Kids

Our final Tuning in to Kids session for families was held on Wednesday 29th May, it was facilitated by Dr Sophie Havighurst. The session continued to unpack with parents how to use emotion coaching to support their child/ren to manage their feelings and responses to challenging situations. We have been able to offer these sessions as part of our participation in ‘Branch Out’ the Macedon Ranges pilot mental health initiative for primary school aged students. We will be holding a Q & A session for parents with Dr Sophie Havighurst in August and a student celebration in September. Further information will be communicated via Compass. We will continue to provide future opportunities for our students, staff and families wherever possible as we continue with our work in this very important space.

Foundation Enrolments

If you have a child commencing in Foundation in 2025 please collect and return your enrolment form to the office as soon as possible.

School Works Update

You may have noticed some further developments with our current Shelter in Place works both at Woodend and Carlsruhe. We have had new doors in installed and are waiting for the glass to be put in, replacement trees were planted on Tuesday, the retaining walls in the court yard are almost complete and the weatherboard siding on the Grade 3 building has been replaced with colour bond siding. We are getting closer to the end of this project and will continue to keep you updated about any further interruptions that may be planned as a result of these works.

Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

Our teachers have been hard at work preparing Semester 1 reports for their students. These are due to open next Friday afternoon, with Parent teacher interviews taking place next week from Monday – Wednesday. Information regarding booking for Parent Teacher Interviews was sent out via Compass earlier this week, please be aware that teachers will generally be meeting face to face with families, but WebEx is still an option if you are unable to attend on site. If you are unable to book a suitable time, please make sure you contact the teacher directly to organise another time for your interview. 

Some families may be aware that the Victorian curriculum has recently been updated for Maths and English to bring us into alignment with the updated Australian curriculum. You will notice a change in reporting for Maths this semester. There are new reporting expectations under the new curriculum, schools are being asked to move away from reporting against three areas in Mathematics (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability) to one averaged mark that encompasses all strands. We will still be providing families with a breakdown of this score, which outlines student progress against each strand. If you have any questions about this please contact the office.

School Disco

Our fantastic PFA volunteers have once again been working hard to organise our school disco tomorrow night, please be aware that ticket purchases have now closed on Compass. We are looking forward to seeing our students enjoy an afternoon/night of dancing and having fun with their friends. I am sure we may even catch some of our teachers and parent helpers enjoying the tunes of our DJ Milky Tea. We will share some photos of this event in our next newsletter.

Camps

Recently our Year 3 students returned from their three day camp to Creswick with many exciting stories about the experiences they had. Including meeting some animals up close at the Ballarat Wildlife park, showing bravery by having a go on the giant swing and flying fox, rugging up for a chilly night walk and enjoying a movie to recover from all their day time activities. Thank you to our staff and parent volunteers who supported our students during the camp, these opportunities would not be available for our students without their help.

Our Year 5/6 students are eagerly awaiting their overnight camp at Campaspe Down during the last week of this term. We look forward to hearing about their adventures.

Assistant Principal

Elissa Campbell