PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Welcome Back

It has been great to welcome students back this week for the start of the 2024 school year. Our staggered approach has worked really well, allowing students to ‘ease’ back into their learning and routines, without experiencing the fatigue of a highly energetic full week at school. That will be next week! The week has also provided students with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with their teachers, classroom settings and structures, and also to commence or resume friendships and social interactions with their peers. Once again we have two Prep classes in place and these students have settled in extremely well. We look forward to working with families to support the learning needs for all of our students for what we predict will be another busy and highly productive year of education at Gray Street Primary.

New Families

This year we have had 43 Prep students and 15 new students spread out across grades 1 to 6 to start the new school year here with us. We welcome all of these students, along with their families, to Gray St Primary.

Prep Students

As previously mentioned our Prep students made a great start on Tuesday. Whilst there was obviously some nerves and anxiety, all very normal emotions for any child starting at a new school, the sheer joy and excitement was certainly the highlight. The Prep students did not attend on Wednesday, as will be the case each Wednesday throughout February which is common practice as a part of the transition to school. Times have been scheduled for each Prep child to come in on one of these Wednesday ‘rest days’ for our teachers to conduct required Department of Education and Training (DET) literacy assessments that we are referring to as “check ins” that will assist us with planning to teach to the specific needs of the students.

Staffing

We have commenced the school year with 7 new staff members joining our team. This week we have officially welcomed teachers Mrs Alison Smith (Grade 1/2 Support), Ms Tracey McDonnell (Grade 1/2D), Ms Sam Eales (Grade 5/6B) and Mrs Trish Taylor (Welfare/Wellbeing Support). We have also welcomed Education Support Staff Mr Daniel Brabham (1/2B), along with Mrs Sophie Claffey (1/2C) and Ms Lee Muhktar (5/6A). I am very excited by the skillset and enthusiasm of our new staffing additions and am very confident they will all be great assets to our school this year.

Grade 1 to 6 Assessments

Staff have found the two-day assessment period at the beginning of this week extremely beneficial. Obtaining this highly valuable data in literacy and numeracy allows staff to review student capabilities much quicker and work on planning now, and not much later in the term as has been the practice in past years. This will allow teaching staff to begin implementing specific curriculum learning needs for each child earlier in the term which we feel is extremely important, to maximise the learning potential for all students. We have also found this staggered start has been very beneficial to the students, helping them transition and settle more smoothly into the new school year. We thank our families for also supporting this process and bringing students in for their designated interview sessions.

Parent Payments

As included in the letter that was sent home yesterday, we have received a number of parent queries regarding parent payments. This information regarding the voluntary parent payment process will be re-sent next week.

Prep Parents Welcome BBQ and Chat

We will be holding a gathering for Prep parents on Wednesday 14th February. We will commence with a BBQ from 5:30pm and will then hold a chat with parents on how we teach aspects of the curriculum (e.g. our Sounds Write program for the teaching of literacy skills). This will also be a great opportunity for parents to meet one another. Further information will be sent out directly to Prep parents over the next week.

School Times

Our school day starts with teachers on outside duty from 8:35am. We ask that children do not arrive before this time. Children are to come inside when the first bell goes at 8:50am to prepare themselves for the day. Prep children however (during Term 1) may come inside when they first arrive at school. Our times for the remainder of the day are then:

· 9:00am - Start of Formal Classes

· 11:00am - Recess Break until 11:30am

· 1:00pm - Lunch Break until 2:00pm

· 3:25pm - Bus Bell

· 3:30pm - School day concludes

School Drop Off and Collection – ‘Drop and Go Zones’

We would like to remind families of the expectations in the ‘Drop and Go’ zones when delivery your child to or collecting them from school. Cars are not to park in these zones and cars should remain in the ‘Drop and Go’ zone for a maximum of two minutes. If your child has not yet arrived we ask you to pull out, make a lap around the block and then re-join the line to avoid congestion. We would also like to remind you to:

· Please pull forward when a gap appears and not try to reverse into a space, wait for the lines to move forward

· Encourage your child to enter the car from the footpath side

· Take extreme care when pulling out from a queue, leaving enough space for oncoming cars and buses

· Please wait until there is sufficient space and do not stop near the school crossings

· Please refrain from making U-turns in Kennedy Street and;

· Please consider parking in either Gray Street or French Street to collect your child from the top and bottom gates

These rules apply between the times of 8:00am to 9:30am and 2:30pm to 4:00pm. Directly out the front of the school office is a designated ‘Bus Zone’ and we would also like to remind families not to park in this area between the times as listed above.

School Readiness Clean Up

During the holidays a few different jobs have been completed to help improve the condition of our school grounds and facilities. The courtyard outside the toilet facilities have had a deep clean and I’d like to thank parent Wayne Riddle for bringing in his heavy duty pressure washer and spending many hours to make this area look fantastic once more. We also engaged the services of DSB Building and AK Quality Plastering (at rather short notice) to come in and complete some building works to improve the safety and overall condition of the bag room and other areas within the 1/2 building. Whilst we still have some painting to complete, this will be a huge improvement of this space. In particular I’d like to thank Justin and Emma Brian at DSB Building for volunteering the labour for this building work.

Hats

A reminder that all children must wear a broad-brimmed hat when outside at recess and lunchtime during term 1. We have a “No Hat, No Play” rule as a part of our Sunsmart Policy where children without a hat are required to play under the covered veranda areas of our school portables. We would much prefer our students to have the freedom to play in all areas of the school so please assist us with this and purchase a hat for your child (from Accurate Clothing in Gray Street) if they don’t already have one.

Zooper Doopers

During term 1 and term 4 our Grade 6 students sell Zooper Doopers on a Friday with proceeds going towards their end of year ‘Grade 6 Big Day Out’ excursion. We will commence selling these next Friday and they are available to purchase for $1.00 each. Children are limited to purchase a maximum of two (2) Zooper Doopers. If you would like for your child to enjoy a Friday treat then please remember to send along some money with your child each Friday this term.

Friday Assembly

We held our first assembly earlier today with our School Captains and Student Voice Captains doing a terrific job – you wouldn’t have known it was their first time leading our assembly! Next week our assembly will revert to a 3:00pm start and we will start the year off by presenting all of our Grade 6 Leaders with their leadership badge. Parents of our Grade 6 students are encouraged to come along if they can.

Key Dates for Term 1

A number of key dates will take place in term 1. As we are still confirming some aspects of these events we haven’t quite finalised dates, but will make these available to families next week in the newsletter. Some dates we can confirm are:

School Athletics Sports

· Tuesday 5th March – running events at Pedrina Park

· Wednesday 6th March – field events at Gray Street school

This is a highly anticipated event on our annual calendar and we hope large numbers of parents, friends and family members are able to come along and cheer on our students as they represent their houses of Glenelg (green), Grange (blue), Nigretta (red) and Wannon (yellow).

It has been a very positive start to the school year and we look forward to the year ahead.

Have a great weekend!

Ben Kelson

Principal

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