Principal's Report
Dear Parents,
Last Monday we had a most wonderful Christmas concert in place of our usual assembly where we as a community were proud to provide many, many gifts to the Salvation Army who will in turn gift these to children in need. Christmas aside, it was a lovely example of a community giving to those in need, and what a wonderful way to bring this year to a close.
On Thursday of last week, our trusty team from Mambourin joined parents and friends at our Community Helper morning tea. This was a nice way for the staff to say a huge thank you to all in our community who have assisted the school in so many ways over the past twelve months. So many school events would not be possible, or would not be as successful, without them. So on behalf of al in our school community, we say thank you to all involved.
And to top off a busy week, on Friday last week our grade 6 students celebrated the end of the year with a trip to the cinema to watch Wonka. This was a great way for the grade 6 students to bond one last time as a cohort, and celebrate seven years of primary school.
This evening we formally farewell our grade 6 students with our graduation ceremony here at school from 6pm. It goes without saying, but it has been an absolute pleasure having these students attend Mackellar, and whilst more will be said tonight, we wish each and every grade 6 student all the very best for their start to secondary college and the many years beyond that.
This week is that time of year where we also say farewell to staff and as mentioned in our last edition. We say goodbye to some wonderful integration aides and wish them all the very best as they continue to support students from other settings. We say thank you and farewell to Phuong, Allana, Nhu, Madison and Fiona.
We also gear up to welcome new staff to Mackellar in 2024 and these staff include Jaida Bonnici, Linda Varol, Perri Telford and Hanna Mercado, whilst we welcome back Elyse Burgess from family leave. I am sure these staff will make a positive contribution to Mackellar Primary School. For a full list of staff for 2024, please see further into this newsletter.
On Wednesday of this week, students will 'step up' to their new grades for 2024. Whilst some of our new staff are not able to join us on the day, for most students they will meet their 2024 teacher and spend some time with them prior to the holidays commencing.
If your child's placement causes you concern, please feel free to discuss this with an appropriate member of staff, however please note a large amount of time, discussion and planning goes into the placement of students into classes, and this is not something that can be easily altered.
Finally, a reminder that school finishes at 1:30pm this Wednesday with a guard of honour for our departing grade 6 students. TheirCare will be available from this time, and the office will be closed from 2pm. Please be sure to make the appropriate arrangements for your child/ren.
On behalf of the entire school community, we wish you a very happy and safe holiday period. For those families who celebrate Christmas, we wish you a very merry Christmas and hope this is a very special time for you all.
We look forward to seeing you all as we start the 2024 school year.
Kind Regards,
Simon McGlade
Principal