Dear Families,

This newsletter comes to you as we wrap up a very long term! Our students and staff are certainly feeling it so I'm sure our parents and carers are noticing some very tired and cranky children at home too. The cold and recently wet weather has not been helping. Bring on the holidays and some nice warm homes to rest and recuperate in!

Unfortunately some of the inappropriate behaviours we are seeing in the media from out in society and around the vicinity of our school, have made their way onto school grounds. My number one priority as a Principal is the safety of my students and staff at school. We have worked hard to adjust our processes and policies and put new measures in place that keep all of our children and their teachers and support staff safe and protected while at school/work.

The Department of Education have published new posters for schools to remind parents and carers of the need to respect school staff and be the role models their children deserve. You may notice some of these displayed throughout the school.

We have developed a new Parent and Carer Communication and Complaint Process to accompany the Complaints Policy. Both of these can be found on our school website in the parents - forms and policies page. You can also find the Department of Education's Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy here.

Some of the processes we have tightened this year have included enforcing our gate opening times of 8.30am and our late arrival process, where parents must sign their child in at the office and then exit via the front gate, not walk to their child's class. Students can walk themselves to their classroom once signed in, or will be walked by a staff member where necessary.

Our school is not a public place and therefore we cannot have any visitors onsite who are not officially registered to be here. The only exceptions are morning drop-off where parents/carers may enter the school grounds between 8.30am and 9am but must be out of the school by 9.05am when gates are then closed; and between 3.20pm and 3.30pm for afternoon pick-up but parents must exit the school by 3.40pm when gates will again be closed. This is to ensure the safety of students at Team Kids and staff who are still onsite after hours.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

I must again remind parents and carers that double parking in front of the school to drop students off behind parked cars is illegal. I have witnessed multiple cars pull up there and students hop out and walk between cars into school. Some cars have even parked there in excess of 5 minutes, causing traffic to bank up and making it dangerous for other cars trying to get around. The council have recently issued fines to some of our parents for this as well as parents who continue to park in the "kiss and go" drop-off zone on Courtenay Avenue.

Please adhere to the parking signs and regulations and put the safety of our students above the desire to park close to the front of the school. It would be safer to park down the street a little way and have students walk together, using the designated crossings. The council have indicated they will continue patrolling local Casey school roads in the mornings in particular, and issue infringement notices to those breaching parking laws and regulations.

NEW SCHOOL YARD ACTIVITIES

Gordon has been hard at work constructing two new play areas for our students. A dig-pit has been built along the back of the oval - where students can go to dig for all kinds of treasures (they may even find some buried treasure and dinosaur fossils in there). We also now have a GaGa Ball Pit! If you're not sure what GaGa ball is, your child will soon know and we are sure they will get some enjoyment out of playing GaGa Ball next term. Each class will be given a demonstration of the game and the rules by the end of term.

TERM 2 WRAP-UP

I am very much looking forward to our Showcase Evening next Wednesday which will be an awesome way to celebrate the end of semester one. Be sure to book your tickets if you plan to attend. Tickets are free, but we need to know numbers for seating purposes.

Congratulations to all participants and organisers involved in our recent year 3-6 athletics day at Casey Fields. Fortunately the weather was kind to us and it was a beautiful sunny day of competition, fun and effort! Well done, everyone.

This term we have also had students perform in District Cross Country (see PE report for details); grade 2s had their 'old school immersion day'; preps participated in school crossing education; student leaders attended 'Inspire Leadership Day'; grade 1s had their Science Dome Portable Planetarium incursion; students involved in the State School Spectacular have started their rehearsals; and, yesterday our Prep students participated in Responsible Pet Ownership sessions. These extra-curricular opportunities all enhance our students' confidence and experience at school and we look forward to the offerings term 3 holds, including our ever-exciting year 5 camp!

Have a wonderful and safe term break everybody and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 3.

Alison Lough

Principal

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