PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Student Leadership

Our newly elected Junior School Councillors are now actively engaged in their leadership roles across the school.  On Tuesday I was most impressed to see the JSC group involved in their Leadership Development session with our Assistant Principal Jenny Loorham.  This weekly session helps them build their skills to enable them to better represent their peers during school activities.

After School Specialist Sessions

Each term our specialist teachers offer a range of after school activities that are optional for members of the school community.  This term we have four Tuesday night sessions between 3:30-4:30pm that have been taken up by close to 100 of our students.  In a brand new initiative, both our art teacher Ms Taylor and our Indonesian teacher Bu Ladd are running sessions that involve both parents and children.  Another addition has been our Maths Club, which was very popular yesterday afternoon, with 25 students working with our Numeracy Extension teacher, Mr Alex Campbell. With three more sessions scheduled throughout this term, we look forward to sharing feedback with you at the end of the program. 

Early Student Pickup

Whilst genuine emergencies do occur and appointments are necessary, students being picked up in the last hour of the school day is becoming more and more common at Plenty Parklands.  Often the staff can be asked to make up to 20 calls to classrooms for children to be brought down early.  Please endeavour to steer clear of this time if possible as it is highly disruptive to student learning.  More information and an updated process will follow.

First Aid Calls

On Monday we sent ten students home unwell.  There is a fine line between students maintaining a high attendance rate, compared with staying at home when they are not well.  As a parent myself I understand that it can be a difficult decision to make. Please ensure that your children are well enough to be at school when you drop them off in the morning and maintain patience and respect should you receive a call from the school nurse to pick your child up.  On certain days this week we have had close to 100 students absent, which is most understandable considering some of the bugs going around.  It is ‘not ok to be away’ – unless you are unwell.

Parent Contact Details 

As a follow on from my last item, it can be quite concerning for our office staff if your child is distressed, and we cannot contact the appropriate parent/guardian.  Please check your personal contact details on Compass so that we have your correct mobile number and updated details of a couple of other trusted adults who we can contact if necessary.

Principal’s Conference

On Thursday and Friday this week I will be offsite at the Whittlesea Network Principal’s Conference to be held in Geelong.  During the two days I will be participating in professional learning around leading a school to improve numeracy outcomes, enhancing opportunities for Koorie students and using data to analyse challenges in our school.  Our Assistant Principal Jenny Loorham will take on my role during this time.

David Whewell | Principal