Principal's Report 

 Dear Parents, 

What a hot few days we have had since school has returned and the forecast shows this is set to conti.  Thank goodness our Junior School Council installed sunscreen dispensers for us all.  Unfortunately however, these days have also highlighted how many students still do not have their school hats everyday. It is for your child's safety that this rule is in place.

Statistics from the Victorian Cancer Council show that at present, one in three Australians will develop skin cancer, and that skin damage whilst people are young is a major contributing factor. We will continue to monitor and enforce our 'No Hat - No Play' rule, however, your cooperation in making sure your child has a hat each day would reduce our need to do so. 

For those parents who go though our yard, you may see the beginnings of a new shade sail being erected between the main building and the basketball courts. As we do not have an abundance of trees around our oval, this structure will provide additional shade for our students during break times, and provide our grades a place outside to conduct lessons, read stories or eat lunch.

Our parent Meet and Greet sessions are fast approaching on February 27 and 29.  These sessions are an opportunity for you as parents to inform us about your children. It may be about their learning, their social skills, medical issues or friendship groups to name a few. These are not parent-teacher interviews and as such, your child's learning progress will not be discussed on these nights.  Bookings can now be made via XUNO, and we would love to see as many parents as possible attend. 

Last week, our grade three and grade five students started their NAPLAN preparation workshops.  These workshops are designed to take the mystery away from NAPLAN, develop confidence in the students to undertake the assessments and to clarify any misunderstandings. These workshops will continue until the NAPLAN assessments are administered in mid-March.  

A reminder again that the grade three/four camp will take place on May 22, 23 and 24. This is the only camp these children will have the opportunity to attend whilst in grade three and four.  The next time these students have a camping opportunity will be in grade five or six.  

The final cost for the camp is $450 which is payable prior to the camp itself. If you would like your child to attend, please contact the office.  If payment is challenging for you, please discuss this with the school so arrangements can be made to support you and your children. 

Finally, this term's homework tasks will be explained to students in grades 1-6 this week, with activities due from next week. Homework will follow the same format as it did late last year when we updated our policy and format as per parent requests. Please keep an eye out for it and ask your child's classroom teacher if you have any questions. 

Kind Regards, 

Simon McGlade

Principal