Ryan’s Rambling 

Dear Families,

Our Swimming Program has come to a close today and I am very appreciative of the many people who made it another resounding success. Thanks, firstly, to Zara for her overall coordination of the program. The students all reported that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience, especially the inflatable obstacle course at the end of the week. Some informal 50 metre races were also conducted for students in Grades 3-6, who wished to be a part of it. Finally, thank you very much to our many parent helpers across the week who made the time to supervise and support our students.  

Many of you may know that today is a day we observe World Teachers’ Day here in Victoria. We are most fortunate to have such a vibrant and dedicated group of professionals who, above all else, commit incredible amounts of time and effort into improving the learning and wellbeing outcomes of our students. None of our staff have ever considered entering this profession for reasons other than the altruistic, which makes them truly amazing people. Due to no assembly occurring this week, we will celebrate Teachers’ Day next Friday 1 November 2024. 

With the development of our new School Strategic Plan underway, and on the back of our Strategic Review, our staff have begun to interrogate our teaching and learning of Numeracy. Next year, our school is looking to partner with long-term consultant, Andrea Hillbrick, to work alongside our staff in this space. Andrea was pivotal in supporting our school’s development of Inquiry learning over the last Strategic Plan. At our PLC meeting this week, our staff began unpacking how we best cater for the learning needs for all students in our Numeracy learning. An enhanced focus on differentiated learning, especially through the lens of extension, will continue to be part of our work across the term. 

Next week, we are facilitating our second transition session for our 2025 Foundation students.  We are yet to commence sorting grades for next year and will stick to the timeline outlined in the newsletter a couple of weeks ago (mid-November). We have a few families beginning with us next year and I would strongly encourage our existing families to reach out to them if you see them in the yard on Tuesday afternoon. I am sure that they would appreciate a warm welcome to our amazing community. 

Finally, it was great to have some warmer weather to start the week. Sadly, as I write this, I am feeling rather chilly. Hopefully, some of that warmer weather is just around the corner. 

Have a fantastic weekend. 

Ryan