Principal's Report
Book Week!
Wow – what a week! A huge shout-out to Mrs. Soutar for her fantastic organisation of all the events. We had so much fun, and it was great to see everyone’s effort in dressing up as characters from their favourite books. It was especially lovely to see grandparents enjoying our school grounds, getting involved in activities, and exploring different areas of the school.
Upgrade Works Around the School
It’s exciting to see real progress happening around our school! The new ramps near our Year 3 classrooms are coming together nicely, and I’m hopeful that this work will be close to completion by the end of the term.
Next week, I’ll be meeting with the builders to begin planning the much-anticipated upgrade of our senior boys’ and girls’ toilets.
In more great news, School Council has approved the purchase of a brand-new Senior playground, which will be installed next to the Ninja Course. We're aiming to have this completed before the end of the school year!
Farewell!
At the end of term, we say a heartfelt farewell to Cassy from our front office team, as she takes on a new role at Cranbourne West Secondary College. We will certainly miss Cassy’s warm smile and gentle nature around the school. We wish her all the very best in her new position and for the future ahead.
With Cassy’s departure, we are now looking for a new full-time Administrative Assistant to join our office team. If you’re interested in the role or would like more information, I’m more than happy to have a chat.
All applications should be submitted via https://www.vic.gov.au/school-jobs.
Replacing staff
We are going through another really difficult time with covering classes when staff are absent. Some days relief teachers (CRTs) run out by noon for the following day. This means any staff member that calls in sick later in the afternoon or early in the morning cannot be replaced. Ms Soutar is doing an excellent job anticipating, pre-booking and juggling the shortage each and every day. Please understand that all schools are having these challenges and it’s not something we can control. At LPS we manage these circumstances pretty well but they do become challenging especially during these colder months. When we are short of teachers these are the steps that we try to implement to ensure as much continuity as possible:
- We try to ensure that students still get their specialist classes eg sport, art etc even if it is with a CRT
- We try not to have the same class split within the same week
- We cancel support programs e.g. Intervention and Tutoring and reallocate these staff to classes
- Members of the well-being team cancel small group sessions, 1:1 supports with students, supports in classrooms with teachers and other meetings to take classes
- Learning Specialists and Assistant Principals take classes
Footy Parade!
As the end of term draws near, I remind all our families of our annual footy parade on the last day of Term 3. This is an opportunity for kids (and staff) to wear their favourite footy colours (NRL, soccer, netball all ok too) and parade with their peers in teams. We have lots of fun cheering for our team. Our wonderful PFA provide a fundraising lunch on this day also.
Have a great fortnight,
Mrs Pepper