Principal's Report

Dear Families, 

Can you believe we are half-way through term 3?! Earlier this term our prep students celebrated 100 days of school, with the theme 100 Days Brighter! The children and their teachers dressed up in colourful clothes and participated in fun activities to celebrate the occasion. Congratulations on all your achievements in your first year at school preps, you have definitely made us all so proud of you! The prep students made a grand entrance to assembly last week and enjoyed the applause from the rest of the school. 

Lots to fit into the second half of term 3, including the district athletics which is taking place today. We wish all of our competitors good luck for their events and hope they have a great day. Next week we celebrate book week, starting with our book week parade Monday morning - please come along to join in the fun! I wonder if you will find Where's Wally hiding among the crowd! Make sure you pop into the library to check out the book fair too. 

Year 4 and 5 swimming, year 6 lightning premiership, the State School Spectacular and Grade 5 camp will round out the term. Be sure to tune in on Saturday 13th September and watch our students singing and dancing their way to stardom in the State School Spectacular. Good luck to all the SSS participants and teachers!

Don't forget parent-teacher interviews are on next week, for all parents and carers who have not already attended for a Student Support Group meeting. These interviews are an important way to connect with your child's class teachers. We are trying to make the interviews as accessible as possible by having an onsite, or online/phone option. Please choose your preference through the Compass booking portal. 

DOGS at SCHOOL

You may have seen some puppies around the school buildings on occasion recently. Very excitingly, we will be adding a wellbeing dog (or two) to our community. Miss Wilson and her cavoodle puppy Coppa are beginning their wellbeing dog training. I received certification as a wellbeing dog handler with my own dog Skippa a few years ago though our time in schools lapsed during the covid years. I hope to get his training routine back on track again soon and bring him in for some organised wellbeing sessions in the near future. My other dog Oscar (a maltese/cavalier) is too lazy to train, but can sometimes be found snoring in the corner of my office! He keeps our wellbeing dogs company during their rest times away from the hustle and bustle of classrooms and the yard. 

The children who are comfortable around dogs are learning how to approach our wellbeing dogs calmy as they practise walking around the hallways. Even during the dogs' limited time onsite while training, we are seeing the benefits of their presence. Wellbeing dogs in schools offer a wide array of benefits, including improved mental health, social interaction, and academic engagement. These dogs can reduce stress and anxiety, create a more positive and inclusive environment, and even improve attendance and overall morale. Here is a photo of Coppa, Skippa and Oscar so you will recognise them if you see them around. 

Please remember that other dogs who are unknown and not certified as wellbeing dogs or assistance dogs are not permitted on school grounds. This includes during morning drop off and afternoon pick up times. 

ANNUAL PARENT CARER OPINION SURVEY

Next week, a link will be sent out on Compass inviting all parents to participate in the annual Parent Carer Opinion Survey. The PCOS enables schools to gain a better understanding of where they are doing well and where they could make improvements, based on feedback from the community. When these results are combined with the results from our Student Attitudes to School Survey and Staff Opinion Survey, we can check our progress against school goals and targets as set in our Strategic Plan and Annual Implementation Plan. We can then set new future goals and targets for improvement based on what the whole community are telling us. Results from these surveys are shared annually in our Annual Report to the Community, which is published on our website. The more parents that respond to the survey, the more reliable the data. Please do click on the link when you receive it next week and help shape the future direction of our school. 

Alison Lough

Principal