Principal Team's Report

This fortnight...

It's been another super busy fortnight at the Springs as we head towards the final few weeks of Term 3.  

Thank you to all of our students for their exemplary participation and behaviour at our school disco event - it was an absolute pleasure to see all students enjoying themselves in a safe, respectful and responsible manner.

Our Year 4 students are currently on camp at Phillip Island Adventure Resort. Despite some drizzle and cold winds, students and staff are having a great time completing their activities. We look forward to sharing more of their adventures in our next newsletter. 

Book Week 2025 - Book an Adventure!

Book Week is always a wonderful way to celebrate the amazing world of literacy and reading. It was great to see so many of our students embrace our Parade and Dress Up day and use their imagination to put together some fabulous activities. This year, it was particularly lovely to see so many students collaborating with each other and organising group dress-up themes. Thank you to all of our Springers Community for your support during our Book Fair - we raised some money for our library to continue ensuring students are able to access high-quality, relevant and interesting reading material. A massive thank you to Miss Sarah and Miss Spooner for their organisation and dedication in making sure this ran so smoothly for all. We have also been lucky enough to welcome two best-selling authors to Pakenham Springs, Morris Gleitzman (Years 5 & 6 only) and Adrian Beck (all students). We hope that their stories have unlocked the creativity in our potential future authors! We also look forward to welcoming Adam Wallace back in Term 4 (years 3-6) for a special book launch.

Science Week 2025 - Decoding the Universe!

Our STEM program at Pakenham Springs is designed to give students rich opportunities to engage in diverse learning experiences across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Through STEM, students develop valuable skills such as making observations, asking questions, drawing conclusions, designing and creating, and solving problems. The program nurtures curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and a lifelong love of learning.

This year, Science week at Pakenham Springs has risen to a higher level! Mrs McKenzie, Mrs Daalmeyer and Mrs Watson are super proud of the creative submissions to our Science Week competitions this year. It's been fantastic to see our Junior School students making rockets, our Middle School students showing their representations of our Solar System and our Senior School students designing sundials. Our STEM teachers are going to have a tough job selecting winners from each sub-school! Check out all of the submissions at our Open Afternoon on Wednesday 10th September.

Save the date! Springfest 2025 is coming...

We look forward to showcasing and celebrating our Specialist Subjects in our bi-annual Springfest afternoon coming up in Term 4 on Friday 21st November. Pop it in your diary now! Special exhibitions, demonstrations, games, prizes and food trucks galore! We hope to see our whole community turn out for this special event.

Parent and Carers - We want to hear your voice!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. 

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday, 18 August to Friday, 19 September 2025.

All families are encouraged to complete the survey.

Access the survey here:

https://research.orima.com/parent 

PIN: 641896

BYOD 2026 reminder - Year 3 and 4 Families

It is wonderful to see such an overwhelmingly positive response to our BYOD program for 2026! We have been sent order numbers from Learning With Technologies, and there are already a large number of devices that have been ordered by families - this is so exciting for us. 

The order portal is now open at https://pakenhamsprings.orderportal.com.au/ 

Or CLICK here...

We are also aware that there are some families who have purchased a device privately (or are planning to do so). If you have purchased a device privately, we ask that you please send through an email (renee.cotterell@education.vic.gov.au) letting us know that you have done so, and also letting us know the make/model/details of the device purchased. This will assist us with our planning for next year. We will organise a time where privately owned devices can be brought up to the school, and we can ensure that internet connection for them is all set and ready to go for the beginning of the 2026 school year. 

Planning for 2026

This is the time of year that we begin planning our workforce and class structures for 2026. If you do not anticipate your child being at Pakenham Springs in 2026, please let us know immediately for planning purposes (this does not include our current Year 6 students). If you have a younger child who will be starting Prep next year and haven't already submitted your enrolment forms, please visit the office immediately so that you do not miss important transition information.

Each year, we get many requests from parents regarding placing their child/ren in classes for the coming year. Class placements take many hours of discussion and take into account many different factors, including compatible groups of students (based on teachers' observations of how students learn together), balance of academic ability, the need for additional learning assistant support and an overall gender balance. Please note that requests for particular teachers, or requests not to have particular teachers, will not be considered, nor will requests for placing students with a certain 'friend' or keeping them away from a student they may have had problems with in the past. If you believe you have information that should be considered when placing your child in a class for next year, please submit this in writing directly to the Principal on renee.cotterell@education.vic.gov.au.

Please see our Class Placement Policy for further information. Class Placement Policy 

Attendance Reminder

Daily school attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don't fall behind both socially and developmentally. Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives. It is important that children develop habits of regular attendance at an early age.

School participation is important as it maximises life opportunities for children and young people by providing them with education and support networks. School helps people to develop important skills, knowledge and values which set them up for further learning and participation in their community.

If you need support in establishing regular school attendance patterns with your child/ren, please contact your classroom teacher or our office staff.

Communication with staff

Please remember that our staff are doing their best to provide a positive, safe and supportive educational environment for all members of the community. We understand that sometimes a parent or carer may require further information about an incident that has happened at school. This clarification must be done in a respectful manner. Our staff have the right to be safe at work, and any abuse or explicit language towards staff will not be tolerated. Please see the Department's Respectful Behaviours Within the School Community Policy for more information.

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30 am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  

Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Have a wonderful fortnight,

The PSPS Leadership Team