Principal's Report 

Dear Parents & Carers, 

A very warm welcome back to 2024. 

It was wonderful see so many smiling faces on Tuesday morning and hear all about the holiday happenings.  I would like to thank our wonderful staff for their preparation and planning to ensure such a calm and smooth start to the year. Our Preppies looked wonderful in their new uniforms and were settled and ready to learn by 9:15 am I can’t believe we are already locking in tour dates for 2025 Foundation!   

Apologies in advance for my extra-long newsletter… 

STAFFING 

I would like to congratulate Mrs Trudy Gau and Mr Sean Daley who were appointed as our Acting Assistant Principals for Term 1. Mrs Gau will be overseeing teaching & learning and Mr Daley will be looking after Wellbeing and the Disability Inclusion program.

We also welcome four new teachers on staff this year. 

• Mr Joshua Miller (5B)
• Mr Michael Day (5C) 
• Ms Lizzie Parmar (3C)
• Mrs Nish Kapoor (1C) 

PARKING & DRIVEWAY 

A huge thank you to everyone for your cooperation with navigating the school grounds and site fencing that has appeared over the holidays. The renovations are well underway. Just a reminder that cars are no longer permitted to enter the driveway (Kiss & Go zone) at the front of the school. This was in agreement with the Secondary College due to the heavy pedestrian access that we are experiencing at the front of both schools. We had a near miss this week with a car almost reversing over one of our children. I understand that it is inconvenient for families to have to park and walk however community safety is utmost and I implore you to please follow the processes we have in place. We thank you for your understanding. 

DAILY ROUTINE 

Our daily timetable hours have been adjusted to ensure that we are meeting curriculum requirements. Start and finish times remain the same. We have increased supervised eating time to 15 minutes in response to parent concerns that children did not have enough time to finish their lunch. We encourage students to bring a fruit/vegetable snack that can be consumed while they work during the morning session as well as their morning tea snack. Bell times are as follows:

8:50am – Classrooms open and students enter to prepare for the day. 

9am – Sessions 1 & 2 commence promptly at 9am. 

11am – Recess

11:30am – Sessions 3 & 4

1:30 – Supervised eating time

1:45 – Play Time

2:30 – Session 5 

3:30 – School finishes 

PLAYGROUND  

The new oval is being laid in coming weeks and will be ready for full use in Term 2. We have opened the Gym for play times which we are naming the “Game Zone”. Ball games and running are not allowed. The space is for quieter games and students are welcome to bring games to play, which can be stored in their classrooms. Lunchtime clubs have also started and include Art, Singing, Drawing, Lego, Mindfulness, Environmental and Mini-Golf clubs to name a few. The playscape will continue to operate and the basketball court and junior playgrounds are also available. We were slightly concerned about the playground and were considering alternate playtimes however it all seems to be running very smoothly thus far. We will continue to monitor it over coming weeks.   

PARENTS & FRIENDS 

Our P&F president Danielle Saunders met with me this week to discuss the relaunch of the P&F Committee. We do not currently have a P&F committee and would love to create a team of parents, grandparents and friends who are interested in creating wonderful experiences for our students and community to enjoy. Traditional events include Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Specials Friends Day and the Easter Raffle but we would love to offer more. Being on the P&F does not mean you have to commit to every event or do all the work… many hands make light work. 

Danielle will be hosting a coffee morning next Wednesday 7th Feb at 9am. We would love anyone interested in finding out more to join us in the staffroom for some morning tea, no obligation. Toddlers are welcome. 

FRIDAY COFFEE MORNINGS  

Georgie and the coffee van will be hosting coffee mornings for parents & carers in each grade on Friday mornings after drop-off. You are invited to gather with other parents from your child’s grade for a chat and warm drink. This will commence on Friday 9th February starting with class 00A and then every Friday onwards. 

The roster for this term:  

00B       16th February 

00C       23rd February 

1A       1st March 

1B       8th March 

1C       15th March 

2A       22n March 

SPECIAL ASSEMBLY  

Monday morning will be a special assembly to present our new School Leaders with their leadership badges. The assembly will run slightly longer than usual. Morning tea will be held in the staffroom afterwards for Year 6 leaders and their parents/carers. All parents and carers are welcome to assembly each Monday at 9 am. 

Wishing you all a wonderful Term. 

Kind Regards, 

Jane Briffa