Principal's Report 

With 4 days to go of the first term for 2024 it seems as though we have already achieved a fair bit for the year. Hopefully you have managed to enjoy snippets of this along the way either through parent/teacher conferences, Seesaw, school newsletters or Compass.

 would like to thank those of you who completed the communication survey sent out via compass a couple of weeks ago; the constructive feedback and suggestions in relation to how we best share general, school wide information has helped tremendously in understanding the needs of our parent/carer community. 

This information will help us to review and refine our communication processes to make sure that they are not only efficient, but they are meeting the expectations of our families. Here is a snapshot of some of the results:

Some of the written feedback or comments included:

School related events with 4-6 weeks notice. Many parents work full time and can’t take time off for events if we are notified about 1-2 weeks before

The Artshow is a great way for parents to show interest in our children’s work so maybe some kind of open morning where we can visit the classroom and do this for their general schoolwork.

It might be nice to hear about recess/lunchtime/afterschool programs that our kids might consider involvement in

I think the current balance of communication is great - I believe we're receiving all the relevant info we need, but we aren't being bombarded with multiple emails a day.

Info about parent committees and how to join or be apart of them

I can never have enough reminders to consent/pay for school excursions, unfortunately my personal emails is full of junk and I often miss it

Year level/ class teachers send a weekly or fortnightly update on what the class has been working on, achievements, photos etc.

Emails or phone calls from teachers regarding any specific positive feedback or concerns about my child have been fantastic.

Ensure kids are well informed so they can come home and talk about what's coming up.

I think communication is something ACS currently does extremely well. Sometimes if I miss something on compass I happen to see it on Facebook or the newsletter so I would not want anything more or less then what is currently utilised.

No, I think ACS has done a very good job on communication with us parents, always keeps us informed. Very happy.

Thank you again for the honest feedback and genuine suggestions - it gives us a lot to work with!

School Council 

Last night our new School Council committee met for our AGM followed by our first official meeting for the year.  At this meeting we elected our 2024 office bearers. 

I am very pleased to announce our 2024 School Council office bearers:

School Council President: Matt McBeath

Vice President: Esther Thompson

Treasurer: Alyce Matthies

Secretary: Hannah Prentice

Your school council comprises of:

Executive Officer

• Kathryn Sier

DET Representatives

• Kate Lachmund
• Janelle Levy

Parent Representatives

• Matt McBeath
• Hannah Prentice
• Mandy Dunn
• Laura Hartshorne
• Esther Thompson 

Community Member

• Alyce Matthies

I also extend my gratitude to Leanne Ernstzen and Alison Balchan for their efforts, time and valued contributions as outgoing School Council members.

 Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. 

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use 

Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:

* Amharic

* Arabic

* Dari

* Gujarati

* Mandarin

* Somali

* Sudanese

* Turkish

* Urdu

* Vietnamese

Thanks everyone, have a lovely weekend,

Kathryn