Principal's Report

Respect

Respect has always been a cornerstone of what we stand for here at Valkstone. It shone through in our ongoing work around the school values, with all groups (students, staff and families) expressing how important it is to have respect as one of our core school values that guide all our work here. (More info on this in our next newsletter!)

When we say "respect" here at Valkstone, we mean that we show respect for ourselves, for each other and for school property.

Unfortunately, there have been some concerning incidents recently where students have not shown respect for others, while also not showing respect for themselves. This has been incredibly disappointing to hear about, and has also been very hurtful to the people on the receiving end of these behaviours. 

We do not tolerate these behaviours.

All of our classroom teachers will continue to focus on respect in their classrooms, with an additional session being run within classes on how we show respect. At a whole school level, alongside the work teachers are already doing in classrooms, we are also investigating a number of programs that we could implement here at school to further educate our students about the need for respect for all, along with a deeper understanding of the impacts of prejudice, racism and discrimination. Both classroom sessions and external programs will be directed to the level of students, ensuring that the message that is delivered is relevant to our context as well as age-appropriate for the students.

I thank you for your continued support in making Valkstone the most amazing school to be at!

School Uniform

Please ensure that your child is dressed in correct school uniform before they leave the house in the morning.

At this time of year when there are very 'crisp' mornings, it is more than understandable that some students may wish to wear a jacket over their school uniform for an additional layer. 

This however is not to be worn for the entire day in a classroom, and also should not replace the school uniform windcheater or bomber jacket.

Students leaving Valkstone at the end of the year

If you know that your child is leaving Valkstone at the end of the year, please put this in writing to the school office as soon as you have confirmed your plans.

This will help us greatly with our 2024 planning. I know that it seems a little early, but I am already required to give projected student numbers to the Department of Education so that they can input this to determine our indicative budget. 

We use this information now for a lot of our forward planning, so any assistance you can provide us with would be very useful.