Principal Update

It was lovely having the extra day on Tuesday to re-energise as the days and nights get busier. 

Our Prep/Year 1 students did a great job at their concert last week. It was wonderful to see them shine on stage. They performed again to the rest of the school on Friday to much applause. Well done to everyone involved.

On Monday the staff had a deep dive into our school data. We looked at NAPLAN, teacher judgements, and the student, staff and parent surveys. Please see Shane's section for more details. 

We analysed the academic data to the point where we placed all students into a level and will use this information for the transition and move into next year. This fine-grained look at each student helps us identify their point of need and makes plans for next year. The staff spent the afternoon report writing.

2024 Class requests

We invite parents to write to me if they have a particular request regarding their child’s class placement for the following year. This request must be on educational grounds.

Requests for a particular teacher will not be considered. If you feel compelled to make a request then please ensure it is in writing to myself no later than COB Tuesday 14 November. Each student will be asked to list 5 friends they would like to be in a class with and they do their best learning with. This becomes part of the puzzle along with teacher advice, academic performance and other aspects which need to be considered. This year we are trialing a program ‘Class Solver’ to create the class lists. Staff will review these and make changes accordingly but we expect the process to be more efficient by using the program. 

Our Prep Transition Program began last week with 53 very excited pre-schoolers visiting the Prep classrooms. We have the next session tomorrow, where the students will meet their future buddy. The Year 5’s are just as excited to become a buddy. We have made the decision to offer three smaller classes of Preps. 

As we plan for 2024 and acknowledge that there are always late changes, we have employed the services of Speech Pathology for Schools, which will provide a speech pathologist for two days a week for the next two years. This specialist’s role will be to provide support to groups of students through the school, particularly in the younger years. They will also support teachers to provide the latest evidence-based approaches to language development and teaching students with language difficulties. We are very excited to be able to offer this program and are using some new funding from DE to pay for this. 

In 2024, we will be offering 17 classes, all with single year levels. The specialists we will offer include Mandarin as the LOTE, Physical Education, Performing Arts and Visual Arts. All other subject areas will be taught in the general classrooms. 

This Sunday is our annual Out of Hours Music Program concert. All students who have put in the effort over the year have the opportunity to perform in front of other music enthusiasts. There is a committee of dedicated parents who voluntarily run this program and on behalf of the school I would like to thank them for their efforts over the year. They organise the many teachers, their timetables and the concert, along with other things that crop up over the year. They are always looking for new members so please consider if your child learns an instrument at school and you would like to support this program. 

Our final House Activity for the year is next Tuesday and the leaders have called it Double Disposition Tuesday. They will be awarding double House points for the activities. The students will work in cross-level House groups to complete activities based on Reflection, Collaboration, Creativity and Determination. Please put this in your calendar as a day to come dressed in House colors. 

We have noticed an increase in students coming to the office at break times requesting food. We will be contacting parents of repeat visitors informing of the situation and suggest this is a good time to check in with your children regarding the amount of food that is in their lunch boxes each day. 

Have a great week

Melissa Mackenzie

Principal