Principal's Report

Welcome to the first newsletter of Term 3. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable school holiday period. I have enjoyed re-connecting with our students, staff and families this week and I have been pleased to see a settled learning environment across the school.

On Monday I shared our new school vision and values with our students, staff and families. Our new vision, Achieving Together, is accessible to all students and encompasses everything that we do at school, in the classroom and the playground, and in all areas of learning and wellbeing. The sense of togetherness in our community is strong and highlights the importance and value of working as a team. 

Our values, Positivity, Respect, Integrity, Determination and Excellence (represented by the acronym PRIDE) are aspirational and demonstrate a clear focus on the continued development of outstanding young people at our school. 

We have a deliberate and targeted strategy to embed our vision and values across the school. We will begin with a fortnightly focus on each of the values, starting with Positivity. This will include:

1. ‘Double house points’ for students who strongly display positivity in the classroom and the playground. 
2. ‘Student of the week’ awards focused on the value of positivity in assembly next week.
3. Recognition for students who strongly display the value of positivity at assembly next week (let me know if you see one of our student’s displaying positivity in the community by emailing me here). 

There is vast research supporting the importance of positivity for learning and wellbeing. As a school, we have begun implementing the ‘school-wide positive behaviour support framework’ (SWPBS) as our lead wellbeing strategy, with a focus on bringing together our school community and developing a positive, safe and supportive learning culture. 

Additionally, if you would like to read more about why positivity is so important in schools, for our young people, and for all of us, consider reading the following: 

1. The Education Team at Monash University promote ‘positive behaviour support strategies’ in classrooms as the key tool to both reduce stress and equip students with life skills beyond the curriculum. 
2. Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, has led world-renowned work on ‘growth mindset’, with links to positive reinforcement of effort, leading to positive outcomes, learning and progress.
3. The team at ‘The Resilience Project’ (TRP), focus on ‘cultivating positive emotions’ through gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. 

We are excited to continue the school’s journey with our new vision and values. Thank you for the positive feedback that we have already received, and we look forward to hearing about all the positivity you see across this fortnight and beyond!

Thanks for your ongoing support and keep doing your best.

Rohan Cooper

Principal