Principal's Report
Newsletter report—Acting Principal Feb 28, 2025
Dear Parents,
What an exciting and busy fortnight we’ve had at school! There’s so much learning and fun taking place, and we are thrilled to share these moments with you. Bella is back on-site, and it’s been wonderful to have her back with us. Our Playleaders have also been doing an excellent job running games for our junior school students during lunchtime, fostering a sense of teamwork and fun.
You may have noticed that we are working hard to showcase all the great things happening at our school through our newsletter and Facebook. While Bella wasn’t a fan of my video this week, we appreciate the opportunity to share all our fantastic initiatives with you!
In preparation for NAPLAN for our Year 3 and 5 students, we want to reassure you that this assessment is just one snapshot of your child’s learning. Our teachers regularly use a variety of assessments to track student progress, and they engage in thorough discussions within our Professional Learning Communities to guide our approach. Kym Gilchrist, our Assistant Principal-Curriculum, leads these sessions to ensure that we are making data-driven decisions to support every child.
Our connection with the THRIVE network is also flourishing, with Year 9 students from EMC visiting our school to develop a school project. They have expressed interest in running lunchtime clubs for our senior students, and we are excited to see what they come up with!
We had our school council meeting, and nominations for the 2025 council were accepted. We thank all members for their valuable contributions over the years and look forward to working with our 2025 members. The AGM is on March 17.
The Parent Forum hosted by the Department was a fantastic opportunity for parents to discuss concerns about Mr. Barren. We are grateful to Lazers Basketball for accommodating our use of the hall for this event. We also want to acknowledge the department staff from a variety of department sections, who shared their insights on teaching protective behaviors. This session was an excellent learning opportunity, and we continue to provide education on topics such as Respectful Relationships and how to stay safe.We are lucky to have Sarah Roney, our THRIVE Coordinator and trained psychologist, co-teaching these important lessons with staff to ensure we support the wellbeing of both our students and staff.
On a safety note, please ensure that all visitors come to the office via Gate 1. Additionally, we ask for your cooperation in keeping the traffic flowing through the Kiss and Go zone, and that your child enters and exits the car safely from the side nearest the curb. For students arriving before 8:30 am, they will need to wait at the office until yard duty begins at 8:45 am. We also offer Camp Australia for before and after school care if needed.
We are committed to maintaining safe and secure playgrounds, and each year level has its designated play area. Please note that during breaks, students are encouraged to stay in their assigned zones, although we understand that you, as parents, may wish to supervise them in other areas.
Regrettably, we’ve experienced some instances of vandalism, and we ask that any suspicious activity be reported to the police. We’ve had shade sails ripped and our oval burnt with electric scooters. We do collect video footage of the incidents and make police reports about them—but it would be better if our grounds were treated respectfully.
Despite the challenges of this year’s start, we sincerely thank you for your patience and support. We are pleased to announce that Ms. Brooke McInnes and Ms. Sharna Dean-Wright will be co-sharing the Assistant Principal-Wellbeing role. They are both exceptional leaders who have a deep understanding of wellbeing practices. They will each continue to be heavily involved with the planning and support of their year levels. Ms McInnes will have Mrs Wainwright working with Ms Blake in her class. Ms Dean-Wright will be in her class 2 days a week and Ms Van Der Van will co-share with her until the end of term.
Ms Jo Smith was successful in obtaining the 0.2 Assistant principal Curriculum position. She will share her class with Mrs Burridge. We are fortunate at our school that we have so many experienced staff who were able to be accommodating to help us keep quality teachers in classes and keep the amount of teachers in a class reduced.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to you all for your ongoing support. We are a fantastic school, and it’s thanks to our incredible community that we continue to thrive together.
Kind regards,
Deb Haddow
Acting Principal