Principal Team's Report

This fortnight at the Springs...

This fortnight has seen our Year 5 students go on camp, our Prep students go on their very first excursion and some Year 3 students practising their part in the Pakenham Secondary College production of 'Wizard of Oz'. It's great to see such a variety of activities being undertaken within the school, from sporting experiences through to the Arts and all areas of academics. 

Our Year 5 camp to Lyrebird Park went well, with all students representing the school well and enjoying some beautiful weather and scenery. A massive thank you to the staff and parent helpers who came along to ensure the camp was a wonderful experience for all. 

Education Support Staff Appreciation Day

At Pakenham Springs, we are extremely lucky to have a dedicated, enthusiastic and inspiring group of professionals employed as our Learning Support Assistants and our Office staff. The teachers and the Leadership Team could not do our job effectively without the support of our Education Support team and we joined with the rest of Australia to recognise Education Support Staff Appreciation Day last week. Our ES staff enjoyed a pancake and pastries breakfast and also a Yard Support free day. We thank each and every one of our Learning Support Assistants and office staff members for the wonderful work they do at the Springs... you're all legends!  

Education Week - Spotlight on STEM

Last week it was Education Week around Australia, with a special spotlight on STEM. We are so pleased to have our STEM program back up and running this year and it is wonderful to see the learning taking place across the whole school. Check out the information on the Education Week page of this newsletter for more details about the wonderful work our STEM team are doing at the Springs. 

Little Learners Love Literacy Recognition

It is great to see our school being recognised for the wonderful work we're doing in the Junior School with our phonics program, Little Learners Love Literacy. Led by our Learning Specialist Anna Dougall, we are now a 'showcase school' for other educators to come and view how the Little Learners Program looks when it is implemented effectively. Our Junior School staff have worked hard to build this program over previous years and the results we are seeing in the area of literacy in our Junior School are fabulous. We look forward to hosting 2 'LLLL taster mornings' over the next couple of months to show off the wonderful work we're doing. 

Student Attitudes to School Survey

Over the next few weeks, our Year 4-6 students will take part in the annual Department of Education Student Attitudes to School Survey. This survey is conducted by our leadership team with each Year 4-6 class and is completed anonymously online by all students. Students are asked several questions regarding their feelings towards their learning, their connectedness to the school, their connectedness to their peers and their own levels of wellbeing and resilience. We receive aggregated results from this survey later in the year and really value the input and voice our students have. Their results allow us to make changes to better meet the social, emotional and academic needs of our students. 

Fences

Progress on our fences is coming along at a cracking speed! We are so pleased to be able to put this in place to help ensure a safe school environment for our students. With the installation of the new fence, some changes in how we enter and exit the school may be needed. The gates around the perimeter will be locked during the school day, with entry to the school being through the front office only. The gates will be locked before school, and shortly after school finishes (exact times to be confirmed) to ensure the safety of our staff and our school premises after hours. 

Uniforms

Parents and Carers are reminded that a condition of enrolling at Pakenham Springs Primary School is adherence to our School Uniform. This includes the wearing of school-approved jumpers and polo shirts, the minimal wearing of jewellery, and also the requirement that hair colour be natural. Please note that our old red polo shirts are no longer acceptable. If you are having trouble securing uniform pieces, please contact our office for some assistance. Uniform breaches will be recorded via Compass, and we ask for parent/carer support in rectifying them as soon as practicable. Possible actions following frequent breaches of our Uniform policy are listed in the document attached. 

Future Prep Enrolments

We have recently sent home a notice asking for you to inform us if you have another child joining us in Prep for 2025. We would like to be able to confirm our sibling enrolment numbers as soon as possible, so please let us know if this is the case. Our Prep enrolment processes will begin shortly, with our Enrolment Information Evening being held on Monday 27th May.

Solving Problems in the Yard

Quite often we hear from families that their child has reported an issue to the Yard Duty teacher and, in the perception of the child, 'nothing was done'.  With minor incidents and disagreements, we encourage all students to use the 5 Finger Plan (see picture below). 

This encourages students to work through a number of strategies for solving problems in a calm and positive manner.  Students are reminded to always skip straight to 'Ask a teacher for help and support' if it is an issue involving intentional physical contact or other more serious incidents.  We thank you for your support in assisting us in teaching our students how to solve problems in a positive way.  

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30 am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

The PSPS Leadership Team