Principal's Update

This is the first newsletter of the year. It will be a short one after Tuesday’s update.

Students have settled into their 2024 classes and the school is establishing new routines and expectations. This week, teachers have been focusing on getting to know their new students, building a positive rapport and trust, and explicitly teaching behavioural expectations both in the classroom as well as different settings around the school.

Next week, teachers will start delivering their Term 1 Teaching and Learning programs. More information will be shared on Term 1 curriculum focus areas in the coming weeks on the Term 1 Areas of Focus documents.

2024 Staffing Update

In addition to the staffing update shared with the community on Tuesday, Miss Kim has decided to take leave this year.

Swimming Carnival

The school swimming carnival is on Wednesday, 14th February. Information on this has already been shared with the community via School Bytes. Permission and payments are due today so we can organise supervision and routines for students at school on 

Wednesday for those not attending the carnival.

We had planned for 242 students to attend the carnival.

As of this moment, we have 138 students who have paid to attend the carnival, however 154 students have permission to attend. Both permission and payment are needed as we must cover pool entry and bus costs.

Congratulations to our 2024 Sport House Leaders who were elected by their houses yesterday.

Meet the Teacher Afternoons

Class 'Meet the Teacher' sessions are planned for Week 5. Please see the postcard for dates and times.

This year, we are asking parents/carers to RSVP their intention to attend the class information session. Poor RSVP numbers may result in a class session not going ahead. In this instance, prepared information handouts will be sent home with students.

The online RSVP form closes on Friday 23rd February at 2pm. Please complete a separate form for each child. 

To access the form, you can click on the link or use the QR code. https://forms.office.com/r/dNNErFaesR

Cubby Village

To make the Cubby Village space safer for our students to play, we have received quotes to remove the rocks from the area and place colourful artificial grass in that space. We also plan to purchase digging tools and toys for the students to use in the digging pits as well as some additional items. We have been assured that all works will be completed by the beginning of next term. We thank everyone for their patience and understanding.

Lost Property

Lost Property has been moved from the Devlin verandah to the covered walkway near the library stairs.

We have installed new shelving and hooks to this space to better accommodate the lost items.

The new location is also protected from the weather. All students are aware of the new location.

A reminder to please label all clothing and personal items so they can be returned easily.

2024 Class Organisation (previously shared)

Today we formed 14 classes, including 2 composite classes. The NSW DoE tells each school how many classes we can form based on a staffing formula and student enrolment numbers. Due to student grade numbers and the introduction of the new curriculum in Years 3-6, we have made the decision to form a 14th class to assist staff and students which the school will fund. This class structure allows us to form slightly smaller class sizes in most grades.

The class formation process takes many weeks as all sociograms need to be checked thoroughly to ensure that all students (where possible) have at least one friend from their list. During this process, class structures have changed and been refined to our latest structure model.

At the end of 2023, students completed a written sociogram task where they were asked to identify 5 students, they consider to be a friend. These sociograms were used by our teachers to ensure that students were placed in a 2024 class with at least ONE student from their list.

** Note - As teachers move rooms, the Aboriginal class name stays with the classroom space from year to year.

Communication protocols (previously shared)

A reminder to our parents and carers that the class teacher is the first point of contact if you have a concern you would like to discuss. On occasion, matters may need to include the Assistant Principal that is supervising that specific stage. Below is an overview of 2024 Assistant Principal structure.

Kindergarten, Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2) – Ms Edwards

Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4) – Ms Chan

Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6) –Mr McSeveny relieving for Mr Yee

Communication Platforms

** Please note- Our agreement with Audiri will not be renewed next month. The school pays $ 2,000 per year to use their service. We have decided to move to the Sentral Parent Portal app shortly which has the same function as Audiri but does not come as an additional cost. The money saved will be used for student resources. More information about this will be shared in the coming weeks