Principal's Report

Hello Everyone,

We started term 4 the way we finished term 3 - with a camp! I was fortunate enough to find a day to attend each of these camps and was impressed both times at the high-level perseverance and excellent behaviour of our year 5 and year 4 students as they tackled various challenges and activities. From gold panning in Ballarat to rock climbing in Trafalgar, the energy was palpable. Well done to all students and staff involved. I am now looking forward to year 6 camp later this term.

HATS OFF TO TEACHERS

Have you thanked a teacher lately? This Friday we are celebrating World Teacher's Day with the theme "Hats off to Teachers". Time to dig through the back of the wardrobe or the dress up box to dust off those hats! Students are invited to wear any hat to school on Friday. We'd love to see as many different hats as possible - colourful hats, dress up hats, sports hats, beanies, baseball caps, theme hats or more!

We'd love for students to write a message or card for their teacher and hide it under their hat to present to their teacher in class! If the hat students wear to school is a SunSmart hat (wide brimmed) they can wear it out to play, if not, they will still need to bring their school hat to wear during recess and lunch. We look forward to seeing all the fancy hats on Friday and sharing messages of thanks and appreciation for the dedication of our teachers.

UPDATED SCHOOL WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR PROCESSES

At CGPS we are dedicated to providing students with clear and concise behaviour expectations and support. We believe through consistent implementation of our behaviour education initiatives students are given opportunities to make decisions and improve their own behaviour in meaningful ways; rather than through punitive measures that do not give them a chance to learn from their mistakes and repair harm that may have been caused through their actions.

We are constantly reviewing our practices to ensure they meet the needs of our students. We have made a few changes to our behaviour consequences process this term in the hope it will assist students to be more reflective and accountable to their actions. It should also provide more transparency between school and home when students are receiving consequences for their actions at school.

The new process is outlined below. Many of these measures are the same, just with a clearer purpose and more guidance, to ensure students have ample opportunities to correct their behaviour before receiving a more serious consequence.

For inappropriate behaviour students will have an opportunity to explain their actions and consider how it has affected others. They will also be invited to participate in a restorative conversation aimed to build healthier relationships. This process has not changed.
During class time, if students are being disruptive or rude, they will be asked to attend a “Reflection Room” this is a partner class where a space is set up for students to have 10-15 minutes away from their own class to reset themselves and then return. If students return to their class and resume their work with no further interruptions there are no further consequences. If students refuse to attend the reflection room or continue to misbehave upon return, a further consequence (below) will be assigned.
If students have behaved inappropriately for the first time, or in a way that is not considered to have caused major harm or damage, they may be assigned to a lunchtime “Community Service”. This means collecting rubbish using a bucket and tongs, in an assigned area under supervision for half of a lunchtime. The teacher in charge will guide them to discuss the actions that led to their community service and what they need to remember to avoid future negative behaviour.
For more serious misdemeanours, or repeated negative behaviours students will be assigned to a Re-Teach session. This has replaced “time-out”. If your child receives a re-teach assignment, you will receive a Compass notification. During re-teach students are guided to complete a reflection sheet which they will then bring home to discuss with their parents and have signed.
If students receive several community service or re-teach sessions, the teacher will contact you to discuss current behaviour concerns and establish a plan to support them to improve their behaviour.

GATE TIMES

We still have many students arriving too early in the morning. Students should not be arriving any earlier than 8.35am.

We also ask that parents and carers are not entering the school grounds before 3.20pm for school pick-up. If you are arriving earlier than this, you must be signed in at the office for emergency management purposes.

2025 Enrolment and Planning

The school leadership team, consisting of our principal class staff, learning specialists and leading teachers held a planning day offsite on Monday. We spent the day reviewing our teaching and learning approaches and school structures. With the Department of Education releasing an updated Victorian Curriculum and associated suite of initiatives, we will be working hard to refine our programs to ensure our students are receiving the highest quality education based on the latest research.

At Courtenay Gardens, we are already ahead of the game with our Science of Learning approaches having been progressively introduced over the past 12 months, in particular our very successful systematic synthetic phonics program (Little Learners Love Literacy) in prep. This will be rolled out to year 1 in 2025 and all staff will receive professional development around these approaches.

Please remember that all class placement requests should be in writing (via email) to me, no later than Friday November 1st (end of next week). Requests should clearly explain what your specific academic or wellbeing concerns are. Please note that requests for particular teachers are not possible and will not be accepted. Requests regarding separation or pairing of certain students may only be possible where these requests do not clash with other requests. If we feel a genuine request is not able to be met, we will speak with you prior to announcement of classes and work to put measures in place to support your child appropriately.

Take care everyone,

Alison Lough

Principal