A note from Mr Jackson

Harmony Day Tomorrow!

Friday 21 March 2025

Students will be celebrating Harmony Day on Friday 21 March. Students can choose to wear orange and join with others to mark the day. Harmony Day aims to promote inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for all Australians, particularly those from diverse cultural backgrounds. Around the rest of the world, this day is called the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

The challenge for us tomorrow, will be to understand this day as a chance to recommit to the daily task of combating racism, wherever it is found. It seeks to realign us to ensure that we are all taking the time to acknowledge the complexity and difficulty of living with our cultural differences but pledge again to respectfully listen and learn from each other. 

School Council Update

The Annual General Meeting acknowledged the contribution of parents who have contributed to life and learning at the school as School Councillors. They recorded a motion of thanks to retiring parent members, Jane Banovac, Angela Romas, Moncia Dalla Torre, Chanelle Mellor.

We are grateful to those members who accepted leadership roles including Kylie Essex as President, Anthony Sinclair as Treasurer and Nathan Hinks as Secretary.

The General Meeting began with an Acknowledgement of Country led by the Junior School Council Executives, Hayley and Abby. They shared their experiences of the establishment of the 2025 Junior School Council and the initial two meetings. The Executive team shared the planning of their current fundraising project, a Bun-Raiser, that will contribute to the purchase of some cubby houses in the playground. They continued to ask questions related to the work of the Council and discussed ways to provide ‘a voice’ for students.

The meeting discussed works related to ensuring the site was more accessible for people living with physical disabilities. A range of changes to the entries of the site and access to the oval were discussed and feedback to the architect discussed.

Discussion around the environmental decisions related to the planned installation was discussed. The meeting spent time listening to a range of viewpoints concerning the environmental factors involved in the decision. 

Fair Meeting

It was great to be a part of the preparations for the School Fair at the Fair meeting last week. There are lots of preparations occurring at the moment and I suggest you stay connected to the Newsletter to find out more. These large events are an opportunity to get to know other families and contribute to the school. Some volunteer for a few hours on a stall or two, while others lead the organisation of the stalls. Everyone’s contribution is appreciated.

Attendance: Every Day Counts

We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day. If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school. There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes. Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement in numeracy, writing and reading. 

Attendance patterns are established early – a child regularly missing days in kindergarten or in the early years of school will often continue to miss classes in the later years, and receive lower test scores than their classmates. It’s vital that students go to school every day – even in the early years of primary school.

A Reminder: Term 2 Curriculum Days

While it is a few weeks away, I wanted to make sure that parents had three important dates in their diary when students would not be at school. 

Tuesday 22 April is a day set aside for staff to explore how science has brought new understandings on how we learn. It will detail how teachers can use this understanding to improve their teaching practice and student learning. The first day back into Term 2 will be Wednesday 23 April.

Friday 6 June is a Curriculum Day in collaboration with other local schools. It will focus on understanding the Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 as it shapes our understanding of improvement in practice. This date precedes the long week weekend with a Public Holiday scheduled for Monday 9 June (Monarch’s Birthday). 

Tuesday 10 June is a Professional Practice Day set aside for teachers to complete their administrative responsibilities, when students will not be at school. We have arranged this string of days together to support parents who are planning a break and to minimise disruption to learning sequences. 

As students will not be attending school on these two curriculum days and Professional Practice Day, TheirCare will be providing a program onsite.