From the School Leadership Team
Staffing News
I am pleased to announce that after a competitive recruitment process, that Mrs Chelsie Riches has been appointed to teach 3/4S for the remainder of the year, with Mrs Smallfield moving back to New South Wales next week. Mrs Riches will be visiting the students later in the week and will also enjoy getting to know the children on camp next week. Many of our school families will recognise Mrs Riches from her recent placement in 1/2 AK. She holds qualifications in Education, Religious Education, Marketing and Communications and Languages and brings a broad range of experience to the role. Chelsie has a strong background in Lutheran Education and I am sure she will prove to be a great asset for the students and school over the coming months. Please also keep Mrs Smallfield in your prayers as she and her family prepare to move back to NSW, and thank you for being able to give her your best wishes as you see her around the school this week.
Parent-Teacher Interviews
It wasa pleasure to see so many parents and students around the school for parent-teacher interviews earlier this week. Thanks so much to all of our families who came along to the evenings as it is truly a blessing to partner with you in your child's education. Thank you as well to our staff team who diligently prepared for the interviews so that they could speak to student achievements and areas for growth in indivdualised detail with a sense of relationship and care.
Messy Church
Messy Church is on again this Friday evening and we would love to see you there! This is a fabulous occasion with lots of different activities to do with our volunteers, as well as a time for brief reflection on the Bible and an opportunity for us to share a meal together! All welcome!
School Band Programme
It is a pleasure to announce that we are launching our school band programme for students in Years 3 - 6. This provides students who are interested to be able to learn a range of instruments including flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet or trombone. Students will be able to participate in a range of weekly group tutorials and rehearsals as part of the programme. A letter from Mrs Ali is attached outlining details of the programme and the opportunity for students to try out a range of instruments to discover what they might be best suited to. Mrs Ali has been able to negotiate an excellent price for the programme at $30 per week to cover the cost of tuition, plus the cost of instrument hire.
Professional Learning and Principal Review
Lutheran Education enables all of its Principals across each learning community to undertake a cyclic review survey. This enables me to obtain feedback from parents, students and our staff team and School Board which serves to both affirm strengths of my leadership, as well as to identify areas of suggested growth.
A survey link will be sent out from Lutheran Education to selected parents shortly. If you would like to receive a survey link, please email office@goldengrove.sa.edu.au. Thank you in advance for taking the time to contribute their observations and comments. The feedback informs my professional learning plan, as well as my ongoing learning conversations with my professional mentor.
I thank the board, and Tammie Switala in particular in her role as Chair, for their constant support of the school and my role as I continue to grow and learn, just as we desire continued learning and growth for our children and all other members of our community.
Winter Sport Registrations
It is hard to believe that Term 1 has moved so quickly and that we are already putting out registrations for our winter sports. We offer basketball as a Saturday sport during winter for all year groups, as well as Lacrosse for Years 3- 6 (also on Saturdays). Netball is conducted on Monday evenings for under 7's and under 9's and on Friday evenings for under 11's and under 13's.
We are really close to being able to form a couple of netball teams this year and I very much commend this opportunity to our school families. The registration links and associated sport information are below for you.
Basketball
https://www.goldengrove.sa.edu.au/basketball-club/
Netball
https://www.goldengrove.sa.edu.au/netball-club/
Lacrosse
https://www.goldengrove.sa.edu.au/lacrosse-club/-
Foundation Classrooms
Work is continuing on our Foundation classrooms. The steelwork frame is being installed this week. The retaining wall and ramp to the oval and basketball courts will also be rebuilt over the school holidays in April. We envisage that the middle playground will reopen during April as well. When we come back to school next term, we will not be far off having the exterior of the building completed and moving on to the inerior fit out!
School Building Fund
The school building fund is an excellent way to make a tax-deductible donation towards our building programme, both now and into the future.
Our School Master Plan has been developed to allow us to work on the most important new and existing buildings first as finances permit.
Upcoming projects include:
- New Foundation Classrooms (to be completed July 2024)
- An Early Learning Centre for 3 and 4 year olds
- Development of a Gymnasium and Sports precinct near the School Oval.
Other smaller projects being planned include enhancements and reconfiguration of our Music and STEM areas (also in July 2024).
You can help to accelerate these exciting projects by giving to our School Building Fund.
If you would like to donate to the school building fund, please complete an electronic deposit to :
GGLPS Building Fund
BSB 704-942
Account 100 242 340
Reference – your name
The school will forward you a receipt which you will then be able to claim against this year’s tax return.
This may be the last year that tax deductible donations could be made to the school building fund, as the Federal Government are currently reviewing the deductible gift recipient status of all school building funds across Australia. We are also looking to acknowledge and thank all of our generous donors and volunteers in the school yearbook this year.
Eisugakkan Visit and Japan Study Tour
We are looking forward to a number of year 5 students from Eisugakkan visiting our school in the first week of Term 3 - from Wednesday 24 July through to Sunday 28 July. We are seeking expressions of interest and assistance in a few different areas.
- We are arranging an optional camp for year 5 and 6 students who would like to spend the night with the Eisugakkan students at AFL Max on Friday 26 July. The cost will be $160 per student for those students that would like to 'opt in' for this experience. It will prove to be a valuable time for the students to be able to make new friends, practice their Japanese and make some great cross-cultural connections.
- We would love the opportunity for our visiting Eisugakkan students to be able to have a 'homestay' with our students and families. We have about 20 students visiting from Eisugakkan this year and would love to have enough parent volunteers for them to be able to spend Saturday and Saturday night on the 27th of July with our students and families, being dropped back to their hotel on the Sunday morning of the 28th.
We are finalising costs for the year 5/6 study tour to Japan later in the year. We plan to travel to Japan and visit Eisugakkan school, as well as a range of other sites around Japan, from Monday 23 September - Friday 4 October (the last week of term 3 and first week of the school holidays).
Our travel agent is currently updating the prices to reflect 2024 fares, and Sensei Bishop is working to find some savings in the itinerary, as the current projected cost is about $5500 per child and $6000 per adult. We plan to hold an information session in the next month once these details are finalised.
If you are interested in hosting a homestay student for one evening (this is open to all families across the school) or are interested in you and your year 5 or 6 child attending the Japan Study Tour (and you have not already completed an expression of interest), please contact Melissa Bishop, our Teacher of Japanese via bishop.melissa@goldengrove.sa.edu.au
Strategic Plan
We have an exciting year ahead as we embark on the implementation of our new strategic plan. We are energised by our purpose to enrich the lives of children and each individual in our school community, and beyond the school environment. With a Christ- centred foundation, we foster an inclusive environment where everyone can belong, explore and thrive. Equally exciting are our new values - love, collaborate and explore, which will underpin all that we do, as well as our strategic priority areas of:
• Excellence and innovation in learning
• Well-being and culture
• Community and Partnerships
• School Development
Parent Lounge
We are excited that our new parent portal, Parent Lounge, has been launched this year. This is a great way to be able to check that your contact details and your child's medical details are up to date, as well as to be able to view the school calendar.
Please check your email for the login information sent in Week 1 of term, and you are most welcome to be in touch with us if you have any queries around the login process.
A few reminders
Please be reminded of some of our key events to commence the year:
- Friday 5 April - Messy Church (evening)
- Monday 8 - Wednesday 10 April - Year 3/4 Camp
- Friday 12 April - Closing Service - 2.20pm
Will Wallace
Principal
I’m finding it hard to believe that term 1 is almost over. Where did it go? If you are feeling like this too, this also means that the school holidays are almost upon us.
For some of you school holidays means continued work or if you are lucky enough you will have 2 fun-filled weeks with your child/ren. (I mean this in the nicest possible way!)
So, what do you do if you have plenty of time with your family in the holidays?
Use it as a debrief for starters. Talking to your children and continuing to build stronger relationships is vital as they grow older and get closer to high school.
Asking questions like…
- What did you like about school this term?
- What was your favourite part of the term?
- What do you think you could improve on?
- Who did you like to play with?
These plus many more are questions that you can ask to get a sense of how your child is tracking and hopefully also prepare them for term 2.
In the holidays…
Spend time doing fun things with your child. Go for walks, kick a ball or build some lego. Show them you are there and willing to be part of their lives in different ways.
Limit screen time and ensure you have agreements in place in what they can and can’t do and how much time. When my children were in primary school, they used to get screen time based on physical activity time. There are many options and ways of managing this but working it out together helps build the positive relationship and gives ownership in the decision making.
Whatever you do I hope that you have an enjoyable time when it comes.
Tim Kriewaldt
Deputy Principal