Principal's News

Something Fresh

Welcome to our brand new iNewsletter, a transition to a new platform of communication throughout the school. Some of the benefits of iNewsletter: The publications are responsive to any device and require no extra design intervention, they are mobile, desktop and tablet friendly. A web-based platform allows readers to choose their preferred language. The school can gain better data analytics around readership and look at what is popular from the eyes of our school community. Photos and media is displayed in higher resolution and provides the opportunity for full screen photo galleries including the ability to embed videos and content layered into the newsletter. These are initial commitments that we would like to embark upon to consolidate our communication channels with our school community. Further ideas are in development and will be rolled out over the months ahead, these are underpinned by a commitment to supporting our families to have greater access to information and pathways to support their involvement at Caulfield Primary School. 

The World Around Us

I do trust this fortnight’s newsletter finds you and your family well. Thank you for the care you are showing each other by keeping your children home when they are unwell and by undertaking the rapid antigen tests twice a week. Over recent weeks, we have seen a number of events of a distressing nature both in Australia and abroad. We would like to extend our thoughts to any of our families that have connections with people experiencing the recent floods impacting on QLD and NSW.  The conflict and associated tension impacting the Ukraine is making the news and the media a distressing event. Such is the nature of social media and journalism in our current environment, much of this reporting is occurring in the midst of conflict, the proliferation of distressing images and videos makes it difficult to ignore. We encourage you to speak with your child and/or monitor what they are watching. Recent images and stories may have an impact on individual households or our broader school community. Please reach out if you or your child needs support.  At times it is very difficult to understand what is happening in our world as an adult, much less a young child. 

With a clear link to the previous message and the current environment, the school will be celebrating Harmony Day on the 21st March. Recognising that our school, surrounding suburbs, Melbourne and indeed Australia is a richer environment for celebrating the diverse backgrounds that families bring to our country. The Junior School Council have organised a fundraising event with money raised going to the Good Friday Appeal. Students are encouraged to wear traditional clothing or the colour orange in exchange for a gold coin donation. 

Some facts that may generate some interesting discussion in our classrooms and at home: 

• Over the past 70 years, more than seven and a half million migrants have made Australia home. 
• Almost half of Australians were either born overseas or have a parent who was. 
• We identify with around 300 ancestries
• Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations.
• Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world. 

Camp Oasis

You know that things have gone according to plan when you return from a school camp and students are both physically exhausted but nonetheless excited to share some of their experiences with family members eagerly awaiting their return. Thank you to our Year 3/4 families for supporting us to deliver an exciting three-day program at Camp Oasis. Given the current circumstances, thank you for trusting our staff and supporting your child to return to some of the really exciting and unique aspects of primary schooling, things that we haven’t had the opportunity to deliver over previous months. 

A very special thank you to our staff who took time away from their own families and personal lives to support our students over those three days. These are significant commitments and camp programs could not be offered without the support of our staff. 

When I joined the students over Monday and Tuesday, I was exceptionally proud of the manner in which they worked closely to support one another and represent our school. They challenged themselves to do things that they haven’t done before and benefited from learning and personal development outside of the four walls of the classroom. 

School Council

I am very pleased to announce and work alongside the 2022 School Council, elections were not required for these positions, given the number of candidates did not exceed the number of vacancies. We therefore recognize and welcome James Macky, Chris Sargent, Vicki Doust, Candice Clynk as returning parent members with Krystal Ryan and Merryn Samuelson as DET members. We welcome and acknowledge Emma Mattock as a new member to School Council. 

I look forward to working closely with our council members and seeking their input over the year ahead. Our first School Council Meeting provides an opportunity to present our Annual Report before seeking nominations for office bearers for the year ahead. More information will be provided once this process is finalised.

COVID Guidelines

Once again, thank you kindly for supporting the school and testing your child and notifying the school in the event of a positive test. We encourage you to monitor your child and consider keeping your child at home if any symptoms become apparent. We have had a number of positive cases and we are aiming to keep our school community informed as quickly as we can in the event of this occurring. 

Please note, whilst the Department of Education and Training has confirmed the availability of RA tests until the end of Term 1, as I write this (Friday morning), we are still yet to receive a delivery of further supplies, as soon as these are provided to the school we will organise to have them distributed and you will be informed of this. Once again, your support over the last few months has allowed us to continue to keep our students in classrooms and learning whilst also providing exciting opportunities like camps, incursions, excursions and sporting events. We greatly appreciate your support.

Teaching Time

It wasn’t so long ago that accumulating a whole term of teaching and learning in the classroom without disruption was just the way things worked. That was before the challenges of 2020-2022, so it is noteworthy that we don’t take for granted how well we are doing to ensure our students are in our classrooms and attending school with the continuity and structure that supports their growth and development. 

In saying that, we note that it is really important to try and support our students with regular attendance for the whole school day and I do please ask that wherever possible, private appointments are made outside of school hours and we do everything we can to prioritise attendance from 9:00-3:30pm. We would acknowledge that our students have 

experienced significant disruptions and a lack of routine over the last few years and re-establishing routines is important for students in all year levels. We recognise that some appointments and clashes are simply unavoidable and we respect this and teachers will work around this but we do aim to limit interruptions to our programs and learning time. 

Time For A Coffee

As a note of appreciation, we would like to invite our parent community to join us for a coffee break on Friday 1st April. We recognise that plenty of our achievements throughout this term could not have happened without your support. RA Testing, case notification, supporting us with our covid guidelines all requires a team effort and a community approach. We couldn’t have made this term as successful as it was without your support. Please pencil it in your diary and join us as we host a Coffee Van onsite during the morning of the 1st April. More information will be shared via Schoolstream over the next week. The takeaway message is clear, our term 1 success couldn’t have happened without with your support, we are greatly appreciative of your efforts and cannot wait to work with you and your family from Term 2 and beyond. Look forward to seeing you for a coffee on the 1st April.    

EDWARD STRAIN

Principal