From Carol's desk....

We have a new Principal

I am very pleased to announce that Croydon Hills Primary School has a new substantive Principal. Christian Holdsworth will take over the reins from next term and visited us last Friday. He has asked me to pass on the following to our school community:

Last Friday it was terrific to join the Croydon Hills Primary School community for my first meet and greet as the school’s incoming Principal. The day was full of highlights:

Carol Wyatt and Dale McInerney updated me on the school year and shared the work currently being undertaken by the school community. It is clear they have cared for and led the school with great attention to detail.

I was warmly welcomed by staff and enjoyed getting to know them and hearing about their respective roles within the school. Their passion for their work shone through.

During our school tour the smiles on the faces of the children were a wonderful reflection of the school culture and climate. A lasting testament of Graeme Caudry’s principalship.

The absolute highlight of my day was having our school tour ‘taken over’ by a group of Year Four, Five and Six girls. I was whisked away from the Principal Team and taken to see the school’s facilities; one of the many features of Croydon Hills that initially attracted me to the role. The School Captains joined us and were the voice of the student body as they lobbied me for a ‘GaGa Ball’ rink. Much to their delight, we agreed that would be something we might explore together in Term Two.

Over the coming weeks I will continue to work with the staff, students and families to get to know the school history and priorities. I look forward to joining the school community at the Celebration Assembly on Friday 29th March.

Regards,

Christian Holdsworth

Restorative Practices

On Tuesday, staff attended a Professional Learning day on Restorative Practices. Restorative Practice is based on the principles of Restorative Justice and this approach places relationships at the heart of the problem solving. It's focus is on community, relationships and healing.

Restorative Practice involves:

Viewing wrongdoing through a relational lens –understanding that harm has been done to people and relationships.
Understanding that when harm is done it creates obligations and liabilities.
Focusing on repairing the harm and making things right.

How does it work?

This means that when things go wrong we:

Involve those responsible for and those affected by the behaviours, to solve the problem
Provide high levels of support for all parties, whether perpetrators or those affected
Address the needs of all those involved in harmful incidents
Provide strong messages and reminders about what behaviours are acceptable and unacceptable

Why Every Day Counts

When students stay away from school, their learning and friendships are affected.

Students who are absent from school:

miss the introduction of new work
fail to complete work
miss revision time
feel left out from class discussion
Miss specialist lessons because these only happen once a week and so, for example, art work is not completed or is rushed in order to finish in the limited time available
can find it difficult to break into established friendship groups and develop good friendships with their peers
can develop a poor attitude to school, believing “I won’t miss much if I’m not at school.”
fail to realise that teachers and students miss them

Sometimes students stay at home for reasons that are not acceptable. For example

the child’s birthday
too tired to come to school because of a late night
staying home with a sibling or parent who is sick
staying away for a whole day when an appointment in booked for a short time
weather conditions, for example too hot, too wet

Please remember, if you are experiencing difficulty in having your child attend school, please discuss the matter with your child’s teacher.

Carol Wyatt - Acting Principal

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