Dear Parents,

It has been lovely to see our Kindergarten students settling into school life. They are so confident, and I thank the parents who have done a wonderful job preparing them for 'big school.' I know the Kinder children have loved getting to know their Year 6 Buddies, who have also been tremendous in supporting them.

We have submitted our actual numbers this week. The Department of Education's staffing unit has informed me that the structure we have in place with 19 mainstream classes and 5 support classes is appropriate for the 511 children we have enrolled.

The classes and whole school staffing for 2021 are:

KG – Mrs Jodie Goninan

KP – Ms Fernanda Puebla

KI – Mrs Judy Issa

1M – Ms Danielle McClements

1W – Ms Nicole Webster

1H – Ms Rachel Hattenfels

1C - Mrs Joanne Curran

2M – Mrs Kathy Murphy

2T – Mr Jeremy Thackray

2Mc – Mrs Mikayla McPhee

3/4G – Mrs Julie George

3/4L – Ms Sarita Lloyd

3/4A – Mrs Melissa Abbott

3/4S - Ms Tammy Simmons

4/5W - Mrs Natasha Woolfe

5/6C - Mrs Lorelle Calder

5/6D – Mr Jay Datt

5/6G – Mrs Carly Guihot

5/6B – Ms Fiona Bennett

K-1J – Mr Scott Jablonskis

2-3N - Ms Alice Nathan

2-5L – Mrs Angie Lee

3-5R - Ms Nicola Reedy

5-6F – Ms Carolyn Flanagan

Library – Ms Giovanna Morris

Learning and Support Teacher – Mrs Kylee Francis, Ms Lisa Roberts, Ms Helen Rutherford, Mrs Amanda Ivory, Mrs Jodie Weekes and Ms Christie Dullard

Release from Face to Face – Ms Amanda Nelson, Mr Chris Hayes, Mrs Amanda Ivory, Mrs Jodie Weekes, Ms Lisa Roberts and Ms Christie Dullard

School Counsellor – Mrs Emily Boland (Monday and Tuesday) and Ms Anthea Bourne (Wednesday)

Speech Pathologist – Ms Ali Barrett (Tuesday)

Hearing Team – Ms Susannah Folley, Mrs Belinda Crook, Mr Craig Nelson, Mrs Anne Redding and Mrs Helen Bekkema

Home School Liaison Officer – Mr Mathew Cambey

Assistant Principal Learning – Mrs Rachel Clarke

Complex Support – Mrs Michelle Whiley

School Admin Manager – Ms Denise Noble

School Admin - Mrs Kathy Bogart

School Admin – Mrs Leesa Lepaio

School Admin – Mrs Cathy Glasson

School Admin/Library – Mrs Lesley Macready

School Learning Support Officer – Mrs Karen Mitchell

School Learning Support Officer – Mrs Jackie Fowler

School Learning Support Officer – Mrs Rebecca Dive

School Learning Support Officer – Mrs Dianna Mooney

School Learning Support Officer – Ms Sarah Watterson

School Learning Support Officer – Mrs Shelley Chaffey

School Learning Support Officer – Mr Mitchell Crompton

School Learning Support Officer – Mrs Samantha Culham

School Learning Support Officer – Ms Breanna Menken

School Chaplain - Mr Graeme Summerson

General Assistant – Mr Neil White

We have celebrated some fantastic achievements in the pool this week with lots of children participating in the Annual Swimming Carnival. Congratulations to all children on their involvement.

Congratulations to Tom Hamer on the records he broke at the carnival. The records have been held since 1999 – an outstanding effort!

Well done to Chifley House, who was the overall Champion House on Friday. They cheered and swam all day. Good work.

Congratulations to our age champions for 2021, who are:

Junior Boys – Tom Hamer

Junior Girls – Ella Pringle

11 years Boys – Ryan Copeland

11 years Girls – Indi Robinson

Senior Boys – Lachlan Simeonidis

Senior Girls – Eliza Dowton

We now have 26 children that have qualified to attend the District Swimming Carnival on Friday 19th February at the Manning Aquatic Centre. Congratulations to the following children who will represent our school; Tom Hamer, Lachlan Simeonidis, Maddy Phillips, Indi Robinson, Max Naylor, Louis Head, Coco Barclay, Isla Barnes, Beau Francis, Cooper Jones, Elena Noonan, Clara Klootwijk, Gabe Barclay, Lara Glasgow, Ella Pringle, Ryan Copeland, Riley Cooper, Flynn Woolfe, Jessi Ball, Max Clements, Milly Griffiths, Eliza Dowton, Ruby Rose Kelly, Victoria Hetherington, Sophie Francis, Lachlan McClements.

Attendance - We have had a really great start to 2021 and it is wonderful to see the children engaged in the classrooms. Every morning classes commence their day with a 'Welcome Circle', which promotes connectedness and sets the day's expectations and overview. If children are late to school, they miss precious learning time, and we often see children worried that they don't know what they are doing when arriving after 9 am. We ask all parents to please ensure your child is at school by 9 am so they can have the best start to the new learning day possible.

Our School Photos will be taken on Tuesday 23rd February. We will be using Advanced School Photography. Envelopes for school photos have been sent home with instructions on how to pay for photos before the day online. Alternatively, money can be sent to the photographers on the day of the photos, but please note, no change can be given so exact money will need to be placed in the envelopes.

Parent/Teacher Interviews have been organised for Friday 26th February and Monday 8th March for the Support Unit classes and Monday 1st March - Monday 5th March for all other classes. These meetings will allow parents to: meet teachers, talk about what is to be taught this year and how your child has settled into the 2021 school year, plans for the school year, class expectations, and parent expectations. Notes for these meetings have been sent home today. Parents will be able to book an interview through the parent portal or return these notes indicating a time preference to your child’s classroom teacher. Teachers will contact parents regarding your allocated time for an interview.

The timetable for Parent/Teacher Interviews in Weeks 5 and 6 is as follows:

Friday 26th February – Support

Monday 1st March – KG, KP and KI

Tuesday 2nd March – 1H, 1M, 1C, 1W, 2M, 2Mc and 2T

Thursday 4th March – 3/4G, 3/4L, 3/4A and 3/4S

Friday 5th March - 4/5W, 5/6D, 5/6B, 5/6G and 5/6C

Monday 8th March - Support

If any parent has any concerns regarding any aspect of school life, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kate White

Principal

School Photos

Tuesday 23rd February, 2021