Mr Irwin's Message

Hi Families and welcome to this week’s edition of the newsletter.

I wanted to start by reflecting on last Friday’s House Athletics Carnival at Don Wallace. I want to thank Mr Maskell and Mrs McHenry for the organisation of the event. It was clear that students enjoyed the event and the return of houses was a big hit.

Thanks to all the families who were able to come and support the event too, particularly our PFA members who ran our muffin stall across the day. The day had a wonderful country atmosphere and it was great to see families enjoying the opportunity to be involved in a whole school event after missing these opportunities last year.

The first Friday back after term holidays we get the chance to come together again as we return to Don Wallace for our whole school Cross Country day. Keep this date free if you’re keen to come and support your child!

Learning Progress Snapshot

Earlier in the year we asked families to participate in a survey about communicating student learning progress. Unfortunately we only received 5 responses to this survey which doesn’t give us a lot of trend data to act on, however those that took the time to contribute had some common ideas around work samples and more regular feedback which aligns with the direction we were looking to take with our communication of learning progress in any case.

At the end of this term, students will bring home a ‘Learning Progress Pack’ that contains some samples teachers have compiled of their learning in Semester One. This isn’t to replace semester reports at the end of semester two, but is designed to bridge the gap between semester reports and provide some insight into what students have been working on in Literacy and Numeracy and how they’re tracking. Teachers will be selecting a sample from students Reading, Writing and Numeracy to send home next week. There won’t be progression points attached to these samples, it’s simply to provide a snapshot of student progress over Term 1. This will again be repeated at the end of Term 3 to bridge the gap between Term 2 and 4 Semester Reports.

Easter Eggs/Confectionery Policy

A reminder to families that our school confectionery policy means we don’t permit Easter eggs and lollies being distributed for celebrations. Limiting the sharing of food is particularly important as we battle illness that’s in our local community, but most importantly our policy is chocolate and lollies aren’t to be shared between students at celebrations. Please keep this in mind as we head into the last week of term. If students wish to share something with peers they might like to think about cards or a small toy such as pens or bubbles.

Ask Mr Irwin

I wanted to return to a previous question of Ask Mr Irwin this week to let you know that we have been notified we will be receiving additional classroom facilities in Term 2. I have received confirmation we will be provided with a brand new 5-Mod building which will be installed during Term 2.

A 5 mod building contains 2 classroom spaces which increases our capacity to 250 students. Once this building is on site and setup our Foundation students will move into this space allowing our 1-2 students to spread out in the Junior School. I’m sure you’ll agree this is an excellent result for our growing school.

School Council will support me to determine the best position for this new learning space.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Easter break, it’s hard to believe Term 1 has whizzed by already. Bye for now!

Wanted for Art

Miss B is looking for some items to make Grandfather Clocks! In particular baby formula, milo, or coffee tins. Please deliver to the office if you can contribute. Thank you in advance.

Healthy Lunch Box Choices

For more information go to: https://heas.health.vic.gov.au/schools/healthy-lunchboxes