Principal's Report

If no mistake you have made, but losing you are. A different game you should play.

Yoda, Jedi Master  896BBY-4ABY

Welcome to the Week 3 Term Two newsletter.

Staffing

I can confirm that Stephanie Looker has been offered and has accepted the vacant Science teacher position after a closed merit process concluded in the first week of this term. This will be official by the time this newsletter is published and I know that the school community will join with me in both congratulating Steph on her appointment and welcoming her to our school community as a permanent member of staff.  

Our Head of Middle School, Dan Williams, was  successful in gaining the substantive position of Curriculum Adviser that I mentioned in the last newsletter. Whilst disappointed obviously, that Dan will not be with us over the next couple of years, I am very confident that Dan will be an outstanding addition to the School Services team in the Northern Tablelands and we wish him well.  The silver lining of this position is that Dan will hold a 'right of return' to our school at the end of the three year term - so he won't necessarily be gone forever. In Dan's absence Sarah Targett has been doing a fantastic job relieving as Head of Middle School. Given Dan's decision I recently called for expressions of interest from staff to fill the Relieving Head of Middle School position for the three years of Dan's absence - I'm pleased to announce that Sarah has been successful in this process. Congratulations, Sarah!

Some parents will be aware that our Art teacher, Julie Clark, was injured at work late last term. Julie is currently undergoing rehabilitation and I am hopeful that we will start to see her, at least one day a week shortly and then more often after Week 8. We have initiated a state-wide search for a qualified Art teacher to replace her but so far haven't had much luck. We will continue to do what we can.

Nathan Elbourne joined us in a temporary capacity to fill our Industrial Arts vacancy at the beginning of the year and had been doing a wonderful job - often an easy thing to do when you are a fresh set of eyes. Unfortunately for us Nathan was successful in the last week of Term One in gaining a permanent position at Armidale Secondary College and finished up with us on Friday of Week 2. We wish Nathan every success in his new position and with the transition of his family to the area later in the year.

Lifelong Learning

I spoke in the last newsletter about developing the habits of lifelong learning and that being something that we all do even if sometimes that is unconscious. This indeed aligns with the stated aims of the NSW Department of Education - that every student is known, valued and cared for; and that every student, every teacher and every school improves every year. 

I mentioned the nomination of our Instructional Leader, Charmaine Endacott, for the Mastery of Teaching project and last week she had her first assessment for selection into the program - I am confident that Charmaine will be accepted into the program and will easily complete the requirements to see her officially recognised as an Highly Accomplished teacher - Charmaine is quite simply one of, if not the finest classroom teacher I have ever seen or had the privilege of working with.  

Last Thursday and Friday I was in Sydney for the first intensive sessions of the Master of Instructional Leadership program. I have not been a student as such since last century so I can assure you all that it was a daunting experience. Having said that it is amazing how quickly one can slip back into the student groove - if nothing else it is a really worthwhile experience to think and feel like a student occasionally to give one a better understanding of students. I will now be spending nights (not all of them) studying and then writing my first essay in nearly thirty years over the next little while.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)

Curriculum

Our staff are well into the process of writing Semester One reports for all students in Kindergarten to Year 10. We envisage that reports will be  distributed by the end of Week 6 (7 June).

Semester Two will commence on Monday 3 June and there will be a new timetable to accommodate that; staff have already been issued their new timetables and also at work preparing for new classes.

Assets/Maintenance

New playground seating for the Junior School quad and the Middle and Senior School quad arrived in the school in the first week of term and have been installed in the playground. So far they have proven to be a great success and there are plans to purchase more to upgrade existing seating. Over the break we removed trees from the Junior School Quad and we are in the planning process to concrete that area, erect shade sails and then install the new seating permanently in that area.

New classroom furniture arrived this week and has been installed in the Junior School classrooms - it all looks spectacular, colourful chairs and whiteboard desks.

We are expecting the new Library furniture around the middle of term and I am confident that everyone will agree that when installed Uralla Central School will have a first class Library facility the envy of other educational settings.

As always cherish your children, enjoy the next three weeks (hopefully we'll get some rain) and until the next newsletter we will continue to strive to be a school where students achieve at their personal best, where our school improvement projects continue and where all of us not only stand tall and walk proud but ASPIRE!

The capacity to learn is a gift;

The ability to learn is a skill;

The willingness to learn is a choice.

Frank Herbert (1920-1986) Author of Dune