Principal's Report

2020 Transition

As we finalise our planning for 2020 we will work with students to prepare them for their next year at school.  Students will be notified of their 2020 classroom teacher on Friday, December 13th. Students will then spend 9:00 am-1:30 pm in their new classes, with their new teacher on Monday, December 16th. 

Most students will feel nervous about this change, however, they can manage the transition without a lot of support from others.  Some of our students will feel unsettled by this process.  As adults, our role is to support young people through these changes in a way that allows them to know we are available to talk through their emotions and feelings in support of them, developing coping mechanisms during change.  Our role is not to 'solve' their emotions.

Emotions such as sadness and fear are common emotions that some students feel when transitioning out of their current classrooms and into new situations, are not 'bad' or 'negative'. These emotions do make us feel uncomfortable and uneasy (which is never a nice feeling), however, these are valid and important emotions to feel at times and we develop strategies for moving through these.  

If you child is feeling unsure about their new class over the weekend before our Transition Day,  I ask that families talk about how they are feeling, acknowledge the emotions as valid and provide examples of a time in your own life when you felt the same way and explain what you did to move through that emotion. 

This may involve asking questions that allow your child to talk about why they feel the way they do and asking about what they are worried about. Reassuring them that while they feel sad and worried, that this will pass and that they will be okay eventually.  Asking them to think about how they might resolve their sadness (for example: I am feeling sad because I am not with one of my friends next year. They could reflect on the fact they will see their friends all the time at school and they will build additional relationships and friendships).

Things that can make processing these emotions more challenge for your child may include telling them not to feel the way they do or telling them you will contact the school to get things changed. Both of these send a message that their emotions are not okay to feel and that you will be able to solve their problems for them. 

Many hours of work has gone into placing students into their 2020 classes and I would like to thank our staff who have spent many weeks considering a wide range of factors. 

Community Funding

We are delighted to announce our success in applying for a $1,200 grant from Telstra. Telstra Kids helps kids thrive in their connected world. Huge thanks to Stefan Riedel from Telstra for applying for the funding for us. We are very excited to share in the million dollars the Telstra Foundation provides each year to help kids connect to a digital futures grant will be used to Funding will go towards building an imaginative outdoor play space. 

We have also successfully applied for $1,000 through the REA Group Employee Community Grant program. A massive thanks to Shane Gibb who nominated our school for this funding. 

Both of these grants will assist us in revitalising our play spaces and creating a mini-village play space at the front of the school and building tee-pees for students to play in. A huge thanks to both Stefan and Shane for getting in contact with me as we are always keen to apply for grants and opportunities which will better Marlborough and support our students. If any families know of grants that you feel we would be interested in applying for please contant me and we can look at how this might benifit our school. 

Presentation/Leadership Assembly

At 9:00am on Tuesday, December 17th we are holding our presentation assembly. This is where we recognise the hard work and effort put in by all students and present a range of student awards. I invite all families to attend as we will be announcing our 2020 student leaders at this assembly as well. 

Student Reports and Portfolios

Student reports and portfolios will be sent home next Friday. This is a great time to celebrate the achievement with your child and sit together and share their learning from their hard work.  Reports will be available on Compass at roughly 4:00pm on Friday afternoon.