Principal's Message

Parent Teacher Meetings,  3 Way Conferences and reporting to parents

It was pleasing to see so many of our parents take the opportunity to attend our meetings and 3 way conferences on Wednesday this week. We are looking forward to many more of our parents attending the conferences and meetings on Monday afterschool.

Parents/Carers can still book a meeting time for Monday afterschool. Meeting and 3 way conference sessions are open until 6.45pm. 

I know parents appreciate the many hours of assessment reviews, moderation of student work, development of individual learning goals and feedback that take place to develop a student report. Our student reports on Compass are detailed, contain attendance information, next steps in learning, celebrations of success and opportunities to further improve.

Reports were released for parent access on Tuesday, prior to parent/teacher meetings and 3 way conferences. The 3 way conferences for our Year 3-6 students are an important part of their learning and an opportunity for them to individually celebrate their learning successes with parents and teachers present.

Currently, just over 50% of parents/carers have viewed their child’s mid-year report on Compass. Around 70% of parents have arranged to attend a mid-year meeting at school.

We are very eager to engage with every single family and provide every student with an equal opportunity to have a strong parent/teacher/school partnership, leading to the best possible learning and school experience.  Parents/Carers who need support to access reports or meet with teachers are strongly encouraged to make contact with the school to ensure the best possible communication between home and the classroom. Contact can be made by calling the office, sending a Class Dojo message to the Teacher, sending an email, meeting afterschool in the yard to make a meeting time, calling into the office, writing a note and sending it to school, or any other options that parents feel works best in their circumstances.

We are very eager to engage with every single family. If you would like to provide feedback about our reporting and communication practices, (and afterschool activities) you may like to complete the survey currently available to parents (Thank you to those who have already taken this opportunity): Link: https://forms.gle/GxgWvEPwNhdo31xf9

DISCO fun!

What a wonderful community event our DISCO was on Friday last week after school. Students enjoyed dressing up in bright colours and the ‘best’ outfits to enjoy a fun evening of dancing and bopping along to music. Many thanks to our Parents Association for all their hard work in providing the food, music, decorations and planning for the event. Thanks also to all the staff who provided supervision and support on the night. We hope that all our students enjoyed this fabulous fundraiser and community event.

Early Collection of Students

A reminder that the school day ends at 3.30pm. Early collection of students just before the end of the day (eg. 3.25pm) can be disruptive to the office operations and to classrooms interrupted by announcements at this time. Parents are asked to keep these disruptions to a minimum.  If you must collect your child because of an appointment etc. please contact the Teacher via Dojo and request for your child to be sent to the office at the organised pick-up time.   

Attendance

We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day. If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school.

There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind,  and can affect their educational outcomes. Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement in numeracy, writing and reading. Attendance patterns are established early – a child regularly missing days in kindergarten or in the early years of school will often continue to miss classes in the later years, and receive lower academic scores than their classmates. It’s vital that students go to school every day – especially in the early years of primary school.

There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. It’s vital that they’re only away on the days they are genuinely sick, and setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference. It's crucial that holidays are planned during school holidays where possible, and not during the term if it can be avoided.

Children who have missed 10 days or more in one semester, have already missed 10% of their learning for the year. Students who miss 20 days for the year, will have missed 20% of their learning for the year, and are on track for lower academic and social skill outcomes than their peers.

You can view your child’s attendance and absence data in their Mid-Year reports and on Compass attendance data. Students with 5 or more absent days in any term are referred to our Student Wellbeing Officer for further supports, as needed. Students with significant absences will have a attendance support plan developed and every effort is made to engage these students more effectively with daily school life. Parents/Carers who need support with student attendance should contact their child’s teacher in the first instance, and our school Student Wellbeing Officer, Dana Kroenert, where further support is needed.

Useful websites/contacts

Kids Matter - www.kidsmatter.edu.au

Youth Beyond Blue - www.youthbeyondblue.com.au

Headspace - www.headspace.org.au or e-headspace www.eheadspace.org.au/  for online counselling & support 

Reach Out – www.reachout.com

Kids helpline - 1800 55 1800 24 hours a