Principal's Report
Pakenham Springs Primary School acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the land on which the School stands.
Welcome back
Welcome everyone to the new school year and a very warm welcome to our new families joining the school community for the first time. We welcome 104 students to their ‘first’ year of school and an additional 33 students to other year levels. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new families and encourage you to become involved in school activities. We look forward to a happy and productive year and having a strong home and school partnership to support your child’s academic and personal development.
We also welcome our new teachers, Natalie Coxon, Amanda Lyons and Carla Rosenkotter. We also have two new learning support assistants Ailsa McDonald and Leah Haramoana.
Over the holiday our facilities underwent lots of upgrades, painting occurred inside and outside the buildings, each class was fitted out with brand new furniture along with other routine maintenance items.
As we start the new year our teachers have been revisiting our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. They have also spent time this week explicitly teaching students how to display and use these values in the classroom. Teachers have also focused on setting up strong expectations for learning, especially in reading and writing.
In 2019 we have two large focuses in our Annual Implementation Plan and the are to improve the teaching and learning of reading and continue to work on our School Wide Positive Behaviour. Students are already being acknowledged for showing our values with Froggy Dollars and they are striving to achieve their bronze, silver and gold certificates.
School Council
School Council nominations will open on Monday 12th February 2019. School Councils play a key role in Victorian government schools. Participating as a school council member is a rewarding and challenging experience. The school council supports me as the principal to provide the best possible educational outcomes for students. I encourage you to consider nominating to be a member of the Pakenham Springs School Council. We have 4 parent vacancies for 2-year positions and 2 positions for school staff to nominate. More information on the role of a school councillor can be found on the 'School Council' page of this newsletter. Nomination forms are available at the office.
Compass
Just a reminder that we use Compass as our main method of communication across the school. Compass is also used to monitor and report absence, report student academic progress twice a year, book parent-teacher interviews, paying for school activities and communicating with school staff. If you need assistance with logging in, please contact the office staff.
Canteen
Just a reminder that there is a new canteen menu this year with some price changes for hot food and yogurt. Please click below if you wish to view the 2019 menu.
Kerryn Baillie
Principal