Year Prep - Year 2

Assistant Principal's Report

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to Pakenham Springs in what is sure to be a  tremendous 2019.  And welcome, for the first time, to all of our Prep families!  It has been incredibly pleasing to get into classrooms this week and see the way that students have returned to school and really hit the ground running. There has been a real air of enthusiasm and excitement, moving through all classrooms and some high-quality learning is already evident.

As students settle into their 2019 classrooms, the teachers will be placing a strong emphasis on getting to know their students and building relationships with them. In addition to this, there is a real focus on outlining very clear expectations for 2019, revising our school values of 'respect', 'responsibility' and 'resilience' and how we can demonstrate these in different settings of the school.  It has been very pleasing to hear returning students speak about these values, why they are important and how we can demonstrate these on a daily basis.  

Our new Preppies have settled in beautifully, and whilst a few tears initially when beginning school is natural, it has been great to see, and to hear back from teachers, that any anxiety has been short-lived and that all students are quickly adjusting to the expectations that go along with being at school.  Prep students this week learnt all about the letter 'M' and met 'Milo the Monkey' as a part of our  'Little Learners Love Literacy' program. 

Year One and Two students have been busy discussing expectations for our 'Writers Workshop' as well as our 'Readers Workshop' which is new to Pakenham Springs in 2019.  This is a new approach to teaching reading, to ensure a level of consistency across the school and teachers have been busy completing some professional learning in the early stages of the year.  Both year levels have been completing some personal writing, which is a school-wide text type focus in the early stages of the year which further supports the teachers and students getting to know one another. 

Just a reminder that in Term One at Pakenham Springs, all students are expected to be wearing sun-smart hats outside as part of our sun-smart policy, and will be asked to play undercover in the shade if they do not have one. 

I look forward to seeing you all around the school throughout 2019.  With new initiatives, such as our Readers Workshop model, new resources and equipment to come, and plenty of new learning to occur, 2019 promises to be another year of great excitement at Pakenham Springs.

Until next time, take care.

Regards

Danny Forster 

Assistant Principal in Junior School