What a wonderful start to the year it has been. The students were very settled and I was most impressed with the Prep students and parents. It was the smoothest start to the year I have seen!

Communication

This year we are trialling a new format for Communication at Solway. This week is the first whole school iNewsletter. Next week information will come home from the year levels in the format of the year level information booklets. In week 4 we will again issue a whole school newsletter followed in week 5 by the year level newsletters. The cycle between whole school and year level is intended to give parents and carers more relevant information about what is happening with their child/ren in the classroom. We hope that parents find the new format relevant and informative.

Compass

All school newsletters and information will come through Compass. Parents are asked to ensure they are able to log onto Compass and contact Vanessa or Robyn at the office for assistance. Compass will be the central point for all communication and the online calendar will be regularly updated, so please keep an eye out for important dates.

Assembly

This year we will trial holding assemblies on a fortnightly cycle commencing with our first whole school assembly on Friday 14 February at 2:50pm. The following week we will hold a Junior School (Prep-2) assembly in the Performing Arts room and a Senior School (Yr 3-6) assembly in Brewer Hall. The School Captains and Vice Captains will run all assemblies. This week students will be briefed on the new format and the cycle.

Parents are welcome and encouraged to attend these assemblies. The junior and senior assemblies will provide opportunities for student achievement to be celebrated and showcased.

At our second whole school assembly on 28 February, Dr Katie Allen MP will be presenting the leadership badges to our Year 6 leaders. Students will spend time over the coming weeks presenting speeches to their peers and selecting preferences for their roles. We look forward to welcoming Dr Katie Allen MP to announce our 2020 student leadership team.

Getting to Know You Meetings

Next week teachers will be available to meet with parents for our annual ‘Getting to Know You’ meetings. They are a wonderful opportunity for parents to meet their child’s teacher and give the teacher any relevant information for the coming year. It is a great opportunity for the teachers to get to know your child, from your perspective, learn about any allergy or medical conditions and find out about your hopes for learning goals for the year. Bookings can be made using the following steps:

Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au and use the code pd2kr to make a booking. (See notice on Compass with more detailed instructions.)

Beginning of Year Assessments

During the next few weeks all teachers will be engaged in conducting a number of assessments with each student in their class. To do this effectively teachers will sometimes need to sit and work with students individually, at other times students will be involved in class assessment. The purpose of this work is to establish benchmarks, to determine any gaps or progress since December and to accurately inform planning and teaching. This includes identifying requirements for intervention (corrective and extension) within the classroom program or through external support. Casual Relief Teachers (CRTs) may be used to cover teachers as they complete one on one assessments with individual students.

Student Safety and Arrival Times

Parents are reminded that staff are not on yard duty prior to 8:35am. Students arriving at school prior to 8:35am must be with a parent or booked into OSHC. After school, students must be picked up by 3:45pm or booked into OSHC.

To encourage effective transition at the beginning of the day, students are supported to develop their organisational skills by ensuring they are in class by 8:50am to unpack their bags and prepare for their day. All students should arrive at school and enter their classroom and unpack their own bag. They need to place their bag neatly in their bag cubicle.

Absences

It is vital that parents either contact our office by 9:00am to let us know if your child is away or enter the absence directly onto Compass. This is to ensure that our records are accurate and that we know where our students are at all times. Students arriving late to school, after 8:50am, must be signed in by parents at the office on the Compass device. Thank you for your support in this matter.

School Council

The final School Council meeting for the 2019 year will be held on 17 February 2020. Following this meeting information regarding School Council 2020 vacancies and nominations will be communicated to our school community. Nomination forms will be available from the office. If you are thinking of taking on a role and using your expertise to ensure the continued development of our school, please consider standing for election to our School Council. Further information can be accessed at the link below.

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/community/Pages/schoolcouncilsfunction.aspx

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like any further information regarding our School Council.

SunSmart

SunSmart School Policy requires that your child wears a red school hat (named and SunSmart approved) each day. It is also a good idea to put sunscreen on before school especially with the recent spate of very hot weather. You may also wish to have some in your child’s school bag for them to reapply during the day.

Welcome Back Working Bee – Tuesday 29 January

Thank you again to James Seymour, our Building and Environment Convener for organising the Welcome Back Working Bee last week, and to all the parents who came along to help out. The school grounds looked lovely and tidy for the start of school last week, and your assistance was very much appreciated.

Prep Welcome Picnic on Friday 21 February, 5-7pm

We are looking forward to seeing all Prep families back at school on Friday 21 February, for a picnic commencing at 5pm. BYO picnic and refreshments, chairs or picnic rugs, and meet on the mini oval near the Taylor Street entrance. The picnic finishes at 7pm. Families will be able to access the student toilets throughout the evening. All children (students and their siblings) are required to wear suitable footwear when at school activities. STRICTLY NO BARE FEET! Parents are asked to supervise this.

Lyn Rodda

Principal

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