Principal's Report

Wakakirri Success

We are very proud of our Wakakirri students winning a state award. We look forward to watching them perform at Hamer Hall. I know that it is not far away and we will let parents know all of the details once we have them.

Book Fair

Thank you for your support of our Book Week and book fair. We had a fabulous week and raised over $400 dollars to spend on new books for our students. It was wonderful to see our students perform and enjoy the activities with family and friends. We will soon have a wonderful rock garden where we are all swimming together in the one direction!

State School Spectacular

We were very lucky to have been selected to have 18 of our students perform at State School Spectacular on Saturday the 16th of September. 

As one of the largest recurring productions in Australia, the Victorian State Schools Spectacular brings together over 3000 school students performing as a 64 piece orchestra, 1300 voice choir, 1200 mass dancers, 30 lead vocalists, 16 principal dancers, 20 ensemble dancers, 8 backing vocalists, roller skaters and puppeteers and much more.

Participating students have the opportunity to work with industry professionals including Creative Director Neill Gladwin, Musical Director Chong Lim, Dance Director Deon Nuku, (Scooby Doo, Happy Feet, Moulin Rouge) and Associate Dancer Director Troy Phillips (King Kong the Musical, Moulin Rouge, Hairspray, The Boy from Oz).

We will be looking at offering this each year and hope to next year apply for the choir as well. If your child is interested in performance then this could be an opportunity they take up in the future.

State School Spectacular is also televised on the ABC after the event.

Building Resilience in Children

Our parent session last night was a great success. Having invited local schools from Knox and the Dandenong Ranges we had over 70 people attend the evening. There was a lot of interesting discussion about what we do as parents and teachers to support resilience in young people or make it challenging for them to build resilience. 

One part that particularly resonated with me was the ' don't do for children what they can do for themselves.' How often do we get frustrated because we are in a hurry or just want something done and so we just do it. It might be as simple as getting shoes and socks on in the morning or getting ready for school. We make their lunches and nag at them to get ready because we don't want to be late. Or we fold the washing and put it away because they just don't do it quick enough or the right way. 

It is important for us to give children responsibility and we need to find a way within ourselves to let go of having it done 'our' way or it only taking five minutes. Children who are given responsibility feel involved and valued in their home. It gives them a sense of self worth and builds their self-esteem as they grow. They often complain about it but as we build the expectation, they see the value. 

Have a great week everyone.

Tabitha