Principals' Update

Welcome Back!

We have had a great start back to school, with all our students and staff energised and ready for Term 2. This term is quite a short term of only 9 weeks, and we have a huge amount of work to pack into this timeframe. Our teachers will further assess our students in preparation for report writing. We have had a number of teachers already indicate that they would like to use their individual Professional Practice Day (PPD) for the year to assess their students one on one during this term.

During the next few weeks, we will be conducting the Attitudes to School Survey with our students in Years 4 to 6. This is a statewide survey issued by the Department of Education, and it provides great data on how we, as a school, are supporting the wellbeing needs of our students. The Positive Behaviour Support and Respectful Relationships (SWPBS/RR) Team will analyse this data and determine the future work across our school to ensure that we have happy healthy students who are ready to learn. The SWPBS/RR Team consists of Billy, Emily, Jesse and Rachel and this term, the team will be conducting its first meeting with students and parents. If you would like to be involved in this team and the core work of supporting student wellbeing at CNPS, please contact any members of the team listed above.

ANZAC Day Tuesday 25 March

Some of the students from our Student Representative Council (SRC) conducted an ANZAC Day Assembly last Monday after recess. Thank you to the following students who led this assembly commemorating our ANZACs:

Elira 12J
Rupert 34C
Mary 56K
Erik 56M
Amira 56B
Rose 56B

Cross Country at Princes Park Tomorrow - Years 3 to 6

Tomorrow our students from Years 3-6 will be participating in the annual CNPS Cross Country (weather permitting). CNPS is such an inclusive school. It is always a delight to watch our students support each other and cheer each other on at our sporting events. We wish all of the students in Years 3 to 6 the very best for their run tomorrow.

Staff Professional Learning MoRE Pilot Program - Modelling Respect and Equality

This week our staff continued the whole staff professional learning for the MoRE Pilot supported through Respectful Relationships. This week’s sessions focussed on the impact of Adolescent Man Box beliefs and how we can further support our adolescent males at CNPS. During these sessions, we discussed our concerns that some of our older students have been exposed to short media reals and YouTube shorts from media personalities, including Andrew Tate. This week, the Wellbeing Team at Princess Hill Secondary College sent out a post including informed information on the powerful message that Andrew Tate is sending to our young males. We have reached out to PHSC and will be working together to share resources to support our students with such influences that they will be exposed to as they grow and shape themselves as young adults. We have also been provided with additional resources from the Respectful Relationships Student Wellbeing and Safety Team. For those parents and carers interested in knowing more about how to support their children in this area, we have attached a research paper from The Man Cave below. The Man Cave (TMC) is an Australian preventative mental health and emotional intelligence charity empowering communities to raise generations of healthy young men.

National Walk Safely to School Day - Friday 19 May

National Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD) is an annual event when all Primary School children will be encouraged to walk and commute safely to school. It is a Community Event seeking to promote Road Safety, Health, Public Transport and the Environment.

The objectives of WSTSD are:

To encourage parents and carers to walk to school with primary school age children and reinforce safe pedestrian behaviour.
To promote the health benefits of walking and help create regular walking habits at an early age.
To ensure that children up to 10 years old hold an adult's hand when crossing the road.
To help children develop the vital road-crossing skills they will need as they become mature pedestrians.
To reduce the car dependency habits that are being created at an early age and which will be difficult to change as children become adults.
To promote the use of Public Transport.
To reduce the level of air pollution created by motor vehicles.
To reduce the level of traffic congestion.

In light of the upcoming National Walk Safely to School Day, we would also like to remind our parents and carers of children that may walk to school on their own to please talk to your child about safe pedestrian behaviour and to be aware of the behaviours of any unknown persons as they walk to school, including sticking to main roads and avoiding alleyways, etc.

Curriculum Day Monday 1 May - Michael Minas

On Monday, our staff will participate in a professional learning day with Maths Consultant, Michael Minas. Michael has worked in education for 20 years and is the director of Love Maths Consulting (www.lovemaths.me). Michael was the editor of Prime Number from 2019 to 2021, and he has contributed to a range of other international publications, including the Maths300 website. Michael presents at conferences around Australia and provides consultancy services to the Mathematical Association of Victoria and PD Online. In 2018, his ability to shape learning well beyond his classroom was recognised when he won a CHOOSE MATHS Teaching Excellence Award.

Michael has been working closely with our Learning Specialist, Maddi Davis, to develop a professional learning session explicitly tailored to meet the needs of our staff and focusing on differentiation. Michael will return to CNPS on Wednesday, 3 May, to model lessons to our staff across the year levels.

Hat Reminder

CNPS is a SunSmart school, and SunSmart recommends that we wear protective clothing from mid-August to the end of April, and whenever UV levels reach 3 and above. Students should be coming to school wearing sun-protective clothing such as:

• loose, cool, closely-woven fabric

• shirts with a collar and/or high necklines

• tops with elbow length or long sleeves

• longer style shorts and skirts

• rash vests or t-shirts for outdoor swimming activities.

Whilst the UV remains above 3, we will continue to wear hats when outside. We will notify our school community when hats are no longer required.

Principal Team

Rachel Corben and Jane Bilby

Lots of Socks a Big Success!