Principal's Report

Welcome to term 2! We hope everyone enjoyed the recent break and have returned to school refreshed and ready for a busy term 2. We are super excited to launch our new newsletter platform and hope you enjoy the easy way in which you can navigate through the various sections. This is our very first edition so of course we are still learning all the tricks and capabilities of this platform so things may change a little as we move along this year.  I really hope you enjoy some selected photos taken on many hiking trips to Tassie featured in this newsletter edition.

We are noticing a marked increase in students arriving late to school and for some, this is becoming a very regular occurrence. If your child is late to school ten minutes three times a week that means they could miss hours of school this term alone. The beginning of each school day is an important time for students to be present to participate in morning circle, reconnect with friends and teachers and prepare for learning. Lateness means students miss important instructional time in class. This can also create an anxious space for students if they are having to catch up. We understand that there will be times when lateness is unavoidable but our goal as a school is to reduce regular lateness numbers overall. It is best practice for students to be at school by 8.45am to put their belongings into classrooms, meet up with friends and be ready to start their learning day. If you find this is becoming a problem or concern for you and your child please let us know, we can help!

We would appreciate parents and carers ensuring that children know the after school plans in place for them. The office staff spend a lot of afternoon time interrupting teaching to relay messages from phone calls to students regarding changes in plans to pick ups and reminders for students. Whilst we fully appreciate that your plans and situations can easily change during a day we would greatly appreciate families wherever possible, making plans and ensuring children know these before the school day begins. 

I would like to acknowledge all of the families who recently attended the local ANZAC day service at the Lancefield cenotaph. Our year 6 leaders, Niamh, Maisen, Maddie and Edi represented our school with pride. Niamh did an excellent job of reading an excerpt of a letter from a World War One soldier to his family. 

Well done to the students who participated in the Hanging Rock Cross Country last week. Despite a very wet start everyone had a great day and again proudly represented our school. Thank you to Meagan for her fabulous organisation of this event for the district.

Congratulations to Finley, Teddy and Orbella for qualifying for the divisional cross country held at Castlemaine last Friday. Finley came 2nd and Teddy 11th in their section and both will now race at St Arnauds in June at the regionals.

Thank you to a very generous group of families for organising to update and replace our cooktops in the WMC. We now have induction cooktops, much more efficient but more importantly safer for our students to use. An extra thank you to Ross and Jodie Moloney for installing the new systems. We are keen to sell the cooktops taken out and they would be great for a camper, caravan, holiday home or any kitchen. Please let us know if you are interested.

The year 5/6 students participating in the "Stories in the wall" program ( with thanks to the Victorian Arts Centre) are thoroughly enjoying this experience. This past week students and teachers were interviewed by the Arts Centre team to create a video of the writing process and how the opportunity to participate has impacted on their learning. The video will then be shared with future donors who have made programs such as this possible.

Term 2 is packed with swimming for all year levels beginning in week 4 (Preps and Year 5/6s). Coming up on Friday 19th of May a group of our year 3/4 students will be working with a group of St Mary's students and some local landcare members to plant some native trees and shrubs in the area behind the school ( behind the oval area). This is to recognise the Queen's Jubilee. The planting will commence from 10am so if you are free and would like to come along to help please let us know, please don't forget to sign in at the office on the day. 

Coming up in Week 8 on Friday 16th of June we are having a School Disco! This will be a fun and exciting event for all to look forward to. Our school council is organising this event and further information regarding a small cost and what this will include will be forwarded to you in the next couple of weeks. The disco will run from 5-7pm. 

Coming up later this term are Parent/Carer/Student/Teacher interviews. 1/2Cinterviews will be held on Wednesday 14th of June, this is a normal day of school for all students. 

For all other classes, interviews will be held on Friday 23rd of June. This will be a pupil free day however we ask that all students attend their interview with parents/carers. This is the last day of term 2. Interview booking times will open on Compass at the beginning of week 6.

Please check the calendar of events section of the newsletter to update your diaries with other events. 

Vale Katie Francescutti -29 July, 1981 – 8 April, 2023❤️

It with great sadness that we farewell Katie who was well known to many in the Macedon Ranges community. Katie brought Schools Out to Lancefield Primary and set up this great service for our school and St Mary's. Many Macedon Ranges schools can thank Katie for her hard work and care through her work with Schools Out. Our deepest sympathies are extended to Katie's partner and children, family members, Schools Out staff and all her nearest and dearest.