From the Principal 

Holidays: I hope you have all had a break of some sort and can start to get into the rhythm of the best term of the year! 

Term 4: The weather starts to improve, the daylight hours increase and kids start to show us their work culminating in some high quality stuff! I had a prep student come to show me his writing on Monday! He was so proud of his work and so was Ms King!!! I was extremely impressed with Max and look forward to seeing his finished book.

Welcome back: Mrs Baker is back from a term of long service leave and will hit the ground running! Thanks to Seb Earle who filled in and did a stellar job. Seb will stay with us in PE while Mr Hughes takes a break too. 

Asthma: With the upcoming asthma season about to kick in, please ensure your child’s asthma plan (and or anaphylaxis too) is updated as soon as possible and sent to school! Let’s make sure the school has the up to date information to help your child if needed. 

Ops Guide: Last Saturday afternoon the Operations Guide was finally emailed to Principals. This is the document we use to inform our decision making about what we can and can’t do! When the ‘rules’ change, I’ll continue to let you know. We are currently under the same settings as the end of term 3. 

Camps & Excursions: Unfortunately we had to postpone Year 6 camp for now and may have to cancel it. Like last year, we will try our best to make a camp happen but under current settings, no camps or excursions are allowed. 

SunSmart reminders: Time to dust off the SunSmart hats and get them on our heads!!! Please remind your kids that No Hat = No Play. Let’s try to make this happen by the end of the week and for those coming back next week, pop them in school bags now! 

Families onsite: I’d love to say welcome back and let all families flood in, but again, I can’t. I appreciate your cooperation with us on this and helping our community stay safe and healthy. Keep up the great work around being physically distant at gates etc. 

Greetings: Staff are out to meet and greet kids in the morning and then drop off in the afternoons. They will continue to develop routines and I encourage you to talk about the drop off and pick up processes with your kids and let’s work on enhancing the positive mind set. Perhaps set a goal or two with your child if this is an area they need to work on. Andy McNeilly and Rhonda are great resources to help in this area too.

Early departure: If you need to pick your child up early, please make arrangements via phoning Jenny and Anna so your child can meet you at the main entrance on Draper St. We can sign them out for you after we take them out to gate. 

Finish times: Just a reminder, school finishes at 3:20pm and staff will be on duty until 3:35pm. Ideally, pick your kids up at 3:20pm or make arrangements with Jo at Camp Australia so your child is fully supervised and not left outside or in the office. 

Art Show: Amanda and Amy (who is with us for another 5 weeks!) have had to reschedule the Art show. We had weeks 3, 6, 9 of term pencilled in for possibilities and are now looking at Week 6. This may change but fingers crossed, we can make it happen. 

This bit is for your kids… please share with them..

Remote learners: keep up the hard work while at home! Be responsible, take ownership of your learning, be kind to your parents and family and challenge yourself. You choose to engage with learning or ignore the opportunities your teachers are providing. We expect you to be trying your hardest, make mistakes, ask for help, extend your knowledge and have fun too. See you next week though. 

Parents: THANKS! Thanks and more thanks. No other generation has been asked to do what you have been asked to do. Acknowledge that and let it sink in. I sincerely hope you have chosen to find some positives in what we are living through and like us as teachers, reflect on our actions. As we all transition back to work and school, be conscious of your thoughts, emotions and feelings. You and your child will be tired (and possibly grumpy) at the end of the day! 

REMINDER: Wednesday, 20th October 2021- Geelong Cup Public Holiday 

(NO SCHOOL)

Have a great week everyone and I’m looking forward to seeing the Years 3 & 4 next Tuesday & Wednesday and then Years 5 & 6 on Thursday and Friday. 

Scott McCumber

Principal