From the Principal's Desk

Gotta Love This!

A Poem for my Mum!!

Mum you are always such a delight

Your heart always shimmers bright

You love relaxing in the sun

You are always so much fun!

You love plants and flowers

And have so many magical powers

You are always there to love and care

Being kind and always fair

I love you and will forever

Always us together

By Harper Sanders

Stage 4 Restrictions: Update on School Operations

The last seven days have produced challenges and struggles we may never have imagined. My heart goes out to families who have been affected by work closures and restrictions and I ask that we keep each other in our prayers as we navigate through these times.

We can only imagine the additional strain put on families with the extended learning from home direction and period yet, as you will see when you read further on, we will endeavor to make our program as engaging as possible to assist your job in supervising your children through their studies.

With the implementation of Stage 4 Restrictions and the fallout of the interpretations, schools have had to readjust, implement and/or tighten numerous processes to ensure that not only we remain compliant but we put the safety and wellbeing of the community first.

Through Lockdown 1.0 and now 2.0 we have been really supportive of families through the offerings of our Onsite-Learning Progam, additional student support and the like. We are now asked to re-image our operations in even broader terms of protecting the wider community at large so we ask for your patience, understanding, and support as we charter our way.  

Continuous Learning Program (Remote and Flexible Learning) Phase 5: Weird and Wonderful Wednesdays 

As we come close to what would have been the end of the initial period of lockdown, it is once again necessary to adjust and refresh our learning and teaching program to ensure all within our community remain engaged and connected.  

So over the next four weeks leading up to the end of term, we are going to have a series of Weird and Wonderful Wednesdays.  We hope these days 'break-up' the week a little and provide a little spark and enhance the well being of all. They are NOT days off! It is expected that all children engage with the activities and submit the required tasks. It's also an opportunity for the whole family to work together if they choose.

I'm really excited to see what our children can produce from these opportunities.

Weird and Wonderful Wednesdays:  Lego Masters Day (www.legomastersday)

Next Wednesday we will be hosting our Lego Master's Day! 

Children will tune in at 9:00 am for their regular Wednesday morning Meet and morning classes will continue as normal. At 11:30 am they will return to a whole class Meet where they will be issued with their challenge and design brief!

I can't say too much now as I don't want to give anything away, but I will tell you this:

• Start gathering your construction materials e.g. Lego,  Duplo, Mobilo, Meccano, Poly-M, Magfomers or any type of construction blocks
• Alternatively, you could use any type of construction materials e.g. icy-pole sticks, newspaper, cardboard, tubing anything at all!
• For those who are into digital technology feel free to use programs such as Sketch-up,  Kahootz and, dare I say it, even Minecraft.
• Or, for our future architects,  you may wish to produce a detailed drawing of your solution.

I can't wait until I see what you can all produce!

There will be a separate challenge issued to our Junior, Middle, and Senior students and there will be PRIZES awarded to the students who best meet the design brief!

So, start getting your creative minds working and ready for our Lego Masters Day next Wednesday.

School Closure Day: Staff Professional Development Day

A reminder that as stated in previous Newsletters, next Monday 17th August will be a School Closure Day: Pupil Free Day (Staff Professional Development Day). Staff will spend the day with CEM and Melbourne University literacy specialist Martina Tassone with the topic being, 'Creating Inspired Writers'.

A reminder that there will be no on-line or on-site program offered on this day.

It's a Boy 

Congratulations to Trang Cao and Danny Ta on the safe arrival of Lior, baby brother to Holliday (Year 1/2Z).

CareMonkey Name Change

Please be advised that our digital forms platform provider, CareMonkey, has rebranded as ‘Operoo’: School processes, without the paperwork. 

Operoo’s mission is to help schools eliminate operational inefficiencies so that every dollar and every minute possible can be spent on a students’ education.

The name change occured the week beginning Monday August 3rd. How you use the service, as well as the ownership and operation of the company, will remain unchanged.

You can continue using the system, and its mobile application, as usual. Just be aware that, as of Monday August 3rd, emails and notifications sent from the system will appear under the new name ‘Operoo’. You will also be automatically diverted to the new Operoo website if you go to the old CareMonkey website.

100 Days of Prep

A HUGE congratulations to our wonderful Preps on their 100 Days of School celebrated this week. 

Our Prep teachers sent home an array of activities to surprise the children on this special day and it was wonderful to see so many families join in on the celebrations.

We are so proud of all the achievements our Year Preps have made. We hope you had an amazing day! Happy 100 Days Preps!!

Have a wonderful week

Stay safe and God Bless

Anthony Hyde

(Principal)