Dear Parents and Carers,

What a wonderful way to end an action-packed term! Our Colour Explosion School Run event was a huge success. It was exciting to witness our school oval explode into many shades of colour spectacular. I was delighted to see the whole school come together for this event. I watched the students happy and smiling faces, participating in this event with enthusiasm and excitement. A huge thank you goes out to our amazing parent community who never fail to show their support to the school and our children at Saltwater College. Events such as these are so important in bringing our community together, strengthening the bonds between each other and the school. Those bonds are crucial when building a purposeful community, as they act to improve mental well-being and establishing a strong sense of connectedness and belonging.

My sincere gratitude goes out to our wonderful and dedicated staff at Saltwater College, who work tirelessly not only to cater to the students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, but also organise events such as these, so that our students’ schooling experience is a memorable one.

As I sit back and think about what we have managed to achieve in less than 12 weeks, I am not only amazed but also proud of what we have collectively put into action, to achieve so much.

Some of our Term Three achievements include:

Year Two Students successfully completing their first overnight school sleep over experience.
Participating in the 2022 Victorian State School Spectacular for Mass Choir and Dance.
Providing some great learning and social experiences for our students through camps and excursions.
Successfully completing 100 days of Prep. The children and their families were beaming with pride. What an incredible celebration!
A huge success with our Aladdin school production. The event was truly remarkable and once again, the children stepped up to the occasion and provided us with the best performance that I have ever witnessed from a school production.
Successfully launching our House Colour Community Day and gaining a better understanding of our house colour representatives.
Hosting several fundraising events such as ‘Footy Colours’ Day.
Successfully launching our 2022 Book Week event and dress up day.
Year 6 students receiving the ‘Alicia Katz Award- 2022 Parliament Prize’.
Completing two rounds of reports and student led conferences.
Participating in and winning many sporting events such as district athletics, softball, netball, and hockey. Coming second in district swimming and district cross country events.
Successfully launching our Numeracy Instructional model (Launch, Explore, Discuss).
Outstanding Naplan results for 2022 - In almost all areas, we are above similar schools, our school network and the state.
The huge success of the Year Six Inaugural Exhibition - Congratulations to all teachers, mentors, and of course our amazing students.

As you can see, we have so much to celebrate and be proud of.

Year Six Exhibition

The Year Six Exhibition was testament to how dedicated and hardworking our Saltwater students and teachers are, and how we as a collective group truly believe in our vision and mission, which is to provide more than just an education to prepare students for success in an ever-changing world.

A huge thank you to the wonderful parents, carer’s, guardians and grandparents who took time out of their busy schedule to attend the event and support our wonderful students. As research suggests, effective schools have high levels of parental and community involvement. This involvement strongly correlates to improved student learning, attendance and behaviour. I am extremely proud and grateful of our Saltwater community for taking an interest in our children’s education and having that strong partnership with the school, to ensure that the students receive the best possible education.

We were very fortunate that the exhibition was attended by several distinguished guests.

Andy Meddick - Member of the Victorian Legislative Council

Susan McIntyre - Council member for Wyndham

Jasmine Hill - Deputy Mayor for Wyndham Council

Silvia Sena - Area Executive Director for Western Melbourne

Natalie Bakai - Senior Education Improvement Leader

The feedback from our guests was also extremely positive. Our school, students and teachers were commended for their hard work and dedication and for putting together an outstanding exhibition, highlighting some important worldwide matters and issues. Our guests were impressed by our student’s ability to present, with clarity and precision, their research and findings and discuss their reflections and the actions they have taken because of these learning experiences.

New Double Storey Portables

Due to the increase in student enrolments, the school will be receiving four brand new double storey portables. Two will arrive during our September holiday break and the additional two will arrive during the Christmas holiday break.

The portables arriving during the September break, will replace the current 5A, 5B, 5C & 5D portables. At the commencement of Term 4, the current Year 5 classrooms will be relocated behind 1G, 1H, 1L & 1J (see box 8 & 9 on map below). Please see the attached school map outlining the new location.

Student Attendance

Regular school attendance is a critical factor in student success. For learning to take place, students need to be at school, in class and engaged in learning. Students who regularly miss days of school, miss valuable opportunities for education that often cannot be regained.

Why going to school is important?

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day. Attending and participating in school will help your child develop:

Important skills and knowledge to help them learn
Social and emotional skills such as good communication,resilience, and teamwork.

Children who attend school every day and complete Year 12 have:

Better health
Better job opportunities
Higher income across their lives.

What to do if your child cannot go to school?

Let the school know as soon as possible and explain why your child cannot come to school. Each school will have a preferred way to do this. It may be by using the school’s communication portal - Xuno or by phoning the office.
If you do not let the school know, you will be contacted.
Talk to the school if your child needs to take an extended period off. There might be flexible options to keep your child from falling behind.
If your child misses a lot of school, the school will work with you if your child has more than 5 days of unapproved or unexplained days off in a school year.
If your child is sick, they do not need to go to school. It is important they are only away on the days they are genuinely sick.
Make medical appointments for before or after school or during the school holidays. If this is not possible, please notify us before the appointment.
Where possible, take holidays during school holidays and not during the term.
If you have a death in the family, please contact the school and let us know how long your child will be away. The school can offer counselling and keep an eye on your child’s wellbeing when they return.

Your child might refuse to go to school. This could be because of:

Bullying
Feeling lonely or not having friends
Falling behind in work or poor grades
Illness or mental health
Disability
Bad sleep habits
Learning at home is not encouraged
Relationship breakdowns
Hobbies or family commitments
Cultural differences between home and school.

It is important to find out why your child does not want to go to school. Speak to them about it and notify the school to find a solution.

Tips to help improve your child’s attendance:

Talk to your child about school and how important it is. You can ask them how they feel about school, what they liked and if there are any problems.
Set a good example. Show them how you keep to your own commitments.
Pack their school bag the night before with everything they need.
Have a set time for breakfast.
Plan to meet up with a friend so they can travel to school together.
Get advice. Speak to the school if you have concerns about your child’s attendance.

There is no safe number of days for missing school. Each day a student misses puts them behind.

THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF POOR ATTENDANCE

If a student misses…	That equals…	Which is…	And over 13 years of schooling that is
1 day per fortnight	20 days per year	4 weeks per year	Nearly 1.5 years
1 day per week	40 days per year	8 weeks per year	Over 2.5 years
2 days per week	80 days per year	16 weeks per year	Over 5 years
3 days per week	120 days per year	24 weeks per year	Nearly 8 years

Understanding the Link between regular school attendance and achievement

Attendance at or above 98%	These students have missed 4 days or less in a school year They have every chance of achieving to the best of their ability. These students are likely to have positive friendship groups.
Attendance 95 – 97%	These students have missed 5-10 days in a school year They are more likely to be achieving well at school. With only occasional absences, these students will find it easy to get back in touch with the learning program after absences.
Attendance 90 – 94%	These students have missed 11-20 days in a school year These students may find it challenging to keep in touch with the learning program. This student is at risk, aim to improve this student’s attendance.
Attendance 80 – 89%	These students have missed 21-40 days in a school year These students have missed up to 1 day every week, which equates to 2.5 years schooling missed by Year 12. It will be very difficult to keep in touch with schoolwork and to maintain social connections. These students need an individual Student Absence Learning Plan.

On behalf of the staff at Saltwater College, I would like to wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday. We look forward to seeing you back at school in Term 4, Monday 3rd of October.

Kind regards

Jackie Daniali

Principal

Media Arts