Principal's Report

It was a privilege to celebrate 100 days of school for our Preps yesterday. This milestone is significant for all of us after the disruption to Face to Face learning over the past two years.  The 100 Days of School signifies the 100th day of study in a school year. It offers students and teachers time to reflect on the work undertaken by students. The symbolic representation is an incredibly exciting event to be a part of and helps students to celebrate their education in a positive way. So I will take this time to congratulate all of our students and teachers at DPS for being at school for 100 days! 

I must say the Preps were filled with excitement as they celebrated the day! I enjoyed chatting with students over a delicious pancake breakfast, and later in the day presenting them with their 100 day certificates and graduation koalas.  Thank you to our Prep team for organising such a memorable day for our students. 

Last week Miss Epskamp and I attended our network Principal's conference where we heard many presenters speak about student mental health and wellbeing. Specifically about biometrics and students learning to tune in and have agency over their mental health needs.  There was also a fascinating presentation by Simon Kuestenmacher, a rising star in the field of data management and insight into future trends related to demographics.  Simon spoke  about how education determines income and spending capacity (please see graph below) and about the building blocks for a future proof career. 

The building blocks are:

Basic STEM skills- The main principal of STEM is that things don’t happen in isolation, often a team is required to address and develop solutions

Self- organisation - as it directly relates to your productivity 

Speaking Clearly- ability to communicate your thoughts and ideas

Know thyself - understand your strengths, values and passion in your work

This reinforces the notion that as educators we must develop a love of learning in our students to keep them engaged and invested in their pursuit of learning for their future. At DPS this is something we strive for through curriculum planning, student wellbeing and community connection.