From The Principal

As we approach the mid year break, it is pleasing that we have not had to endure any periods of remote learning in Semester One of 2022. This hasn’t meant that there haven’t been any challenges, in particular coping with larger than normal absences of staff and students.  Both the staff and students have coped admirably with the interruptions. I know it is frustrating when a child does not have their normal classroom teacher for multiple periods of instruction in a day.  There have also been numerous occasions where teachers needed to adjust their lessons as the majority of students in a particular class were absent for lessons. These are circumstances beyond anyone’s control and I thank everyone for their understanding of the situation. 

Capital Works

Given some inclement weather over the past weeks, progress has been a bit slower than anticipated.

Main building

Internal framing has been completed on the ground floor.  The roof was scheduled to be installed in the last week of May but weather delayed this.

External Hardcourts

About 95% complete. There are defects that need to be rectified before they are handed over. 

First Aid Centre

The brickwork is complete and they are working on the internal structure.

Staffing

In a school the size of Parkdale, there is always movement of staff.  During this term we farewelled Mr Daniel Spoor who has been appointed as a Leading Teacher at Somerville Secondary College and we will farewell Mr Michael Simmons at the end of term as he has accepted a position at Frankston High School. Nicole Coates is also leaving, taking up a position at a regional school. Along with Olivia Purcell, leaving to take up another teaching position interstate. We wish them all the best. We are currently in the recruitment process to replace these teachers.

Year 9 Camp

A very successful camp at Forest Edge, Neerim East with beautiful weather over the first camp.  The second camp had cooler weather but the students still had a most enjoyable time. I take this opportunity to thank the staff, in particular Ms Michelle Lynch for her leadership of the preparation for camp and to Ms Gaffney and Ms Di Paola for their leadership at the camp.  It was so pleasing to hear all the positive comments from the permanent camp staff about our students and this was reiterated by our own staff.  My thanks also to the staff who attended to make the camp possible and the success it was.

Communication between parents and staff via email

We now live in an era where communication is available to us 24 hours a day.  The days of writing letters and waiting for a reply and the only telephone was a landline are in the distant past.  Mobile phones and the use of email has quickened the communication process.  Now the number of social media platforms has further escalated the capacity for people to communicate quickly.  This level of instant communication has been linked to people feeling more stressed as they feel the pressure to respond immediately.

Why do I raise this? 

Because there has been an increasing expectation that teachers should be responding to emails immediately.  Yes, we value communication with parents about the progress of their son/daughter but there must be a degree of reasonable about the response time frame.  A teacher in class may not read their emails until the end of the school day. Therefore, a response may not be sent until late that day or even the next day.  Further, there are instances of parents sending emails outside what would be considered to be normal working hours and expecting an immediate response. This is an unreasonable expectation. As per our communications policy you will receive a response within two business days. 

In this time of quick communication we need to remember that the content of the email should be written in a professional and courteous manner. Tone and emotive language can easily lead to misinterpretation of the intent of the email. It is easy to overlook this when forming an initial email. It is often prudent to save it as a draft and go back to it later and reread it.  You may then feel the need to edit the initial email before sending. 

It is also timely for me to remind parents to refer to the college website re the communication policy of the college.  This policy also indicates who the relevant member of staff is, to direct your communication to.

Term Break

I take this opportunity to wish all members of our school community a restful, relaxing and safe term break.  It gives us all the opportunity and time to recharge and reflect.  It also enables us to set new goals for the challenges ahead.