Principals Report
By Mr Frank Catalano
Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,
I trust all is well with you and your family and welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter where so much is shared about our fabulous school.
As per usual, if you have any questions or issues you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact me on 9802 9938 or via email at frank.catalano@education.vic.gov.au
Prep Families BBQ
Our annual Prep Families BBQ was held on Thursday 25th February and once again, it was a resounding success as so many families were able to meet and get to know one another whilst the children took the opportunity to expand on their friendships. Naturally such an event is not possible without the thorough planning and implementation of the staff – a sincere thank you to the numerous staff members who assisted in various ways as your efforts are greatly appreciated by the children, their families and I.
Council of International Schools (CIS) Update
As you may be aware, this year our school is undertaking the process of being re-accredited with the CIS and an important aspect of this are the CIS Community Survey. May I take this opportunity to thank all of the parents, alumni, School Councillors, staff and students who completed the survey as it has provided our school with a real ‘gift’, a gift that we will use to make our great school even better. I have asked Mr Lewis to provide everyone with a deeper analysis of the survey results which is featured in this newsletter.
Year 5 Camp
Congratulations and well done to our Year 5 learners as they enjoyed 4 fantastic days at The Old Priory camp in Beechworth. The children returned on Friday looking somewhat exhausted however incredibly proud of themselves as they learnt so much about Australian history whilst developing their confidence, self-esteem and ability to organise themselves whilst being away from home.
Naturally, a school camp is not possible if it were not for the staff and other adults who attended and also organised the camp. A sincere thank you and well done to Ms. Krsteska and Ms Liburti and the rest of the Year 5 teaching team for their fabulous organisation and all of the staff who attended and assisted in various ways. Congratulations, thank you and well done everyone!
Mountain View Hotel Car Park
Earlier this week I distributed a Compass Post advising changes to the car parking arrangements at the Mountain View Hotel. Please ensure you are aware of the changes as it is extremely important that we work with the hotel management and the police to ensure the safety of everyone and the best interest of the hotel and our school.
Below is an image which outlines the changes for your convenience:
Curriculum Day
On Tuesday we held our second Curriculum Day for this year. Please refer to Mrs Coffey’s article which outlines what was covered and most importantly, how this learning will be transferred into teaching and learning practices.
Year 4 – 6 Athletics
It was wonderful that we were able to complete our intra-school athletics sports today (Thursday). We look forward to our school team being announced and the children partaking in the District Athletics which are being held on Monday 22nd March at Bill Sewart Athletics Oval in Burwood. Congratulations to all of the children for their outstanding effort today and to those that have qualified, we all wish you the very best with your respective events. We look forward to sharing how you went in our next newsletter.
Aidan Dep 3B - Sports Achievements
Congratulations to Aidan (Year 3) for his outstanding commitment to athletics. Aidan recently competed in the state qualifying events and placed 3rd in his hurdles heat and overall 4th for the entire region which included 13 suburbs. This has enabled Aidan to qualify for the state championships which are being held this weekend at Albert Park. Aidan also competed in the Long Jump and in the regional championship he jumped 3.23m. Aidan is very excited to compete for the Victoria State Championship this Sunday and we look forward to hearing how he goes. Well done and good luck Aidan!
Zone Swimming Sports
Congratulations to the children who participated in this event recently, our school’s results were as follows:
- Individual events: Joshua (Year 4) participated in the Under 10, 50m Freestyle and Backstroke and placed 1st in both – wow, what an amazing achievement Josh!
- Relay event: Joshua (Year 4), Tevin and Owen (Year 5) and Ivan (Year 6) participated in the Under 11’s 50m Freestyle and placed 4th. Well done and congratulations boys!
From this point, Joshua will participate in the Regional Finals tomorrow – best of luck Josh and we look forward to hearing how you go!
School Council Update
A sincere thank you to the numerous families who completed this year’s School Council voting slips. In total approx. 1900 votes were counted which demonstrates the importance our school community places on this issue.
Thank you to the members of our school community who nominated for selection and congratulations to those who were successful.
I am very pleased to announce the composition of the 2021 School Council is now complete and is as follows:
Parent Representatives:
- Isha Malhotra, Thusitha Tennakoon, Dinesh Shetty, Aditya Sathe, Poonam Virk, Manisha Phadke, Jessey Kaur, Suresh Ramachandraiah, Bhakti Mangale and Chetna Raj.
Staff Representatives:
- Sue Coffey, Roland Lewis, Trish Singh, Lauren Anderson, Jess Wood, Peter Shen and myself.
This fortnight I have also attached an overview of the role of the School Council compared to that of the Principal.
Area of Activity | The School Council …… | The Principal …… |
Curriculum | Develops the broad direction and vision for the school using guidelines provided by the Department | Leads development of teaching and learning programs
Determines teacher, subject and time allocations, timetables, class sizes and structures |
Student Management | Develops student engagement policy and student dress code
Consults with the school community before adopting changes to these policies
| Implements these policies
Considers and, where appropriate, grants exemptions to dress codes
Manages all matters of student wellbeing, discipline and academic progress |
Staff Employment and Management | Approved employment of some staff e.g. casual replacement teachers, canteen staff
Recommends to the Secretary of the Department the appointment of a principal | Is responsible (as delegated by the Secretary to the Department) for the employment and management of persons in the Teaching Service (including non-teaching staff) |
Buildings and Grounds | Enters in contracts for buildings and grounds improvements | Oversees maintenance of all facilities
Monitors implementation of contracts |
Child Safety Standards | Develops policies as required by the Child Safety Standards
Reviews existing contracts and ensures future contracts address the requirements of the Child Safety Standards |
Implements these policies |
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED A PRINCIPAL’S AWARD RECENTLY:
Prep B
- Hasiru for working exceptionally hard on developing his artistic skills
- Marvika, Ritisha amd Kisal for making amazing progress with their writing
Prep D
- Anuki, Binadi and Ethan for writing about a silly zebra who got up to some very silly things!
1B
- Jordan for assisting with keeping our school neat, tidy and presentable
2B
- Ruth, Diyon, Julie and Savinu for being really responsible members of our community
2C
- Emilia and Yash for creating very deep and detailed success criteria about the importance of making sensible choices
2D
- Arya for working very hard to keep our school neat and tidy
- Kyra for completing her home learning to a very high standard
3B
- Lithika, Pradyumna and Edwin also for being a very responsible members of our school community
3E
- Andrew for making amazing progress with his writing
- Ananda for being a very responsible member of our school community
4A
- Nabiha and Ryan for making amazing progress with their writing as featured in the Kids Corner section of this newsletter
- Aisha also for making sure our school is neat and tidy
4B
- Mai, Dulansa and Elsie also for making sure our school is neat and tidy
4D
- Mihn Ahn also for making sure our school is neat and tidy
4E
- Logan and Bianca for drawing an amazing poster for Mrs Lee
6C
- Arjun for placing 3rd in Australia and 77th in the world in the International Singapore Maths competition
Wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight,
Frank Catalano
Principal