The year is starting to come to a close. Reports are being compiled; cohort assemblies will be occurring in weeks 10 and 11 and Meet the Teacher Day is coming up. There is a lot still to happen and finish by the end of the year.

Communication

We have had feedback from a number of people around missing information. I cannot emphasise enough that we have two major sources of information – Compass and the Newsletter. Facebook and Seesaw are used as sources of information that are nice to know but not necessarily vital. All major communication comes through Compass and the Newsletter. It is important that they become the go to sources. Please ensure that you have downloaded the app and check your email for communication from Compass- this is where the most up to date information is shared and delivered. We want to make sure that you are as informed as possible.

Meet the Teacher Day

Meet the Teacher Day or Step Up Day will be held on December 13th. This is the state-wide transition day for all Year 6 students going to Year 7 and all of our students from Prep- Year 8 will be participating on December 13th so we can work together as a whole school.

The students will bring home a little information about their teachers for you at the end of the day. It is important to note that not all classes will have their teacher here on the day and as we are still recruiting, not all classes will actually know who their teacher for 2023 will be. Please be patient and reassure your child that as we recruit, we will let them know some information about their teacher. They will have some time with their new classmates and will begin building some new relationships.

We will be trying to have as many positions filled as we can by the end of the year but may need to continue the recruiting drive over the holidays.

We area also waiting for buildings to be completed so some classes will not be meeting in the new classrooms until next year.

You, as parents, have a very important part to play in how positively your children view their new class, teacher and experience. Positivity around their teacher and classmates is vital. New teachers offer the students the opportunity to learn how to respond to new teaching methods and new classmates and teachers offer the opportunity to learn about new people and how to interact with them. The students can always play with others from their year level during the breaks, but it is an important life skill to be consistently learning how to be flexible and adapt to others. Taking away barriers and challenge does not help children in the long run. Having to practice patience, understanding, perseverance, further develop their social skills and learn to respect others despite their differences are skills that cannot be undervalued or underestimated in terms of how they assist children to grow into resilient teenagers and later proactive adults.

BYOD program for 2023

All students from Years 5-8 will be participating in the BYOD program in 2023. There is information on our website about the program itself, the specifications needed when providing a device and links to the portal if you would like to order a device through the portal.

You do not have to buy a new device. If you already have a device that fits the specifications outlined in the BYOD program document, you may bring that to school.

Please see the link below for further information.

https://www.dohertyscreekcollege.vic.edu.au/?page_id=1853

2023 Books and Contributions

It is that time of the year when booklists and school monetary contributions are due. All books are being delivered home this year. They will NOT be delivered to school. In order for them to be delivered free of charge, your order MUST be placed by December 16th.

Please see the link below for further information about the lists for each year level and the costs of programs at each year level.

https://www.dohertyscreekcollege.vic.edu.au/?page_id=1087

Thank you to School Council

Thank you to our School Council members who make the time to help advise me on particular aspects of the school. We value the time and effort they give us to help ensure that we can meet the needs of the community in the best way possible. It is a huge commitment and I want to publicly thank them for their work and support this year.

Craig Sked-President (Community)

Malinda Vaughan (DET)

Julia Walters (Parent)

Shipra Sharma (Parent)

Rashmi Ranatunga (Parent)

Yana Jayasinghe (Parent)

Jessica DeBono (DET)

Sudeep Singh (Community)

Kenneth Wright (Parent)

Tarun Grover (Community)

Felicity Lee (student)

Ibrahim Mohamed (Student)

Observers: Samantha McDonald (Business Manager & Minute taker)

Cohort End of Year Assemblies

Every year level will be holding an end of year cohort assembly for parents. The students will either be presenting work or performing in some way to celebrate the end of the year. The teachers and students have worked together to plan the assemblies.

Please make the time to attend if you can.

The schedule is as follows:

Thursday 8th December- Year 4- 2.10pm- Gym

Friday 9th December- Year 2- 2.10pm- Gym

Monday 12th December- Year 1- 8.50am- Gym

Monday 12th December- Year 5- 2.10pm- Gym

Tuesday 13th December- Prep- 9.40am- Gym

Wednesday 14th December- Year 7- 2.10pm- Ngarnga

Thursday 15th December- Year 3- 2.10pm- Gym

Friday 16th December- Year 6- 2.10pm- Gym

Buildings

We continue to work with the Department of Education to ensure that we have enough buildings onsite to support the programs we want to run. We will be adding 12 new classrooms and an art space next year as well as student and staff toilets. Last week we had DET employees from the planning department visit the school to listen to our proposals around the need for further buildings for 2023. Whilst we will not have any new additions, besides those mentioned above, at the beginning of the year, we are hoping that we will be considered for more buildings for the beginning of Term 2.

Breakfast Club

We want to thank these community members and parents for assisting Morwenna with Breakfast club this year. Their help is invaluable to providing this service from Monday- Thursday each week.

Aisha Simmons

Aljeenne Galang

Nicholas Muscat

Shaheed Khaled

Lavanya Shah

I hope you and your family have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the sunshine we are finally starting to see. Fingers crossed we have more of it as the year comes to a close. Take care everyone.

Year 1 Science students are growing plants in the DCC Kitchen Garden. They are exploring designs for a Living Cubby to safely grow food plants in a play space.