Happy Week 4! There have been so many highlights in the last fortnight including the Grade 3/4 excursion to the Werribee Zoo, the Grade 1/2 excursion to the Melbourne Zoo, 100 Days of School for Prep and our Book Fair. The most exciting for me was the first House Activities Day, led by our 8 House Leaders. Some of the activities were:

Marnock House (Red): Minor Games on the oval focused on engaging and peer relationships.
Riversdale House (Yellow): Minor Games indoor focused on improving peer connections.
Bareena House (Green): Mindfulness Activities focused on regulation and emotions.
Balyang House (Blue): Minor Games focused on working together and developing a sense of fun and connection.

It was great to see the leadership role that all our senior students took to support the younger students during these activities. Staff have now been allocated houses and will continue to support these events going forward. We look forward to more House Activities on Friday 25th August when students will be invited to wear a token of their house colour with their uniform, such as a t-shirt, ribbon, scarf, shorts etc.

100 Days of School: This is a special celebration that every student in our school remembers! There are balloons, streamers, fun activities, crowns, a special parent and buddies’ picnic…so many special events. Please give your special Preppies an extra hug to let them know what a great achievement 100 days is. It makes us all wonder how many days we’ve actually had at school and it’s scary to think! Let’s hope the next 100 are as special as the first. Thanks to our amazing Prep team – Mylea Adams, Britt Hercus, Nikki Robertson and Cathy Burns for the hard work and support to nurture, support and guide our Preppies through the first 100 Days.

Cybersafety: A friendly reminder to all families to be open with conversations around Cybersafety and awareness. Some year levels have been impacted by increasing cyber connections with some having a negative impact on their wellbeing or the wellbeing of others. Together, in partnership, we need to work together to foster positive digital use and appropriate expectations for use within the cyber world. There are many resources online that can help and support these conversations at home. One site it the eSafety for Parents via the commissioner - https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents, shared via the eSmart website.

Welcome back: On Monday 7th August we welcome back Meg from her Long Service Leave. We look forward to hearing all about her European travels. Many of the students are very excited to have Willow (wellbeing dog) back and I know Willow will be equally excited to see everyone. Thank you to Louisa Blamires and Lisa Harmer who have stepped up into the Acting Assistant Principal role and the Acting Learning Specialist role during the first four weeks of term. We are blessed with such a great staff and all have been so supportive but I’m especially grateful to Louisa and Lisa for their work during this time.

Mental Health and Wellbeing: There are so many positive wellbeing initiatives currently happening at school. Lunchtime Clubs are very well supported. We have two special wellbeing programs, Program Art and Project Connect that are engaging well within our school and the community. Late last term we opened our Sensory Room. This offers a great safe space for students to access with adult support for a sensory break or as a reward. Next time you visit the office, ask to check out the Sensory Room. Virginnia Gilham (Inclusion Leader) and Cathy Burns (Mental Health in Primary Schools Leader), with student support and input, have created a great, safe space for students. Please see more information about a great Social Service initiative selling Choc Tops for ‘Feed Me Geelong’ that will be happening on Friday 11th August which is our next Wellbeing afternoon event.

NAPLAN: On Friday evening, NAPLAN information was sent out to all Grade 3 and 5 parents and carers. This information outlined the changes that have occurred within the NAPLAN assessment. Student achievement results envelopes are now available at the office for collection by a parent, carer or guardian. They will be available until Friday 4th August and then the remaining envelopes will be mailed to families.

Many great achievements happen at school but many also happen outside of school. Congratulations to:

Elsa G (Grade 5) for competing in the Regional Team Event Series for Tennis.
Annabel Z (Grade 6) for modelling and acting opportunities on the recent school holidays.
Daniel L (Grade 6) for being cast in CentreStage’s ‘Pricilla, Queen of the Desert’ which will be onstage in September.
….come and share more with us as we’d love to hear all about it and share them with others!

Let’s continue to have a great Term 3!

Sarah Jeffreys

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING