From the Principal, Diana Ellis

Welcome back to Term 4

Already as I look through the diary it is obvious that this final term is very busy. One of our major events will be the Carlsruhe Fair. Of course our Carlsruhe Fair Committee is well underway with the planning.  Thank you to the many people who have already volunteered their time, donations or sponsorship.

Apart from our Fair, we will also have our Family Maths Night, Grandparents Day, our whole school tabloid sports day, Year 2, 4 and 5 camps and Graduation, just to name a few.

Sun Smart

It is timely that I remind you that in line with our Sun Smart Policy that all students must wear hats at this time of the year. We seem to have an increasing number of children coming in looking for spare hats. We ask that you ensure that your child is kept safe from the harmful UV rays by wearing a school endorsed wide brimmed hat. Children who do not have hats will be required to play under cover.

Year 3 camp

At the very end of last term I had the privilege of attending the year 3 camp. The camp was not only fun because of the engaging activities but more so because of the behaviour and attitude of our students. The students were encouraging and supportive of each other as they worked through risk taking adventure activities or in collaborative group activities. I was very proud of their behaviour and the many positive comments from camp staff and our parent helpers.

Of course camp opportunities for our students would not be possible without a great team of staff and parent helpers. I would like to offer my appreciation to staff and parents for their work on camps and being away from their families overnight.

Minecraft

Just prior to the holidays our school again featured on the news. We had worked in conjunction with the new metro rail team and the Department through Minecraft Melbourne. This online educational program provides a number of learning opportunities for students in a collaborative on-line platform. Through this program, the students are involved in designing spaces within Melbourne and through an on-line platform, it takes rural kids to Melbourne where they learn about our city, its landmarks, the transport network and important identities in the history of Melbourne. The highlight has been witnessing the level of student engagement as they individually and collaboratively work through the challenges. Interaction with this program provides learning across many of the curriculum domains, particularly Maths, English, geography and history.

Child Safe

Previously on a number of occasions I have communicated about Child Safe and our efforts to ensure all members of our community understand what we can do to ensure children are kept safe, including implementing strategies that lessen the risk of children being victims of sexual abuse and how to respond to incidents and disclosures. We are continuing to update our procedures and policies and remind people that information can be found at the front office or our school website. This includes polices and informative posters about how to respond to and report an incident or disclosure. All of our staff have completed an eLearning module on Mandatory Reporting and staff and School Council have had training.

If you have any concerns or need further clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact me.