Dear Endeavour Hills Specialist School community members,

Welcome back to Term 3.

I hope that all our families and students had a nice relaxing break. It was so lovely on Monday to see the students arriving happy and smiling. I had the opportunity to visit all the classrooms and hear and read about all the adventures the students had in the holidays. There were many visits to the movies, trips to the park and even the arrival of a new puppy.

Staff took time to rest and prepare for an exciting term ahead. Many staff came into the school in the break to set up and prepare resources for their students.

I would like to welcome the following new staff to EHSS. Nat Hassan has commenced in the Assistant Principal role. Nat comes to us from Southern Autistic School and brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in supporting our learners.

Eryn Mitchel has joined us our Performing Arts teacher. Eryn was previously at Banyon Fields PS and has been a music teacher for a number of years and is already engaging the students in a variety of musical activities.

Kylie Medley has commenced as the education support staff member in Banksia 3A. Kylie has previously worked with us via ANZUK and at Marnebek. Kylie is enjoying getting to know the students in 3A.

I would like to thank Tim Witcombe for his work in the role of Acting Assistant Principal from Term 4 last year. Tim worked closely with me and the staff to establish clear processes and resources including, but not limited to, the implementation of Compass, updating the website, creating meeting agendas , working with School Wide Positive Behaviour support team to roll out its implementation, the development and distribution of timetables, which is a large and ever-changing task. Tim will continue as the Leading Teacher in Bursaria and is currently establishing the Projects with Purpose with the students. Keep an eye out for exciting updates related to this project.

As a new school there are many resources that we need to ensure that high quality teaching and learning programs can be delivered. As you would appreciate, many of these resources can be quite expensive. Liz Rout, Leading Teacher in Banksia and teacher in 3A, has worked tirelessly with several staff to secure charitable donations and grants for our school. Currently we have received $21,700 from the Variety Club and the Cassandra Ganter Foundation to aid in the purchase of literacy and numeracy resources. Bank First donated $1800 to assist in the establishment of a small orchard in our horticulture space, and the Andrews Foundation donated $10,000 to allow us to purchase robotics and STEM equipment. I would like to thank these organisations for their generosity in supporting our students.

Towards the end of Term 2 we had a visit from our local state member of parliament, Belinda Wilson. I took Belinda on a tour and showed her the wonderful work our students are doing. Belinda visited a few classrooms and spoke with the students about their learning. Belinda was very impressed with our school and commented on the positive and welcoming atmosphere, the students’ level of engagement in their programs and the clear level of expertise and professionalism of our staff. Belinda spoke about her visit in an address to parliament a few weeks later.

Our second whole school assembly was held on the last day of term 2. I had the pleasure of presenting the Principal’s awards 10 students. Congratulations to them all. It was lovely to have the whole school together and welcome the families of the award recipients to join us.

I look forward to sharing with you all the exciting learning and activities that will be occurring throughout Term 3.

Stay warm.

Kind regards,

Karen Hunt

PYJAMA DAY

FRIDAY JULY 21ST