From the
Principal
s
Dear Parents / Carers,
The school will be closed for a Curriculum Day on Monday 28 November and for a Common Professional Practice Day on Tuesday 29 November. Team Kids will operate on both these days.
This is advance notice that Monday 30 January, 2023, will be a Curriculum Day. Repair works are occurring to the gym over the break and the contractor requires an additional day to complete the work. The first day of school for 2023 for students in Years One to Six will be Tuesday 31 January. Foundation students will commence on Monday 6 February to enable individual school entry assessments to occur. Parents of students commencing Foundation in 2023 are invited to book their child’s 2023 testing session on COMPASS.
Our students have returned from their various Beyond Boundaries adventures exhilarated and exhausted! To provide this enriching experience we depend on the generosity of parents, who give willingly of their time to assist with the total Beyond Boundaries experience. Their contributions were much appreciated. The children enjoyed their attendance, and the staff are most appreciative of their invaluable contribution.
To the staff that organised and implemented the camp, I say well done. To assume responsibility for a large group of children outside a school setting and in some cases 24 hours a day for four days is significant. Teachers forego the company of their own families because they appreciate the benefits that flow to their students and themselves from sharing this great learning experience. A collective thank-you to our teachers for their investment in our student’s learning.
We are in the final stages of the current school year. The teachers are finalising assessments and reports, and we are making preparations for the 2023 school year. It is hard to believe that in four weeks' time the year will be over . . . there is still so much to do!
Last week we celebrated two significant cultural and symbolic events. The first was the opening of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Garden. This project was jointly funded by Rowville Primary School and the Australian Government’s Planting Trees for the Queen’s Jubilee program.
I was proud to participate in a special ceremony that was led by one of our students, Eva as a memorial to her mum Claire who tragically passed away earlier in this year.
This time of the year coincides with some students feeling a sense of anxiety. The end of the school year for some students may evoke a sense of loss. Endings naturally bring about grieving. For some children, this applies to the end of each school year. There may be grief for what has ended. There may also be anxiety for the future. Students have spent a whole year in the same classroom with the same teacher, classmates and regular routines. Some students will have developed a strong attachment to their teacher or made some very close friendships with some of their classmates.
A parent can help their child to bring closure to the school year by encouraging their child to talk about their feelings - to reflect and acknowledge the strong bonds that have developed over the year - to talk about what they liked and disliked and to recall the funny things that happened during the year. Parents can also ask children to articulate what they will miss and to talk about how they feel about the future. Ask your child to talk about the events that made the year great and try to build up the new school year with positive anticipation. Children will look to their parents as role models during these times of transition and change.
We recognise that for most children school is a wonderful adventure, and their focus is on what is next - they are keen to move on. However, for some children change at the end of the year is difficult and the way that we help these children to develop resilience is to recognise that moving on is a valuable part of life’s journey and to help them to visualise the future in a positive way.
Anne Babich
Principal