Principal's Report

Kids are back onsite!

This week it has been such a relief to welcome most of our students back to onsite learning. We are desperate to see our year 3/4 students... hang in there kids, only a few more days! The 1/2 and 5/6 students returned to reunite with friends and teachers. There have been lots of smiles, laughs and a few initial nerves.

The biggest concern has been the return of our Preps though. They returned for their 100th day at school, and my goodness, some of them have aged terribly during lockdown! Check out the photos below!

Drop & Go

Starting from Monday 25 October, to comply with COVID safety regulations, we will be returning to the 'drop and go' for school arrivals. We ask parents to farewell their children at the gates in the morning, and children will be asked to go straight to their classrooms between 8.45 and 9.00. We are trying to minimise different year levels of children interacting. At recess and lunchtime we will be dividing the school grounds into zones for each year level cohort to play in (these spaces will be rotated each day). The reason for this is when/if we have a positive COVID case at school, the goal is to minimise school closures and disruptions, and limit the amount of students and families that may have to isolate. Parents are asked to also collect their students outside the school gates at 3.30 and not congregate on school grounds. As the kids are still unvaccinated, the Health Department is taking a very firm line on this to enhance student safety.

Hats

Remember that for Term 4, we must be sun smart. All children must bring a wide brimmed school hat to wear outside at recess and lunch. The statewide rule is: No hat, no play.

2022 Foundation Enrolments 

Our school council "marketing and communications" team, expertly led by Volkan Ozturk, have been doing an amazing job promoting our school. You may have noticed the billboards around Warrandyte, articles in the Warrandyte Diary and our online campaigns. On Wednesday night we ran a well attended online information session for next year's prep parents, and we have a number of virtual (and hopefully soon in-person) transition events planned for the coming weeks.

If you know of any local families who are considering our school who have not yet enrolled, or perhaps have a sibling that is not enrolled yet, we encourage you to get in touch with Jo at the office asap to secure a place.

2022 Class Formations

Our teachers and school leaders are beginning the annual task of forming classes for next year. Assigning children to classes is a highly complex process. As per our class formation policy, the Principal will manage this process, and invites parents to partner with us in sharing information to aide this. Each year we strive to create balanced classes which take account of friendships, working relationships of students, a mix of academic levels and gender balances. Any parent requests need to be submitted in writing by November 1.  Please forward these to both Sue Dyos (susan.dyos@education.vic.gov.au) and Meredith Thornton (meredith.thornton@education.vic.gov.au). All requests will be considered on educational grounds.

Guerrilla Gardening

A special thanks to the Camilleri/McCormack family. Our veggie patch and chook pen area was looking very neglected and unloved after a long period of remote learning. We are so grateful for Solomon, Cassius, Lisa and Sandy for popping down over the weekend with tools in hand and doing a big clean up of this space. It is looking so much better. I believe there may even have been some future snacks planted!

A Final Farewell

Cruelly I am unable to attend today's assembly to say goodbye due commitments beginning this afternoon for my new role. As communicated previously, I have accepted a principal position at Kallista Primary School.

Andersons Creek has been a special place to work over the past 18 months. Through the toughest of times including repeated lockdowns and the passing of the wonderful Natasha Rankin, I have been amazed and impressed by the resilience of this community, by the way you unquestioningly band together to support each other, and work together to provide a joyful, caring environment for your children. ACPS has such a committed group of families, and the best School Council I've ever worked with. Thank-you for letting me be a part of this.

And finally, to the kids. I have absolutely loved getting to know you; sharing jokes, playing in the yard, solving maths puzzles, hearing you read, kicking the footy, making embarrassing videos, soothing emotional moments. It has been devastating missing so much time in remote learning, but I'm so proud of all you have achieved. You have an amazing group of teachers around you, who will continue to guide you in learning. Keep up the good work.

With gratitude,

Jake Laurie