Principal's Report

Attendance

Next week I will be working alongside Isabella in the office to identify students that have had more than 30% of days off school without any reasonable explanation or medical certificate. 

It is my job to ensure students who are fit and well attend school.  Some students have had far too much time off and parents of students who have had more than 30% absence will receive a letter from me as the first step in ensuring your child attends school on a regular basis. 

We know students who do not attend school regularly:

• Show slower rates of academic growth
• Show slower rates of social and emotional growth
• Become disengaged from school
• Are likely to continue these patterns into secondary school
• More likely to not complete their school to a Year 12 level.

We need to do better! 

ANZAC Garden 

Hopefully many of you have seen the construction of the ANZAC garden take place over the past 2 weeks. We are delighted at how well it has turned out.  It will become an important part of our school and community as we will be able to commemorate Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day as a community in a way that is fitting to those fallen in past wars and those who have fought on our behalf. 

Education Week

This week has been Education Week.  We have had a focus on STEM across the school.  Each year level has been conducting STEM activities throughout the week to celebrate (and have fun)!

National Simultaneous Story Time

Last week I read ‘Give Me Some Space’ by Phillip Bunting to the whole school.  It is a terrific book with a terrific message about caring for our planet because it is the only one we have.  This book has some terrific language in it for our older students, such as “Una’s cakes became ascendingly astronomical”, “…with accompanying attire of course”, and “…a world of cosmic curiosity and intergalactic inspiration”. When reading together it’s a great idea to look at some of the wonderful vocabulary or sentences the author uses!

National Reconciliation Week – “More Than a Word”

National Reconciliation Week begins on 27th May and ends on 3rd June. 

Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

2021 marks twenty years of reconciliation in Australia.

Have a great week.

Mark Moorhouse

Principal