Principal's Page 

From Christian's desk....

Interchange Outer East Partnership 

On Friday many staff and students met Interchange volunteers Bronwyn and Carly (Melanie was absent) and their support worker Shelly.

I can proudly share that the meet and greet visit was a great success and a partnership has been formed.

The team will visit each Friday, arriving at school at around 11:15am. They will spend time in the Farm with our Eco Leaders, Mia and Bella and Farm volunteers at recess, before returning to the Staffroom for a clean-up and their lunch.

Over the coming weeks we will grow their involvement in other areas of the school.  Thank you to School Council member, Georgina Standfield for fostering this community connection.

Well done – Learning starts at 9:00!

Whilst at the drop-off zone this morning I had a quiet moment of appreciation.  At 8:58am the drop-off zone was empty!  As we’ve shared previously, having our students ready to learn at 9:00am sets them up for a great day of learning.  Moreover, it’s quite disruptive to a class when members are arriving in dribs and drabs after 9:00am.

What Time Can Children Arrive at School?

This week CHAPS had some discussion around the time students are allowed onsite. Formally it is 8:45am.  This time and the 15 minute time allocation prior to learning time is derived from the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement and Fair Work Agreements relating to the division of teacher work. In saying that, the school acknowledges that moving 732 students in and out of the school safely in 15 minutes is impractical and impossible to enforce. As such we open our gates for families to enter the school earlier, with the understanding that the school does not have duty of care.  We are quite lucky that our spaces are never 'vacant' and a child can easily seek assistance if required. For more information, please view our Yard Supervision Policy.

We are all lifelong learners 

Croydon Hills Primary School is a learning institution for all.

Our school offers a broad range of quality educational programs to our students. In the coming weeks our parents and carers will have the opportunity to engage in parent forums (see Carol’s article over the page) to enhance their understandings of the learning we are delivering in the classroom. 

As a learning institution, we are also exceptionally proud of the professional learning we provide for our staff.  Similar to the way we cater for learning for our students at their point of need, our staff also engage in learning at their point of need. This semester’s formal professional learning includes:

• Year 2, 3 and 4 teachers completing Reader’s Workshop
• All Prep and Year 1 teachers (and others) completing The Science of Language and Reading
• Education Support Staff and several teachers engaging in Protective Practice Training
• Level 2 First Aid training or CPR update for all staff
• All staff engaging in Misty Adoniou’s Curriculum Day session: Scaffolding Literacy – Using Quality Children’s Literature to Teach Complexity & Wonder in Reading and Writing.
• All Year 1 teachers (and others) engaging in Differentiation and Open-Ended Problems Solving in Maths
• Middle school teachers undertaking Writing Traits Masterclass, and Place Value – Building Meaning Behind Maths.
• Senior school teachers engaging in Literacy Circles
• All teachers completing DET Assessment Modules 1, 2 & 3 and our Assessment Team completing Formative Assessment to Improve Targeted Learning Outcomes
• Leading Teachers, Learning Specialists and Principals engaging in Growth Coaching, and Coaching for Influence
• Learning Level Leaders completing middle leadership courses Collaborative Teams That Work and Middle Leader Capabilities
• Specialist teachers completing subject specific learning like:
  • Linking Literacy to Art
  • Celebrating ATSI Art
  • First Nations Concepts
  • Games for teaching Indonesian
  • Restorative Practices for all untrained staff
  • Numerous other individual asynchronous online learning courses.

In addition, we’ve learned from and with each other through our internal coaching program and had school visits from Jells Park Primary School (Early Years Literacy approaches), Mount Waverley Primary School (Maths) and Rolling Hills Primary School (Science).

Parking Around the School

Further to last week's school parking piece, it is perhaps timely that we this week received a letter from Maroondah Council indicating that, during Term 2, they will be implementing a strong focus on parking behaviour around local schools.

Please read the attached letter carefully - it may make parking a little easier and save pressure on hip pockets!

Christian Holdsworth  -  Principal