School News & What's Happening

School Council Election Results

The school council election for the four parent positions has been completed. I’m happy to announce that Adam Palmer, Tim Smith, Lisa Knott, and Juanita Hope have been successfully elected to the Newlands School Council for a two-year appointment. I would also like to acknowledge Luke Priday, Claire Moore, and Chris Drummond for nominating for the school council. I can also announce that our DET representatives will be Luke Cripps, Graeme Woodard, myself, and Jessica Dang. I look forward to working with our new school council and continue moving the school forward.

Retiring members of the School Council

I want to express our gratitude and thanks to Sarah and Mel for their work on the school council. Sarah has worked tirelessly for the past four years to support the school's fundraising efforts through the PFA. Mel came back last year to fill a casual vacancy. Mel has had a long association as a volunteer at school, both as a school council member and school council president. We thank them both and wish them a restful Wednesday evening for the rest of 2023. 

SunSmart policy

As a sun-smart school, we acknowledge that the policy impacts school assemblies and other community activities. We have unfortunately experienced consecutive Fridays where we have needed to cancel assembly or, as in the case of the Meet & Greet, cancel and reschedule to another day. We take our advice from The Bureau of Metrology [BOM] and will continue to use it as our single source of guidance. When we move from summer to winter, we will continue to use this advice to advise parents via SENTRAL no later than the day before if the assembly is on or not. 

Student Toilets

I must address some feedback concerning the existing student toilets regarding soap and sanitary bins. Our cleaner Helen cleans the toilets daily. Her duties also include checking the soap dispenser and reporting to me if there are any issues with doors jamming, locks not working, or the need to remove foreign objects dropped into the pans by students. Our maintenance person checked the toilets and has reported that they are all fully operational and safe for students to use. An outside provider regularly changes the sanitary bin. I hope this information alleviates some of the concerns raised in the community.

Gastroenteritis Outbreak

We are experiencing a gastro outbreak across the school. DET advises that if a child comes down with any symptoms, we will contact parents to collect their child immediately. We will, as a school, remind students to wash their hands and support classroom programs by maintaining the availability to hand sanitiser across the school.

Please inform the school of any illness that is a medically confirmed case(s) of pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease or polio.

This will assist us in supporting families who have immune-compromised members to take the precautions and actions they need to undertake.

We would then report this to the relevant authorities for their support and guidance. 

Community engagement - Alchemy

This newsletter contains information posters informing anyone in the community interested in training for a carer certificate. Alchemy is the construction company building our new school, and this offer is part of their community engagement responsibilities. 

Reminder

Any upcoming events are listed on SENTRAL.

Thankyou

Ross Dudgeon