Term 1 Reflections

As I reflect with a little over a week remaining until the end of term, it is incredible to note that this is the first time in over two years that we have completed a full term of onsite learning and teaching. This was only achieved by the considerable support offered by our families and the wonderful work of our staff. Thank you for supporting the restrictions that we have worked under and the ongoing RA testing and COVID processes.

My initial impressions of the school in my first term as Principal; the considerable work ethic of our staff, and the time, care and commitment that they put into each and everyday of teaching to ensure that every day counts for our students. To that end, I encourage you to read a recent article by Dr. Marcia Devlin (CEO of Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership) who highlighted the considerable complexity associated with the role of our teachers, the article is viewable here.

Further to those initial first impressions, is the strong sense of community that sits within our school, it was measurable very early in the school year and as the term has progressed, I reflect on the terrific support you have provided our school and myself as the new Principal. Thank you for coming and saying hello, thank you for advocating for our school and thank you for supporting our work throughout this term. Feedback is important to me and our school, I would encourage you to take 5 minutes to support us to reflect on Term 1 by completing our Community Feedback Form. This is a Caulfield Primary School survey and will support us to reflect moving into Term 2 and beyond.

Wherever the school holiday and Easter break takes you and your family, please enjoy some time together, I offer my sincere appreciation for your support during a very busy and successful first term and look forward to the final week of term together before seeing everyone again for Term 2. A reminder that Term 2 begins on Tuesday 26th April.

School Council AGM

Last week our School Council came together for our Annual General Meeting and the presentation of our 2021 Annual Report and appointment of office bearers for the 2022 school year.

The Annual Report highlights considerable achievements that the school has undertaken over the last 12 months whilst acknowledging the challenges and exceptional circumstances that was an added layer of complexity during that time.

Some highlights (see images below) include data sets in Year 3 and 5 Reading and Year 5 Numeracy that indicates a level of NAPLAN top 3 band achievement above similar school averages and well above state averages. Importantly, the Annual Report also provides an opportunity for the school to address future pieces of work and directions for improvement.

A full copy of the Annual Report will be uploaded to our school website over the coming weeks. The meeting also provided the opportunity for the school to acknowledge the important support provided by departing School Council members whilst appointing office bearers for the year ahead.

I extend my sincere appreciation to James Macky (President), Candice Clynk (Vice President), Chris Sargent (Treasurer) and Vicky Doust (Secretary) on their support for the school and I look forward to working closely with them and all School Council members over the year ahead.

Swimming Program

The school has worked extremely hard to secure a swimming program for 2022 and resume some of the wonderful opportunities that have encountered interruptions over the last two years. We are looking forward to delivering a wonderful program for our students in Term 2 with the Swimming program running at GESAC from 30th May to the 10th June. Supporting our engagement with this program, we will be able to allocate funding to support this program from Prep – 6 by delivering a 10-day program at a considerably reduced cost. More information about our Swimming Program will be provided to parents early in Term 2.

Community Events

An exceptionally busy fortnight of events throughout the school highlighted by the following:

Junior School Council Assembly

Well done to our Junior School Council representatives who received their badges at Assembly a few weeks ago, thank you to our families who attended this event. We look forward to working closely with Meina (1/2A), Alex (1/2B), Robin (1/2C), Ewan (1/2D), Lewis (3/4A), Lucy (3/4B), Harrison (3/4C), Eva (3/4D), Riley (5/6A), Claire (5/6B), Seren (5/6C) throughout the year.

Harmony Day

Thank you to all students and families for supporting our Harmony Day event, it was wonderful to see our students embracing and taking pride in their cultural background and sharing this with our school community. Thank you to our Junior School Council for fundraising for The Good Friday Appeal with well over $300 raised.

Cross Country

Thank you to Mr. Orr and all staff and parents for assisting us to deliver a very memorable school Cross Country event for our Year 3-6 students. We even had the weather cooperate and provide us with a beautiful day. Well done to our students who once again, demonstrated our school values and were supportive of one another whilst striving for excellence reflective of their own abilities. It was fantastic to see so many students cheering loudly. A great day for all concerned, well done to those students who will move onto represent the school at the next stage of Cross Country competition.

Farewell

We say farewell to Jordan Orr (Physical Education) who has accepted a position as a Child Life Therapist at the Royal Children’s Hospital, we congratulate Jordan and acknowledge the skillset of our teachers is transferable to many different fields. Jordan will finish with us at the end of Term 1. We are currently advertising for a replacement PE teacher and will keep the school community informed of this process.

Sharon Heaysman has also taken the opportunity to explore other opportunities, we wish Sharon all the best and thank her for her contribution to Caulfield PS. We will keep the school community informed of the recruitment process in appointing a replacement for Sharon.

Our Term 1 Improvement Cycle

Our staff have undertaken considerable professional learning this term including formal professional learning courses and reflective opportunities to promote consistent instructional approaches in our classrooms. Asami Sensei and Morioka Sensei are currently completing a student-centred mathematics professional learning course delivered by the Victorian Teaching Academy, all teaching staff undertook learning walks in each other’s classrooms focussing on the use of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria. On the 28th March, our School Improvement Team undertook a planning day and worked with our Senior Education Improvement Leader, Stuart Andrews to reflect upon Term 1 achievements aligned to our Annual Implementation Plan and Ms Campbell and myself attended the Principal network conference that provided us the opportunity to work with the Dare to Lead short course working off the work of Brene Brown.

Curriculum Days

The school will be undertaking professional development and learning with curriculum days scheduled for the following dates throughout the remainder of the year:

18th May
27th July
31st October

We will be able to share our learning and reflections from these sessions after each curriculum day, the upcoming session in May is allowing our staff to work through the delivery of specialised content delivered to support the Department of Education and Training Respectful Relationships program.

End of Term

A reminder that the end of term is scheduled for next Friday afternoon with the school day set to finish at 2:30pm, an Assembly will be held on Friday to conclude the school term. Further information will be provided around the end of term arrangements early next week.

Emergency Management

Each year the school reviews and updates our Emergency Management plan and undertakes drills and mock situations to support us in the event of an emergency. Our first evacuation drill was completed last Tuesday afternoon with an onsite evacuation completed for all students and staff. Importantly, these are treated seriously and students and staff undertake them with a view to ensuring they are well prepared if ever required to enact our emergency processes. Another emergency management drill is scheduled for Term 2.

Working Bees

Reflecting a subtle shift to re-establishing our strong community links, we are in the process of finalising Working Bee dates for the remainder of the year. Once again, Covid obstacles have prevented us from doing this any earlier, we will provide further information about these dates early next term and look forward to working in partnership together to tackle some maintenance work to continue to support our school environment.

COVID Safety

You may have seen the recent announcement about increasing the number of air purifiers in schools. The Victorian Government will provide an additional 60,000 air purifiers to government and low-fee non-government schools. These additional air purifiers are to supplement natural and mechanical ventilation during the cooler months, when windows and doors may be closed to maintain a comfortable learning environment. Our school previously received an allocation of air purifiers for use in higher-risk spaces and will now receive a further top-up allocation to ensure all classrooms and other higher risk spaces are covered. Air purifiers are expected to be progressively delivered from now until the end of May 2022. We are yet to receive our delivery and once we do we will ensure each classroom and learning space has one installed for the cooler months of the year.

Wishing you a very happy and safe holidays.

EDWARD STRAIN

Principal

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