Principal's Report
Attendance and Lateness
Daily attendance at school is vital for all students. A child missing one day a fortnight will miss four weeks in a year, and more than a year of school by the time they reach Year 10. Twenty or more days absent in a year is categorised as chronic absence.
Looking over our attendance data for Semester 1, we have a large number of students who have either reached 20 days of absence already this year or at least 10 days in the first half of the year and many more who are close to this number. Parents are able to check their child's attendance data at any time through Compass. Once logged in click on the 'Profile' link next to your child, and then select the 'Attendance' tab.
There are many reasons why a child may be absent from school and when your child is too unwell to be at school, visiting a doctor and rest at home are the correct actions to take.
If you know that your child will be absent from school we ask that we are notified by families using Compass to mark your child as absent, or if an extended period of absence is taking place that you make a time to see your child's classroom teacher and talk about the nature of the extended absence from school and formulate a strategy to have in place for your child's return to school which supports them with the learning they have missed.
We also have a large number of late arrivals at school, some of which are not being signed in at the office by a parent or guardian.
We are bringing in Late Passes as part of our process of a student being late to school. The process for all students arriving late to school, which is after 9:00 am, is:
1. A parent or guardian brings the student to the office and signs them in using the iPad
2. Fill out a late slip with the child's name, the date and time of arrival at school
3. The student takes the late slip with them to the classroom and gives the pass to the teacher
The purpose of the late pass is to allow the classroom teachers the ability to alter an absence on the roll to a late as soon as practical.
When picking a child up early from school, they need to be signed out at the office on the iPad and collected from the classroom.
I have attached our Attendance Policy for all families to access.
School Concert
Tonight will be a wonderful night for our students and our music program. Doors open at 6:40pm with the concert starting at 7:00pm. Tickets are $5 at the door and if families are able to bring the correct money it makes the process of getting everyone into the venue run smoothly.
We will also be selling raffle tickets to support out Year 6 graduation with a great hamper of prizes to be won.
Trivia Night
One of our major fundraisers for the year is coming up shortly. We currently have very few tables booked with the night fast approaching. Even if you don't have a full table I would encourage you to purchase your ticket and our wonderful Parents Association can assist in combining smaller groups onto a table. To purchase your tickets go to: www.trybooking.com/bdske
Playground Feedback
I would like to thank the over 40 families who have provided us with feedback so far around our playgrounds and outdoor spaces. It is great to see many families involving themselves with this process. The current themes coming from this feedback are around upgrading the playgrounds (and also around what families want to see in a playground from a developmental point of view), the importance of the natural feel of our grounds and opportunities for more passive/quiet play spaces. The general aesthetics of the outdoor spaces is also a strong message that is coming back to us. This feedback echo's thoughts from the students through their feedback.
I look forward to being able to present this feedback to the community on August 19th and gather additional information for School Council to consider.
Win a Defibrillator for MPS
St. John's Ambulance are running a competition to win a Defibrillator for school. It would be great for as many families as possible to enter MPS into the competition. Details can be found at https://news.stjohnvic.com.au/deserving-school/