A warm welcome to Term 4 for new and existing families. I trust that you had a rejuvenating Spring holiday break. We look forward to a busy and productive Term 4.

Reminder: front and back gate times

Last term, in Week 7, I wrote in the newsletter informing families, that the front gate on Burrendong Road would now be closed at 9am from Term 4. This decision also applies to the back gate (Parkhill Avenue) and was made based on the safety of students at LPS. When the gate is opened, even with supervision for prolonged periods, it can put students with safety plans in place, at risk. This decision was made to minimise impact on them.

As school begins at 9am, all students should be at school by the time the music begins at 8.57am. At times though, it may be necessary for students to be late to school, depending on your child’s age, he or she may need assistance to get into the school if they are late.

We appreciate your support in ensuring that our school remains safe for all students.

Parent and carer engagement framework

The department of education has recently released information about the parent and carer engagement framework. More information can be read about the framework here.

Why has the department developed the framework?

The department has developed the framework because research demonstrates that when parents and carers engage in their child’s education at school, it leads to improved outcomes for student achievement and wellbeing.

Engaging with your child’s learning at school, is not about being at the school every day and this is not a realistic expectation, particularly when so many families have both parents and carers working fulltime. You can engage in your child’s learning by doing the following:

Understanding your child’s goals and their aspirations in life.
Reinforcing at home by connecting with what your child is learning through school. This can be supporting them with their homework, or discussing their learning presented on Seesaw, while sitting at the dinner table in the evening.
Working with school staff to support your child to progress with their learning. Simply, this could be just ensuring that the school has your current details, so we can contact you.
Sharing with your child’s teacher or staff, in a respectful way, feedback, compliments or suggestions about your child’s progress.
Responsibly engaging with school materials, newsletters, and notes where appropriate, so you remain informed. · Positively enhancing the school environment by abiding by the School Community Charter.

The school will enhance parent and carer engagement with the following 5 guiding principles:

Give you access:

Provide a safe and welcoming environment
Make it easy for you to participate
Support you to understand the environment

Communicate with you openly:

Keep you informed and make it easy for you to understand
Make it easy for you to communicate with us
Provide a timely response

Partner with you:

Be clear about what you can expect and what is expected from you
Partner with you to achieve realistic and shared goals
Follow up on discussions

Understand your situation:

Hear your voice
Invite your perspective
Show we understand your individual circumstances

Guide your choices:

Clearly explain your choices
Be clear about how decisions are made
Include you in the decision-making process

Additional School Development Day

On 7 October 2022, Premier Dominic Perrottet and the Minster for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell announced an additional School Development Day for teachers in 2022. This was announced to support teachers and schools with the implementation of the new NSW curriculum and syllabus to begin from 2023.

Originally the last day for students was Monday 19 December please note this has now changed and will be Friday 16 December 2022.

Dates future School Development Days can be found here. LPS is an Eastern Division school.

Air conditioning work

The air conditioning install continues this term. It is on track, despite the rain. The finalisation of the cabling is continuing and the work should be finalised in time for the warmer weather. The impact on school operation has been minimal and we are grateful for your patience during this time.

COVID updates

I wrote to you last week, updating you with information aligning the department with community settings. Similarly, to previous advice if students are displaying COVID symptoms or are unwell, they must stay at home and recover. If students and staff test positive to COVID, previously, they were required to stay in isolation for a minimum of 5 days or until they no longer had symptoms after the isolation period. In line with community settings, students and staff now only need to isolate for the period that they have symptoms. If students or staff contract COVID and are symptom free before the 5 days, they are able to return to school or work.

We will continue with our school settings of staggered pick up from 2.40pm for the remainder of the year.

Early Stage 1