Principal's Report

Term Four

Dear Families,

I've made a late start to the term having been on Long Service Leave and it has been wonderful to re-engage with the student learning and community activities. We have a busy term ahead with many activities such as: Confirmation, P-2 Swimming, Year 2 Camp, Life Ed Van, Reports, Father/Child Camp, Carols, Year 6 Graduation, Soirees and much more. Our Inquiry Focus will be Change and you will get more information from the Year level and Specialist Overviews to be sent home next week.

Over the last three years I have often spoken of the importance of parental involvement in our school. I strongly believe that parental involvement is one of the most critical elements in a school providing a safe and productive learning environment for the students. Parents/guardians can directly help the school through: helping in classrooms; raising funds; organising social events; help in classes; being Parent Reps; participating in the Dad's Association (DOGs); the School Education Board and associate committees; the prioritisation and attendance at school events.

Parental/guardian involvement is one way that you show your children that you value: them, their learning and their school.

I was reading an article about Iceland recently and how they worked on issues with their teenagers. Key strategies were:

• the encouragement of parents spending time with their children and,
• the involvement in after school hobbies and sports.

Spending quality time with our children is critically important.

Today, Iceland tops the European table for the cleanest-living teens. 

Funding for 2019

Over previous newsletters I have written about the importance of families communicating clearly and promptly if they are planning on leaving our school. We are funded per student in the school and one change in the student population can make a significant financial difference to the funding we receive. We have already made a commitment to the programs and staff we are going to implement in 2019 based on projections of student population. Our Policy states that families are to provide at least 10 weeks notice prior to leaving the school so if you have not done so, please contact the office asap. We now have a waiting list in a number of year levels and knowledge of families leaving provides opportunities for others to join our wonderful school.

The letter attached below has been emailed to families today. 

World Teacher's Day

What a wonderful celebration of our teachers and staff at Galilee that we had on Wednesday for World Teachers’ Day.  The morning began with our students writing heartfelt comments about what our teachers do for them, then each teacher was presented with their medals.  A delicious morning tea was put on for the teachers and then later at assembly our staff were presented with achievement awards reflecting on what it is that makes our students smile about each of the staff.  The comments written by the students are a testament to the dedicated and passionate staff we have at Galilee.

A huge thank you to all those who made the celebration so special.  To Mal Orr for asking each of the classes what it is about their teacher that makes them smile;  Emma Keating for the medals and for coordinating the morning tea and to all the class representatives who prepared and brought in the delicious spread.  Finally a big thank you to Eliza G and Alice K in 6C for helping prepare the certificates for the staff and helping with the posters.

From all the staff here at Galilee we would like to give a heart felt thanks to the Parent Reps who brought in and/or setup a morning tea for staff. Staff were excited to also receive a  homemade medallion, certificate, kind words from students and a coffee or hot chocolate from Justin with the coffee van. Thank you to the parents for organising and making these treats for staff and Wendy for booking Justin the coffee man. 

Playground Supervision

A reminder that parents /guardians must actively supervise their child/ren on the playground after school.  Teachers are not on playground duty after school and it is parental responsibility to do so. Last term I sent home communication explaining that for the playground to continue to be used after school, all students had to be supervised by parents/guardians. This week, I have observed a number of pre-school and primary-aged children on the equipment without supervision and the area has continued to be a concern for accidents and incidents. We need greater vigilance with supervision if this area is again to be accessed after school in 2019.

Year 2 Camp

Tonight our Year Two students will be staying overnight in the school as part of our Camp Program. The students are very excited about the new adventure. The camp has been organised by Mr Coaley in collaboration with the Year Two teachers, Miss Burke and Miss Fahy. These three staff, together with Miss Smith will supervise the students. It has been designed to increase independence in a safe and known environment. It will also assist the students in preparing for off-site camps from Years 3-6. We wish them all a wonderful time and thank the staff for their time spent overnight.

2019

• Late last term we employed teaching staff for 2019 for the extra Prep class and to replace Mrs Ford.
• We are exploring the option of having two 40 minutes breaks for the students across the day (Recess and Lunch). Most accidents and incidents with the students occur in the last 15 minutes of lunch time. A shorter lunchtime will increase the safety for our students. Currently we have 30 minutes at Recess and 50 minutes at Lunchtime.
• We are considering implementing additional staff in classrooms in targeted year levels in English & Maths to increase growth of the students.
• There will be slight adjustments to Specialist programming to suit the needs of the students with more information to follow later in the term.
• Classroom teacher placements and roles for 2019 will be sent home in the newsletter in weeks 9 or 10.

Prep Transition Day Two

In 2019 our three Prep teachers will be Holly Evans, Sammy Bamford and Cassandra Smith.

This week all of the students came for another successful transition session. They read the book, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy and completed a fun Art activity.

The current Performing Arts Room will be used for Preps in 2019 ensuring that students will remain in the same area.

Musical

Again I congratulate our students, staff, community and Miss Carnovale for our spectacular musical held last term. We are planning to hold a whole-school musical every two years, which is the practice of most primary schools.

Walk to School Article

The following article was included in the VicHealth Update yesterday. Thanks to Miss Smith and her brother Chris for involving Galilee in this program and to Russell Boyd for passing on the article.

Thousands of Victorian kids kick off Walk to School 2018   

VicHealth’s annual Walk to School program kicked off last week, with hundreds of schools from around Victoria encouraging their students to walk, ride and scoot to school.

The launch was celebrated with several AFL stars dropping in on local schools to help get kids into the spirit. AFLW star Moana Hope visited Galilee Regional Catholic Primary School to help the students decorate their shoes and learn the benefits of getting more active. Yarra Primary School enjoyed a visit from AFL player Nev Jetta and AFLW player Katie Brennan who joined students as they walked, rode and scooted to school.

The start of this year’s Walk to School month coincides with the release of new research that shows kids who travel  independently of their parents are the most active with 80 per cent walking, riding or scooting to school rather than catching a bus or getting a lift with friends.

Walk to School is about supporting parents and carers to encourage their kids to develop independence and be more active on the journey to school.

Schools and families also have the chance to win great prizes for taking part.

Simon Millar

Principal of Galilee