From the Principal 

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE

Our 2022 school year commenced last week and as I write this, I reflect on the lovely start we’ve had to the new school year. The holiday break was certainly not what we expected when we finished school last year. Plans changed at the last moment, and we had to adapt. I was able to enjoy catching up with friends and family and also needed to isolate for a week. That week gave me the opportunity to do some of the small jobs that always need to be done at home, so I’m feeling more organised now.  I do hope you all had a little time with those dear to you, over the break and that the start of the school year has been a positive one for you all.

When we chat to students, they share lovely holiday stories and they are also looking forward to the new school year, seeing their friends and the routines associated with school. I would like to thank you, the parents and carers, for your efforts in preparing your children for the start of this school year. We have never had a start quite like this and as we have learnt over the past few years we cannot predict the future, we simply do the best we can with what we have. 

Thank you for collecting your RATs and administering them. We hope that by doing this small test it will give us some stability and help to reduce covid numbers. Please remember that if your child tests positive, you need to notify us and register the positive result on https://dhvicgovau.powerappsportals.com/rapid-antigen-test/

Throughout 2022, I hope we will share many opportunities as a community to watch our students shine in a variety of ways.

With the virus continuing to be part of our daily lives, we are still very much living in uncertain times and like 2021, may need to be flexible and resilient over the months ahead. We will keep families informed when we receive any updates from the Department of Education, DET, and keep our lines of communication with our community open. I know we will work together to ensure we care for one another and put our students’ needs first and foremost. Thank you to those families that have taken the opportunity to vaccinate their children over the Summer. I encourage you to consider this if you have not yet done so. There are many appointments available locally for school age children.

This year, we again welcome new families to Carnegie across all year levels, as well as our new preps. I am sure the whole community joins me in welcoming you all to our school. I know you will all quickly become part of our CPS community.

We welcome new staff to Carnegie Primary School this year. Sarah Cochrane is teaching in our Year 2 team, Kylie Chadwick has joined our Year 3 team and Matthew Lello is teaching in the Year 4 team. Paul Hodges is well known to our community and will be part of the PE team in 2022. Dimi Skoutas will support the year 5 team during term 1. Helen Kennedy joins our Education Support team and will work primarily in year 4. We also warmly welcome back from leave, Jessica Langley to the Year 1 team. You will find a full overview of our staff a little later in this newsletter.

CONGRATUALTIONS

During the holidays the CPS family increased by 2! 

Peta Bourke and her partner Dan welcomed little Alfred before the New Year.

Several weeks ago, Rebecca Batten and Joel Pollard welcomed a young son named Ziggy Pollard. 

Both sets of parents are excited and happy to share this news with our community.

We wish both families lots of joy and laughter coupled with good health.

HOUSE SWIMMING CARNIVAL

Our House Swimming Carnival for our year 3 – 6 students will take place tomorrow at GESAC. We thank Mr Pollard and Mr Hodges for their organisation of this major event. All the best to all competitors, we hope all students take the opportunity to participate in one or more events at their level. May the best house win!