Principal's Patch

Dear Parents and Carers 

Welcome back! 

Last Monday when the children arrived back for the first official day of school it was wonderful to witness the smiling faces and the joy of our PBSS students being back at school with their friends and back to normality! It filled our educational souls with purpose as the first two weeks without the students certainly felt a very strange time. 

A special PBSS warm welcome to our new prep students and new families to the school. The prep students have settled in so well and know their way around the school already! On the second day of school, I visited the Prep classrooms with our Assistant Regional Director, Mr Darren Scott, and he was in awe of the children who were happily completing literacy activities complete with beads, playdough, whiteboards, iPads and other fun resources. I eagerly pointed out to him that's how our awesome PBSS students are ... settled, engaged, happy and eager young learners (… which he already knew about PBSS students!). 

Over the past two weeks, the students across the school have been nothing short of exemplary with their behaviour in and out of the classroom. PBSS is well and truly back in action with students learning in our safe, supportive, positive school culture. 

Parents on site 

Whilst the current restrictions have once again placed restraints on all of us developing the parent/teacher/school relationships that we crave and desire in our school environment, can I please pass on a sincere thank you to all the year 2-6 parents who fully supported us and followed what was asked of you about remaining off the school site. We have appreciated the opportunity to all remain well so that the teaching and learning is not interrupted by staff and student absences. Since the resumption of school, we have been fortunate to only have had only a few staff members each week and only a handful of students who have been directly affected by Covid. Everything we are all doing is obviously being effective so far, so again thank you as we continue to work together through this time. This will continue until the 4th March when the Education Department will advise us of the next steps. 

Term 1 Parent Teacher Interviews

We have Plan A and Plan B ready to action for later in the term for our Term 1 Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews. The final option will be communicated asap once we are aware of any restrictions that may be in place at that time (approx. Week 9 – Tuesday 22nd March). If you wish to speak to your child’s class teacher prior to this, please Dojo them to organise a phone call that will be arranged for a mutually suitable time until such time we are permitted to do face-to-face meetings.

Staffing and Enrolment Numbers 

We have commenced the year with 775 children and 33 classes. This enrolment number is slightly less than anticipated and therefore we have a few small classes scattered across the school which would normally have to be restructured into composite classes in years one and two and again in years five and six. However, as every act and decision we make is for the children in our care, I have made the decision to use Investing For Success money to eliminate this need, and to leave classes as they currently are for the remainder of 2022. 

We also have 16 new staff! This brings the total teaching staff to 52. Additional to this are the teacher aides and other ancillary staff making a total of approximately 85 staff! 

Psychologists in Schools 

I would like to make a special mention to a new staff member, Mr Warren Artz. This year the education department have prioritised a highly requested need for schools, that is, the services of a psychologist. Warren has been appointed as the psychologist servicing PBSS on a part time basis of two days a week. Only 10 schools across our region were successful in attracting a psychologist from the start of the new program! 

Warren will work alongside our Guidance Officer, Mrs Natalie Morris, and be part of our support and wellbeing committee (SAW). Prioritisation for his services will be through the usual SAW process which begins with a referral through the class teacher. His role is to work with students presenting with mild to moderate mental health that affects the attendance, engagement and retention of the student in education and requires specialised therapeutic intervention to support their wellbeing. 

Phone's and watches 

It appears many of our students received phones, smart watches and Vteck gaming devices for Christmas! 

1. Vteck devices are not permitted at school.
2. All phones and smart watches must be handed in at the office each day. *A smart watch is any watch that can link to a phone for the purpose of communication i.e. can make/receive phone calls or text messages. These must be handed into the office, even if they are switched onto parent/silent mode. 

If students do not hand in their phone/smart watch at the office each day, these devices will be held at the office for parent collection.

School costs and spelling books

School costs of $200 per child are now due! We appreciate prompt payment of these costs so that laptops/computers, iPads, spelling text books, Mathletics & Literacy Planet subscription and access, and other planned programs can be resourced. Please note that your child will not receive their spelling textbook until payment is received. Mathletics & Literacy Planet access will be removed at the end of  February for non-payment.

As parents are currently unable to access the school site to pay though the Payment Window, it would be most appreciated if payment could be through internet banking. 

BSB:  064 404

Account Number:  00090143

Account Name: Palm Beach General Account

Payment description: Child’s surname, first name & 2022-year level (e.g. SMITHJohnYr1)

THANK YOU to the vast majority of families who have already paid! 

Learning Centre Update

Presently, the new learning centre is on track for a mid-April completion, although handover will be in two parts due to the staggered approvals of the original build and the added approval of full completion after the Education Minister’s visit last year. As this project is quite complex with additional facilities, the completion of some of these such as the new sports/grounds shed and adjacent carpark on Brook Ave might be slightly longer. When completed Years 4-6 and Prep P will move into the building and the temporary buildings will be removed from the school site.