Principal's Page 

From Christian's desk....

Playground Pals!

Over the course of the year, Julie and I have shared the Playground Pals program, whereby some trained Senior School students support safe play for those who would feel more comfortable playing in a more structured environment. 

This week I took a quick snap of the group.

If you believe your child would benefit from structured play, be it oversized Connect Four, Noughts and Crosses, sand play or simply getting lost in a world of imagination, please let your classroom teacher know.

Staffing Updates – Maternity Leave Replacements

Over the course of the year I have shared the wonderful news that various staff are expecting new additions to their families. As a result of their respective departures there are a number of staffing changes:

• Felicity Puckey’s Year 4 class will be taken by Joshua Cram when Felicity breaks for Maternity Leave from September 1st.  The Croydon Hills community know Josh well as a Senior School Teacher for 2021 and 2022, prior to heading interstate for the first half of this year with wife Jorja - who is also expecting!
• Chelsea Blaha’s Year 2 class will be taken by Tania Chirnside when Chelsea breaks for Maternity Leave after the Melbourne Cup weekend.  Again, Tania is well-known to our school, having taught here since 2017.   This year Tania has enjoyed a year of travel and has been a regular Casual Relief Teacher.  Welcome back (officially) Tania!
• Katherine Tapscott’s part-time replacement will be covered one day a week by current teaching partner Vanessa Urmston. Current Year 2 teacher Jacinta Kowalski will add another day of work to her part-time schedule and teach Thursdays in JUT.
• Jacinta Mackenzie’s role of Prep Learning Specialist will be taken by Laura Kitching, our current Special Subject teachers’ Learning Specialist, when Jacinta breaks for Maternity Leave in Term 4.
• Laura Kitching’s role leading the Specialist Subject teaching team will be taken by new Learning Specialist Jordan Tate.
• Amy Prior’s role of Assistant Principal (Teaching & Learning) will be taken by Bree Jennings for the last few weeks of Term 4 and into 2023. 
• Bree Jennings will be replaced by current Year 4 Learning Enhancement teacher, Rebecca Brown for the remainder of this year. 
• Amana Temple’s Performing Arts replacement for Tuesday and Thursday in Term 4 is yet to be determined.

Staffing Updates – Promotions and 2023 Staffing

As read above, congratulations to Bree Jennings (Assistant Principal – Teaching & Learning) and Jordan Tate (Learning Specialist) on their respective promotions.  In addition to those two promotions, current Learning Specialists Shane Holloway and Jacinta Mackenzie yesterday received tenure in their roles.  Congratulations!

Relative to the school’s staffing profile for 2023, last night I reported to the School Council that I expect very little staffing change in 2023 – unless, of course, we have more pregnancies!

Whilst the school has not allocated teachers and Education Support Staff to classes, our employment phase of retaining our current teachers is near complete which is great for staff stability.

Christian Holdsworth  -  Principal