Principal's Message

Sophie Coote Baby Announcement

A message from Sophie Coote: 

I am thrilled to share with you that I am expecting my first child in early May 2022. My partner Sam and I are very excited about the arrival of our little one. We are already preparing Maverick, our much-loved border collie, that he will soon have to share our attention!

Whilst I will continue with some teaching duties at SMPS in Term 1 of 2022, I will be taking a step back from my usual Class Teacher and Team Leader role. I am looking forward to a different and exciting chapter. 

Last Day of School Timings and Assembly

School will begin early on the last day of the year. It will also finish early. Here are the timings so you can prepare:

• 8:30am - School Begins
• 1:00pm - School Finishes

We will have a recess from 10:30am-11:00am to give the kids a break. They can bring a snack, but lunch is not required as they will go home at 1:00pm. This early finish allows staff to pack up, tidy up, move rooms and leave the spaces ready for the summer clean by the cleaners. We thank School Council for their support with these times as it allows staff to not have to stay until late at night packing up. Thanks to families as well for making this effort.

If the weather forecast is kind, we plan on having an outdoor last assembly where students will sit on the grass on the forecourt for our final gathering. Parents will be welcome to come into the yard along as long as they mask up and try to space themselves out around the perimeter. This assembly should start between 11:30am-12:00pm if you want to wander in. You are welcome to come along and your child will be dismissed directly from the forecourt in an organised manner. Please listen carefully to the instructions on the day as we will do the dismissal slowly to ensure safety for all.

Build in some failure to this plan as, if the weather is not suitable, we will change the plan to suit. If we have our assembly indoors, you will not be able to attend and we ask that you stay outside the fence perimeter if this is the case. We will try to let you know via Compass the day before of the plan for Friday.

Note that Out of Hours School Care can be booked by parents from 1:00pm onwards if this early pick up is not possible. Staff will cease supervise from 1:15pm when they have other commitments (last staff meeting) so please do not be late.

Food - So Sorry, Please Don't Send This Year

We have had many parents generously offering to provide food for both staff and students. Normally, we would welcome generosity and kindness with open arms. Due to the COVID pandemic, government guidelines advise against food sharing and we must respectfully decline offers of food. We know this is sad as food is a way of acknowledging thanks. We have to put student and staff safety over the offering this year.

If you want to write a simple card - we will be most grateful. Any class parties will mean you only bring food for your own child (no sharing).

New Subject 2022 - Visual Arts

Mr Cam is leaving us for a new adventure with his promotion to Learning Specialist at Apollo Bay. Cam has been an outstanding STEAM teacher.

For 2022, we have decided to trial having Visual Arts as a specialist subject. This means we will put STEAM in recess and cover off on Science inside our general curriculum. We have only limited funding and cannot afford to offer STEAM and Visual Arts at the same time in the same space. We will reflect how we go with Visual Arts in 2022 and decide on our future specialist directions after that time. Miss Phoebe, who is new to our school, will be our enthusiastic Visual Arts teacher!

Newsletter Next Saturday

There will be a very short Family iNewsletter next Saturday wishing all a happy holiday and publishing some key data from 2021 which will be of interest to our families.