Rollins Newsletter

From the Principal

Welcome Back

It’s great to see everyone back at school and ready for another very busy and exciting term.

We would like to welcome Hayley Baxter to Rollins. Hayley will be teaching in Prep JK for the remainder of this year- I am sure the Preps will have many enjoyable experiences during this time. Welcome Hayley to our Rollins Team.

Term 3 is a busy term including events such as

  • Student Led Conferences (Wednesday 14th August)
  • Geelong Music Festival (Thursday 15th August)
  • Rollin’s School Concert (Thursday 5th September)

Parent Opinion Survey

This week a number of families will have received information regarding a Parent Opinion Survey. This is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education to a randomly selected sample of families. We encourage those families who were selected to complete this electronic survey as it will provide valuable information for us to direct future school planning. If you have any problems accessing the survey please contact Sandy in the office and she will assist you. Many thanks.

Resilient Mindset (Andrew Fuller/John Hendry)

Research has revealed a cluster of factors that together create a “resilient mindset”.

Indicators of a Resilient Mindset In Students

  • Has a go and persists
  • Gets stressed but resolves it through support
  • Sees mistakes as necessary to learning
  • Doesn’t use blame or shame
  • Energy is not focused on escaping
  • Sleeps well
  • Resilience is song enough to overcome challenges and upsets-it is present in the absence of social approval
  • Can make independent decisions and can seek the input of others when useful
  • Seeks feedback in order to improve

Life can be very difficult and challenging for all of us at times. Developing the ability to be resilient in the face of obstacles and tough times enables us to cope better and move forward with a degree of positivity. I believe developing a resilient mindset can really assist our students as they grow and develop and, as such, is a skill that is highly encouraged at Rollins.

Rollins has a number of copies of a book called- 9 Ways to a Resilient Child by Dr Justin Coulson. I highly recommend this book to parents and staff. Please see Sandy in the office to borrow a copy.

Building Works

Over the school holidays we had a number of Melbourne representatives attending our school to conduct various survey works concerning our new building. It appears that the grant we have been given of 3.4 million has been allocated to the redevelopment of the main wing (Wing A). It is hoped that once this is complete we will reapply for a new grant to refurbish Wing B. As a planning committee we will be meeting with the Redevelopment Team and DET representatives during the next two weeks to discuss our “Wish List”!!- Let’s see how far the money will go!

Tree Removal

Unfortunately the large tree down near the oval was removed during the recent holiday period. Our last tree audit inspection only gave this tree a life span of two more years due to internal rotting. It was decided that it would be best to remove it now before any major building works commence later this year. It looks extremely bare but we will replace it with a garden area as soon as practical.

Ga Ga Pit

Our Ga Ga Pit is finally complete and looks fantastic. The synthetic turf was laid earlier this week so let the Games begin! 

Student Led Conferences

Wednesday 14th August has been approved by school council as our Student Led Conference Day. The day will operate in a similar way to Parent/ Teacher interviews in past years, but will be a conference and discussion between the student, teacher and the parent. Please note that students are only required to be at school during their interview time.

These Student Led Conference will be timetabled for 15 minutes, beginning at 11am and finishing at 7pm. This should give all parents an opportunity to attend. We highly value this activity as it provides an excellent opportunity for our students to showcase their learning, increase their confidence when presenting to an audience and is in line with one of our main school goals of increasing student voice. In 2018 we achieved a 100% attendance rate- we will be aiming to maintain this percentage in 2019.If you are unable to attend on this day please contact your child’s teacher to arrange an alternative time to discuss your child’s progress.

Bookings will be available via our Compass App early next week - Stay tuned for details!

Principal's Pondering 

A Growth Mindset message...

Research has explained a growth mindset as ‘a willingness to confront challenges, viewing failure as a springboard for growth, and a passion for learning. Not surprisingly, this type of mindset is strongly linked to greater happiness and achievement in life.’ Children who are happy, comfortable, safe and confident have a greater outcome with learning and socialising. 

Here’s a child friendly video as made by one of our communication apps, Class Dojo, that explains it brilliantly. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zrtHt3bBmQ