Carnegie Primary Newsletter

From the Principal 

REFLECTING ON THE LAST FEW WEEKS AT CPS

Even in our distance world there is still much to be grateful of as part of the CPS community. Some particular shout outs from the last few weeks are:- 

  • Book Week – Thank you to Brooke Schiano and Maddie Kelly for leading this Book Week extravaganza. Their creativity to engage with us all online was wonderful. Special thanks to Ms Dawe and Mrs Slattery for all their book week efforts behind the scenes at school.  We were fortunate to purchase many of the nominated books prior to lockdown and these have been wonderful resources for lessons this term. The fantastic range of book week activities that were offered were extremely well received by so many of you. Thank you to you at home for supporting this in the ways you did.
  • Choice Activities – Throughout Home Learning, wellbeing has remained a priority and over recent weeks optional activities such as cooking, dance, craft etc have been offered across the school. These are well received by those who choose to join in.
  • Our JSC Photography Competition - Thank you to Ms Buczko and our JSC for organising the CPS Photography Competition for all year levels and our PFA for generously donating the gift card for each year level. I do look forward to seeing the winners. Thank you to all who participated. The winning photos can be seen later in this newsletter.
  • Our Year 6 students – The efforts of our Yr 6 students to engage with our community in multiple ways is much appreciated. Our school leaders keenly work with Mrs Bentata-Grimm to plan and lead our Monday morning assemblies. Our Yr 6 leaders are also sharing a little more about themselves through writing their leader profiles and many Yr 6 students have connected with our younger students by attending class meetings and leading some short sessions.
  • Our PFA BBQ Rub recipe – Our dedicated PFA were prepared for our annual Fathers’ Day stall, but this obviously couldn’t go ahead. The many gifts will be stored safely until they can be shared with our community. I do hope some of you enjoyed making the delicious BBQ rub recipe and that it complements many BBQs throughout the coming weeks.

 

Thank you for your efforts throughout what has been again a term like no other. Together, we have much to be proud of, navigating challenging times always supporting one another. We will keep families informed, in a timely manner, in relation to arrangements for term 4. It is far too early to know what guidelines schools will be asked to follow. 

 

The last day of term 3 is Friday, 18th September with school finishing at 2:30pm. Term 4 commences on Monday, 4th October. I wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday, enjoying some lovely spring weather and hopefully a few more freedoms before too long. Stay well, stay safe ☺

ENROLMENTS FOR 2022

We are reminding families that enrolments for prep students commencing in 2022 are now being finalised. Parents who are aware of friends, neighbours or relatives who have a child ready to start school in 2022, please let them know that enrolments are being completed. We are beginning to plan our transition program, even if it has to operate quite differently next term. I am available to answer any questions and help with any information that may be needed, please email: carnegie.ps@education.vic.gov.au

 

UPDATING OUR SCHOOL POLICIES 

We have continued to update a number of our school policies in line with DET guidelines, as part of our term 4 school review. All of these will shortly be updated on our school website with paper copies available with notice, upon request from our office. 

Ms Harley, our Wellbeing leader has given significant time has been given to ensure all documentation associated with Child Safety is relevant to our school to ensure the safety of our students. 

There are some minor changes to some of our first aid forms and the newer version of these forms will be used as we ask parents to update information over the coming months. 

WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECKS

I realise that our disruption to our normal school life has meant that all schools haven’t been in a position to offer the usual opportunities for parental involvement. We do look forward to the day when schools can open up and activities offered can be broadened. 

 I remind parents/carers that Child Safety Guidelines require parents/careers who wish to attend an excursion and offer to lead the supervision of a group of students eg visiting the zoo, museum etc to provide the school with a Volunteer Working With Children’s Check. Obviously, the primary duty of care always falls to our teachers but on such occasions, parents may be the primary carer for a period of time at an excursion. 

These are free and relatively easy to obtain on line at www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au. 

Accurate records are maintained here at CPS but if you do have an expired check or may wish to volunteer when circumstances allow, please follow up as necessary. Even in lockdown copies of WWCC can be emailed to school or dropped into the mailbox at our office door 

Such checks aren’t required for parents who attend sessions such as Book bags, Parent Helpers program as activities such as this are exempt under the guidelines. If you have any question or need assistance, please see Linda or Karen.