Principal Team's Report

2022 - The end of another year at the Springs!

2022 was another huge, exciting, and busy year of learning at Pakenham Springs.  It was wonderful to see the return of some of our favourite programs and events after the previous two covid-affected years.  We were able to reintroduce our camps, have family helpers on site again, and also run events such as our Trivia Night, Christmas Celebration and a larger-scale Graduation.  There have been challenges along the way, however, we have pulled together as a community to not only survive, but to thrive!

We cannot thank the staff enough for their support and hard work every day as we continue to work toward our school’s mission.  The leadership team, office staff, and all our teachers and Learning Support Assistants are true professionals who work tirelessly to get the best results for our students.

I would like to thank our School Council on behalf of the community.  They have been an amazing group of parents and teachers to work with.  They provide valuable input into the school and work with us to provide great opportunities for the students.  This year Michael Whiting continued on in the School Council President role - he has worked closely with us sharing the views of the parent community and working to achieve the best outcomes for students. 

Most importantly, thank you to the students.  They are the reason we come to work each day and why we work so hard.  They have worked to achieve their goals and we are exceptionally proud of the progress they have made.  We have enjoyed reading reports and hearing all about the academic progress that has been made throughout the year.

Staff Changes 

In 2023, we will welcome Rebecca Edhouse, Kelsey Collett, Emily Bradford, Jessica Holley, and Danielle Sharpe to our PSPS teaching team.  We also extend a warm 'welcome back' to Rhys Davie. 

Each year we farewell staff who head off to a new stage in their lives and careers.  This year we will farewell  Ashlea Retallick, David James, Shorni Dunn, Natalie Higgins, Kelly Utting, Michelle Salt-Watson, Jessica Denver, and Tanjil-Lea Delport.  We thank them for their wonderful contribution to our Professional Learning Community.

2023 Structure

In 2023, we will again have 34 classroom groups. 

Principal

Kerryn Baillie

Assistant Principals

Jane King and Renee Cotterell

Business Manager

Susan Northover

Learning Specialists

Scott McKinnon, Amy Jewell and Anna Dougall

Administration

Robyn Attwood, Megan Humphrys, Tina Seuren and Louise Chamberlain

Prep: 

Brooke Bartlett (Team Leader), Emily Landolfo, Emily Sach, 

Kirsty Manning and Rebecca Edhouse.

LSAs:  

Julia Stevens, Ailsa McDonald, Shogofa Kareemy

Year 1: 

Jessica Bakker (Team Leader), Sally Coote, Jackie Pope/Bree McKenzie, 

Kelsey Collett/Amanda Parnall and Anna Dougall

LSAs:

Michelle Kendall and Mandy Jennings

Year 2: 

Wendy Turner (Team Leader), Leanne Jager, Emma Dowson, 

Alekhya Annapureddy and Emily Bradford.

LSAs:

Belinda Williamson, Ann Doyle, Kayleene Lynne, and Rosalie McKenzie

Year 3: 

Amanda Daalmeyer (Team Leader), Molly O'Donnell, Kate Bucknell, 

Corrin Warn and TBC.

LSAs:

Lesley Belsham and Karen Bredin

Year 4: 

Jen Bradford (Team Leader) , Sarah Godfrey, Jessica Holley, 

Bec Kotzur and Aimee Cain 

LSAs:

Kym Board-Letts and Kellie Cameron

Year 5: 

Bernadette Monckton (Team Leader), Samira Rahimi, Ash Windley, 

Lauren Cameron and TBC.

LSA:

Simone Wade

Year 6: 

Vonnie Cole (Team Leader), Rhys Davie, Taylor Evans

and Amy Jewell/Scott McKinnon.

LSAs:

Tracey Fraser and Melissa Bellu

SPECIALIST STAFF:

Media Arts:

Teague Rook and Esther Priestley

Visual Arts:

Nadean Griffin, Amanda Parnall, Esther Priestley

Physical Education:

Scott Holmes and Danielle Sharpe

LOTE:

Sarah Watson and Carolyn Brown

Year 6 Business Studies / Civics and Citizenship:

Scott McKinnon 

Chaplain:

Tere Harry

Learning Tutors:

Mara Goncalves and Katrina Spooner

Congratulations to our 2023 School Leaders!

It gives me great pleasure to announce our 2023 School Leaders:

School Captain: 

Ebony and Allegra

School Vice-Captain: 

Bushra and Manav

STEM Leaders: 

Joshua and Shann

Media Arts Leaders: 

Benjamin, Abbey, Joyce, Jade and Robera

Arts Leaders: 

Ibrahim, Cooper, Matilda and Izabel

Library Leaders: 

Victoria, Mika, Maddison, Asaad, Scarlett and Brooke

Wellbeing: 

Joice, Lani, Lina, Tithi and Farrah

School Community Ambassadors: 

Georgia, Kyra, James, Skye, Vivaan and Mary

Grounds & Maintenance Leaders: 

Jackson, Roid, Mehtaab, Deron and David

Jamieson House Captains: 

Taya and Sofia

Toomuc House Captains: 

Dane and Dylan

Henry House Captains: 

Tauranga and Anyieth

Edward House Captains: 

Mason and Brielle

School Community Celebration Afternoon

It was great to see so many of our school community members come and celebrate with us last week at our Community Celebration Afternoon.  The Christmas Carols singing was at full volume, the raffle prizes were won and the sausages were sizzling away as the rain held off for just enough time to allow us to have a wonderful afternoon!  Thank you to our staff for helping run this fantastic event. 

Year 6 Graduation

We celebrated another cohort of Year 6 Graduates at the Cardinia Cultural Centre last Thursday.  How far these students have come!  We are so proud of the efforts they've put in, not only for this year but in the previous years of schooling.  We look forward to hearing all about their adventures and successes in the years to come. 

Victorian Government Schools Agreement

You may be aware of the new VGSA that came into place in the middle of this year.  This document sets out the working conditions for all staff in the Department of Education. There were substantial changes in the new VGSA, particularly around teachers being paid for the hours of work they complete in their own time.  One of the impacts of this is that Time in Lieu is now applicable to our events and camps that run beyond a staff member's regular contracted hours.  We are trying hard to balance the additional costs that this brings to the school, with the obvious benefits to students and families of these events. You may find that there are some changes to our events and programs over the coming year as we try to find this balance.  One major change is our camping program, with our Canberra trip now being changed to a 3-day Melbourne City Tour.  More information will be distributed in 2023, but our camp dates are included in the Upcoming Events section of this newsletter for your information and forward planning. 

Uniform Reminder

Have you organised your new style polo shirt for next year?  This is a reminder that we are phasing out our red polo shirts and expect all students to be in the new style shirts from the beginning of 2023. 

We are proud to be members of the Pakenham Springs community, and we want all students to share this pride.  Our uniform is a direct reflection of the perceptions others have about our school.  All families are reminded that we have a compulsory school uniform that must be worn by every student, every day.  On the rare occasion that an item may be in the wash and unable to be worn, a signed and dated note for that single day, will be accepted.  Students have been reminded about this, and may be offered a 'spare' jumper or jacket to borrow for the day should this become an ongoing issue.  In Term 1 & Term 4 2023, all students must be wearing a 'sun smart' hat (broad brim or bucket style) during recess and lunch breaks.  Students without a hat must remain under the designated undercover area during break times. 

We would like to wish all of our staff, students, families, and wider community members a very happy, healthy, and safe Christmas and New Year break.  We look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 30th January 2023.

The PSPS Leadership Team