From the Principal 

PRINCIPALS' CONFERENCE

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, Shirley Krongold, Chellee Plumb and I will be attending the Inner South Region 2016 Leadership Conference.   This conference involves Department of Education and Training leaders, principals and assistant principals in the networks of Beachside, Port Phillip, Stonnington and Glen Eira. The conference theme is ‘Reimagining Education’, and we will hear and learn from an eclectic range of keynote speakers who are at the forefront of creating a reimaged education.  They include Hugh Van Cuylenburg (The Resilience Project), Professor Pankaj Sah  (Deputy Director –Research at the Queensland Brain Institute), Tracey Ezard, Nikki Deighton and Chris Betcher.  Sue Riley will be acting principal for these three days.

PARENT TEACHER DISCUSSIONS

Parent teacher discussions will be held on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 March.   As many of you will have heard at our workshop evenings, each child’s progress is closely assessed in a range of ways and documented by teachers to ensure  teaching matches each child’s needs.  If your child’s individual needs are exceptional, an individual learning plan will be developed and discussed at the parent teacher meeting. Hard copies of times and details of the interviews will be sent home this week.

SCHOOL COUNCIL 2016

The newly elected school council for 2016 met last night to co-opt additional members (a community member and two parent members).  Liz Rowell was co-opted as a community member for two years, Steven Knowles was co-opted to fill the two year parent member vacancy and Justine Piper was co-opted to fill the one year casual parent member vacancy. The school council then met to elect office bearers.   

Parent members:  Serren Schindler, Phil Gardiner, Ravi Eranti, Sarah Renton, Stephen Lucas, Sean Tame, Steven Knowles, Justine Piper

Community members: Mia Synman, Liz Rowell

DET members: Heather Hill, Shirley Krongold, Gillian Large, Sue Riley, Nerida Burns

The new council elected office bearers for 2016 as follows:

President:  Serren Schindler                                            

Vice President:  Phil Gardiner

Convenors of Sub-Committees:

Education/Communication:  Phil Gardiner

Facilities:  Shirley Krongold

Finance:  Ravi Eranti                 

Fundraising/Social:  Stephen Lucas

Out of School Hours Care:  Gillian Large

Canteen/Uniform:  Nerida Burns

We encourage anyone who wishes to be involved with any of the sub-committees to please contact the committee’s convenor, the president or me.  We welcome all involvement by parents and staff.

The new school council is meeting tonight to undertake training for school councillors on ‘Improving School Governance’. This training provides all members with an overview of the legislative framework within which school councils operate, an understanding of school council’s work, and roles and responsibilities within the council.  The next full meeting of the new school council will be on 18 April 2016 at 7.30 pm.

SAFE PARKING

Parents are requested to adhere to parking signs and general rules when parking near the school.  There are designated drop off zones, and limited time zones close to the school, and unlimited parking further away.  Please be aware that our neighbours require access to their properties at any time.  We have had concerns raised by a neighbour who has been unable to access their driveway due to cars parked over it.  We ask your cooperation in ensuring safe and legal parking practices.

Heather Hill