Grove Gazette

From the Principal 

Scott McCumber

Dear Families,

Curriculum Day: What a day staff had engaging with John Hendry OAM. John led staff through copious amounts of evidence based research around relationships and the 5 most important elements of strong relationships…

  1. Trust
  2. Integrity
  3. Compassion
  4. Forgiveness
  5. Hope 

We learnt how many of our systems in society are designed to pit 2 parties against each other and are not intentionally designed to bring people together and repair relationships when someone is harmed or feel harmed. 

 

I have attended many professional learning sessions in over 20 years in education but I have never been so engaged for the full day and could listen to John for a lot longer. We will be working with John more in 2022 and very soon, parents will have the opportunity to learn with and from John in a parent session most likely in term 2. 

 

Special thanks to Andy McNeilly for organising this experience for staff and the work we have done will only be enhanced from this day. 

 

Professional learning: It was a big week of learning for many staff with some of our team leaders attending training in Professional Learning Communities where they learn to lead an intense cycle of learning improvement within their teams. We also had our coaches and a few other staff attend Growth Coaching training to enhance their coaching of other staff. We are blessed to have so many high calibre staff and our coaches lead by example. Each Wednesday and Thursday Ann and Kerryn work with teachers on personal goals to improve their teaching. They also coordinate staff to observe other teachers to enhance their own practice. 

 

Covid: While we have been fortunate to not have a major outbreak so far, I am aware of a number of schools who are being impacted as staff are either household contacts or positive cases and are unable to attend school. We have been fortunate so far! Although mentioned before, please talk to your children about the possibility of their regular teacher not being at school for a week should they contract or be a household hold contact. 

 

School Council: We met for the first time in 2022 last night and welcomed Louise Daniels on to Council as a Community Member. We have managed to retain the same councillors as in 2021 for which I am very grateful as so much great work is in progress. As part of council, we have many sub committees that need support and volunteers to drive improvement and help achieve various goals. If you are keen to be on a committee (but not council) we’d love to hear from you. Sub Committees include

  • Facilities (Buildings and Grounds)
  • Finance
  • Fundraising 
  • Sustainability  
  • Inclusion

 

Parents & Friends: What a great turn out last week to our P&F meeting. I’d like to thank and acknowledge Nicola Hyde who has led and supported this group, the school - and I during Covid - not an easy task!!! On behalf of the community, thanks Nicola. We appreciate your dedication and drive. I’d also like to thanks and welcome Georgia Fiske to the President role and I look forward to helping out where I can and seeing what our new committee can keep adding to our school. 

 

Asthma & Anaphylaxis plans: We take these plans very seriously and want to be well prepared in the event your child needs us to support them. Last week a reminder went out to ensure your child’s plan is up to date. Please assist us by keeping plans and medications up to date with our admin team so that we can intervene as per the plan IF we have to. 

 

Bike riders: It is great to see so many bikes at school and families making the most of the great weather. However, I have been receiving a number of reports that some of our students are not riding safely once they leave the school grounds. Parents, please talk to your children about this issue so we avoid a serious accident. 

 

Handy Man: Mick (Or SchMick as we call him) Malecki and Mr Kev continue to keep our school looking good and safe! Mick is super keen to add value to our school and has some great ideas about hedging certain areas to create even better visual aesthetics around the school. If you are keen to contribute to his idea, donate a plant (Photinia Robustus - about $6 as a little plant) Mick will plant and nurse them into a hedge between the oval and the soccer pitch. Feel free to drop a plant or two into the office for Mick. 

 

SSG’s: Student Support Group meetings are an integral part of school for some students and families who may require extra support in a variety of areas. James Field, Andy McNeilly and Kristy Hannan-Cuthbertson conduct and chair these meetings around this time of the term. We have had to reschedule some meetings due to household contacts or positive cases but I’m sure once rescheduled, the partnership will continue to be built on with student learning at the core. 

 

High Abilities Program: A few years ago, DET introduced a course for students who have demonstrated high ability in the curriculum based on NAPLAN data. Caroline Lawrence currently leads this program and works intensively with students in Year 6 this year. A great opportunity to stretch their learning and apply their knowledge. 

 

Support: Across our school we have a number of support mechanisms in place to help class teachers and students. In Year 6 this year, Caroline Lawrence spends a day (sometimes 2 half days) in Year 6 to add support to the other three teachers in literacy and/or numeracy and as mentioned, Caroline also leads the Year 6 High Ability program. Later this year, our Tutors (Donna Heffernan and Bec Bradbury) will work with students eligible for some extra support too. This tutor learning initiative was extended from 2021 and Bec and Donna use student data and teacher input, to strategically plan where their support will be best used throughout the year. Donna also spends the equivalent of 2 days per week with Year 1’s this year to explicitly enhance literacy and numeracy development of this cohort to support the 3 year 1 classes. 

 

We also have a number of Education Support (or ES) personnel that work with classes, small groups or individuals. We can’t do our jobs without them and value the work they do to help students access the curriculum. Sometimes other opportunities arise, and Sarah Wallis has landed a position at Leopold Primary with more hours and in a role she is extremely passionate and knowledgeable in. We thank Sarah for all her work at OGPS and wish her all the best as she finishes today and begins at Leopold tomorrow. 

 

Enjoy the rest of this short week.

Scott McCumber

Principal