Dear Parents & Carers,

This has been a challenging term for many with illness, but we have made it through and I feel that there have been many skills that have been learnt by all of us because it has been so challenging. Children have learnt to adapt, to be flexible; to get to know other people and routines and to look to other people rather than who they are used to, for help and assistance. All of these skills are good to learn but often only happen during times of adversity. We can always find some positive outcomes.

Traffic

Traffic continues to be a problem. As I have mentioned previously, it is each parent’s responsibility to follow the rules and be accountable. It is disappointing when parents are not being honest about their actions and/or not making the effort to change their behaviour. All of our reminders are to help keep our children safe and to show them how to be a good citizen. We can’t have those expectations of the children when we do not hold ourselves to account.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

A number of children were celebrated and congratulated for their work during the Premier Reading challenge at assembly this week. However, all children who have participated will receive a certificate for their work.

5/6 BYOD

We are going to be running the Bring Your Own Device program for all students in Years 5,6,7 and 8 next year. We are running an information night on Webex (virtually) on Thursday the 6th of October, in the first week of school and recommend that you attend if you have a child in Years 5 or 6. We will be able to answer many of your questions then. Keep an eye out on Compass for the link.

R U OK DAY?

It was fantastic to see the students participate in R U Ok? Day last week. It is a practice that we would like to encourage everyone to continue doing throughout the holidays and next term. Let’s build an expectation that we check in with each other and truly listen to the answer given. We have the opportunity as a community to look after each other and model that kindness and understanding to our children.

Fundraising for Multi-Court Cover (Giraffe Shed)

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting our fundraising drive with cookie dough to help raise money so we can build a cover over our multi-courts. This will provide us with somewhere to run our PE classes and assemblies as our school grows. It is essential to our facilities and the quicker we can raise the funds, the quicker we can start the process of building.

School Council

I just wanted to do a big shout out to our school council who volunteers their time to support the school, offer ideas and keep us accountable. I’d like to thank them for their time and effort.

Craig Sked
Julia Walters
Yana Jayasinghe
Kenneth Wright
Ibrahim Mohamed
Shipra Sharma
Tarun Grover
Rajeev Puri
Rashmi Ranatunga
Rahul Chaudhary
Felicity lee
Sudeep Singh
Malinda Vaughan
Jess De Bono
Samantha McDonald

Do the children need to be occupied/ entertained all holidays?

This is a question that I get asked a lot.

Parents worry about whether they have enough to occupy the children throughout the holidays. I would question whether it is even a good idea to entertain the children all holidays.

Plan some activities to do together but also give the children space and time to get a little bored and find ways to occupy themselves without technology. This too is a valuable skill. It helps them practice patience and perseverance which are very valuable life-long skills. Building focus and allowing children to problem-solve and entertain themselves will help them further develop their own social skills.

Also entertaining them should not have to cost money. Picnics and visits to the park are always happy distractions during the day. There are many free opportunities offered by the Wyndham Council- please keep an eye out for those. Playdates, cooking and craft are also other ways to entertain without it having a huge price tag.

I wish you all a fabulous and safe holiday. Enjoy the time together and hopefully we will have more sun. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers and staff for their hard work this term and wish them a safe and happy holiday as well.

Take care and see you all on the 3rd of October.

Tami-Jo

Acknowledgement of Country