Principal's Report 

Dear Parents,

Last week, grades 5A and 6A had the opportunity to take part in a pilot program of the Department where Rapid Antigen Tests were provided to families to have students return to school after 7 days instead of 14. Thank you very much to the parents of students who took part.  This provided us with the information we needed to implement the pilot, and also ensured students returned to school much quicker. It was a very successful pilot which helped the Department settle on the changes announced yesterday. 

In addition, the Department announced that face masks will still be required by staff, visitors and Grade 3 to 6 students in an indoor space within a primary school. The wearing of masks remains recommended for Prep to Grade 2 students and in circumstances where physical distancing cannot be maintained.

Separately from all things COVID related, it was absolutely wonderful to see our 2022 prep students have the first of four transition sessions last week.  Most of the 35 preps currently enrolled for next year participated in one hour of 'getting to know school' activities whilst we get to know them. The next is tomorrow morning and we look forward to seeing them in their 'Mackellar 2022 Prep' shirt which was gifted to them last week. A big thank you to the teachers for organising and assisting with this last week, and over the coming weeks.

Well, the new playground is a hit to say the least!  It has taken a while due to the rain, but now all students have had the chance to be on our new playground and they are certainly making good use of it. A very big thank you to the grade 6 leaders who worked with the playground companies to select the best design.  Their choice was certainly right on the money and will provide hours of fun for students for many years to come. 

At present, our teachers are preparing end of year reports for students.  As per Departmental advice, these reports are designed to provide information to parents based on the challenging year that we have had. They will provide details as to what has been covered by the school, and what achievements your child has made, however they are somewhat different in comparison to our standard report.  Next year, fingers crossed, we can resume our usual reporting process, and discussions have already taken place at school council regarding the best format to provide parents the information they require, in a user-friendly fashion. Further information regarding this will be provided to parents in the new year. 

Also in the planning is our end of year graduation ceremony for our departing grade 6 students. This ceremony will meet all COVID requirements, and will be a very inclusive and reflective for all.  Further details for this event will be sent to grade 6 families closer to the event. 

Finally, and in very exciting news, next year we will be adding to our current specialist program by offering both visual arts and performing arts.  An audit undertaken earlier this year identified 'The Arts' as an area for improvement across the school. That being so, we have worked with the staff over many months, and school council more recently, to finalise plans. So from next year all students will take part in Visual Art and Performing Art for one semester each, Food Technology and Italian for one semester each, and Physical Education all year long. 

This enhancement of our specialist program is in addition to classroom teachers involving students in Digital Technologies in The Hive, and Sport Education for each grade from prep to grade 6.  All in all, 2022 is shaping up to be a very exciting year for students. 

Regards, 

Simon McGlade

Principal