A Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Attendance

As you meet with teachers to discuss your child’s progress I have asked teachers to show parents how many part absences and full day absences your children have had this year. It may surprise some parents how these days add up very quickly and in turn can have a detrimental effect on student learning. 

Partial absences calculate towards non attendance at school. Eg If your child arrives late, leaves early or misses part of the school day. Late arrival makes it more difficult for a child to settle in class. Leaving class early results in students missing out on important information to help them prepare for the next school day.  Each day missed can contribute to gaps in learning and students falling behind in their learning. 

I also encourage parents to not book holidays during the school term. The current CSO policy, for leave between 10 - 100 days, states “Family holidays and travel are no longer considered under the exemption from school procedures. Travel outside of the set vacation period is counted as an absence.”

As per the NSW Education Act (1990) and CSO Attendance Policy (2021), it is a requirement that all absences must be explained in writing within seven days of the absence. Thank you to the parents who do this in a timely fashion. Please explain absences via email through the Compass App.

I acknowledge the fact that parents need to keep their children home when they are sick (especially during these times of Covid and the extreme weather we have had recently) but I also encourage all students to strive for over 90% attendance rate.  It is not too late to improve each student's attendance rate!

NAIDOC Week Celebrations

Next Wednesday 23rd June we celebrate NAIDOC Week with our school community. The theme for this year is Heal Country. The official NAIDOC Week website explains how important Country is to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

 “Country is inherent to our identity. It sustains our lives in every aspect - spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally.  It is more than a place. When we talk about Country it is spoken of like a person. Country is family, kin, law, lore, ceremony, traditions, and language. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples it has been this way since the dawn of time. Through our languages and songs, we speak to Country; through our ceremonies and traditions we sing to - and celebrate Country – and Country speaks to us.”

This year we welcome Jason Allan (Zeb’s dad), Charna Reid and Toby Reid to share with the students more about their aboriginal history and culture. The students will be exposed to: language, songs, dancing, weaving, art and the didgeridoo.  Parents and carers are welcome to watch our special NAIDOC week activities to be held, in the classrooms, on Wednesday 23rd June from 9.00-2.00pm. 

School Athletics Carnival

I look forward to having many parents and friends come along to our school athletics carnival this Wednesday 16th June. Please follow the Covid safe guidelines and stay home if you are unwell; on arrival at the oval sign in and sanitise your hands and socially distance yourself between spectators during the day.

Enjoy your week.

Pauline Long

Principal