Assistant Principal's Report 

So here we are, almost at the end of our first year in operation at Orchard Park Primary School, and you certainly couldn't say that it hasn't been memorable! For so many reasons. Something that we have really tried to emphasise with staff in recent weeks is just how much we have been able to achieve in such a short amount of time, even in spite of COVID. Yes, our plans and priorities had to be revised and shift at times. No, we weren't able to do everything that we had hoped to back at the start of the year. However, as a staff, we are incredibly proud of the fact that we have:

• Developed strong community connections
• Implemented our Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar approach
• Implemented and refined our approaches in Reading
• Commenced work on developing our approaches in Numeracy
• Established a Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support framework for explicitly teaching and acknowledging behaviours that align with our school values
• Implemented the approaches and curriculum of The Resilience Project to teach really positive mental health strategies
• Written and sought community feedback around our first ever cycle of student achievement reports
• Completed our first school camp
• Held two really successful community events, with another one to come next week
• Developed what we felt were strong and supportive approaches to remote and flexible learning
• And many more!!!

When we talk about gratitude, we talk about focusing on what we have and being thankful for it, as opposed to focusing on what we don't have. Similarly, sometimes it can be easy to focus on what we didn't quite get to do and the distractions created by COVID. However, when we stop and focus on what we were able to achieve as opposed to what we weren't, we are incredibly proud of all that we were able to do in just 12 months. 

Similarly, whilst the year didn't quite pan out as many families had expected, we hope that families are similarly proud of what they were able to achieve. Transitioning to a new school can be a real challenge for students but they have all taken it in their stride and established some really strong and positive connections both with their peers and with staff. The application to learning throughout our remote learning phase was also highly commendable. In recent weeks our teachers have been busy completing assessment tasks with students ahead of reports going live this afternoon and it has been really nice to hear so many staff coming forward with examples student growth and achievement that they want to celebrate.

However, the year is not quite finished yet either. Even as late as this week we have had some exciting events taking place, with many more to come next week as well. Tuesday this week was the statewide transition day which meant that our 3 Year Six students went off to their 2022 Secondary Schools for the day and by all reports they each had a wonderful day and made some new friends. Our 2022 Preppies also came and spent half a day with us. It was really pleasing to see just how comfortable and confident these littlies feel coming into after just 3 transition sessions. Judging by the enormous smiles and comments at the school gate after the session, they also had a really enjoyable morning.

On Thursday we had our internal transition day for 2022, during which all students spent 4 hours with their 2022 classes and teachers. We were incredibly fortunate to have all of our new teaching staff on hand for this day - all 6 of them, as well as some new students transitioning across from other schools. And when we talk about practising gratitude, whenever we show a new staff member or student through our amazing learning spaces and see the look of astonishment on their faces, it really reminds us just how fortunate we are to have the facilities that we do here at Orchard Park PS. Again, this session went really smoothly and made us even more excited for the year ahead of us in 2022.

Today has been our Year Six Celebration Day and also the day on which our student achievement reports for Semester Two go live. As we have mentioned previously, these will look a little different to our Semester One reports, just in light of the semester we have had and the amount of time that was spent learning remotely. However, we hope that they really capture the semester your child has had and learning growth made. We always encourage you to read through your child's report with them as it should be a celebration of learning. 

Next week we have:

• Our Year 6 graduation ceremony and dinner on Tuesday
• Our Junior School celebration day and our Christmas concert on Wednesday
• Our final internal transition session and our whole-school assembly on Thursday
• Our last day of our first year in operation on Friday (Don't forget the 1:00pm finish!)

There is so much there to look forward to and it's great to know that we will finish the year on a really positive and exciting note. The main piece there that I would like to emphasise with existing families is our Christmas concert on Wednesday. We haven't been able to come together as a whole school in quite some time so we are very excited for Wednesday. Our picnic on the oval area will begin at 5:00. Whilst we have encouraged all families to bring along a picnic dinner, we will also have fairy-floss, pop-corn, ice-cream and cold drinks for sale. Student performances will begin at 6:00pm in the gym, and families will be able to go inside to see their child(ren)'s class(es) perform. Mrs Downie has been working very hard in The Arts, choreographing and practising these performances and the kids have done an amazing job in a short amount of time! I would really encourage all families to come along on the evening to celebrate being able to come together again, to celebrate our first year in operation and to view their child(ren)'s performances.

So there you have it, our final newsletter for 2022 ahead of our final week of 2022. Again, we would really like to thank our whole school community for your ongoing support throughout the year. Whilst we have not been open for long, we have a really tight-knit community feel that seems as if it has been in place for many years. We really appreciate the way that we have looked out for and supported one another, the way that education is really valued within our community and for the respect and support that we as a school have received from the entire school community. 

Whilst we are definitely looking forward to a break and an opportunity to recharge the batteries in coming weeks, we are also really looking forward to the year ahead of us in 2022. I hope that families also use the next few weeks as an opportunity to relax, spend some quality family time together and recharge the batteries in readiness for 2022. 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Regards

Danny Forster

Assistant Principal