Principal's Prattle

Term One Reflection

We have enjoyed another busy term, full of learning and special events. We welcomed new teachers, students and their families to our community. Our students have taken advantage of a number of special events and shown terrific resilience and commitment to their learning. We kicked off the term with a super swimming program which finished with a carnival at the Poowong Pool on a beautiful day. Students attended District Swimming and the Sherar boys came home with ribbons and did themselves and us proud. Students had a blast on the Planks Day and created some amazing constructions! Bushy Day was a hit with everyone; kids dressed up, cooked damper, learnt some bush dances, created art with nature and read some Aussie ballads. Year 5/6 completed Peer Mediation training, School Photos were taken and our annual Family Fun Night was again successful. We elected a new School Council at our AGM, our new Parents & Friends Association hit the ground running with Loch Lucky Keys, Swimming & Athletics Day BBQ's, Hot Cross Buns, Ladies Who Lunch, Community Meal Tree and Hills Alive Festival stall. Year 5/6 attended their Camp at Tidal River Wilson's Promontory, Kaila Hutchinson Olympic Athlete visited and spoke with our students, Parent Teacher Interviews were held and we finished the term with an awesome Athletics Carnival and then Crazy Hair Day. We are all definitely ready for a holiday!

Many of our new families have spoken to me throughout the term in appreciation of our school community. Parents consistently mention the strong community spirit and support that we share together, the professionalism of our teachers, the high level and quality of teaching we provide and the wonderful opportunities through our programs for all students. As we grow as a school, it is important that this spirit and support continues to be our strength as a community.

Groups of people always encounter difficulties individually and as a group however, it is how we manage those difficulties that creates goodwill and strong relationships or destroys people's trust and belief. I have often praised our community for their openness and ability to communicate with our school honestly and with intentions to benefit students. Our teaching team are dedicated, passionate and highly skilled educators. They are also real humans with families of their own who juggle the demands of teaching and long hours of work with their own commitments. As a teaching team we wake up everyday ready to do our very best for the children in our care. We are a reflective team who are constantly asking how can we do this better? What improvements can we make? We are not perfect and we do make mistakes and at times have all felt a little overwhelmed. I ask that parents respect the time and effort that all of our staff give to our students and our learning programs and if there are any concerns, to let us know. Your child's teacher is your first contact.

I also wish to restate to our community that every one of our teachers is professional, experienced and committed to doing the very best they can day in and day out. All of our teachers deserve our parent support, trust, respect and belief in them. Unfortunately, it was expressed to me recently that teachers needed to earn parent trust and respect. This conversation evoked some fairly strong emotions in me. As an educator for the past 25 years, I have heard many conversations about my profession, many comments made from ignorant and biased people who have no real experience to base their statements of disrespect. Sadly in previous schools I have witnessed parents berating teachers and behaving in aggressive and very inappropriate ways. I have witnessed parents swearing at, physically assaulting and threatening teachers. The positive relationships between our parents and teachers at Loch Primary School has been one of the key factors for our success and the trust and respect goes both ways. I encourage our community to think the best of each other, to expect that all decisions are made for a reason which makes sense and is of benefit to our students.

Lastly, I wish to clearly express to all of our community that aggression, in any form, towards any of our staff, (regardless of how upset you are or what assumptions you may have made) is not acceptable at Loch Primary School. Our school team and community prides itself on our open communication and I encourage parents to help us to maintain such a positive learning environment for our students by continuing to let us know if you have any concerns and working together as a mutually trusted and respected team which includes staff and families.

Car Park Update

Many thanks to all parents who have been respecting the request not to use the school car park and have been taking care for safety of all students when parking at the front of the school. Parents are reminded that it is a 40km per hour zone outside the school and extra care should be taken. Students should not be crossing the road unattended by an adult.

School Council has spent considerable time discussing the school car park. At this stage, the car park will remain closed for parent parking. School Council intends to investigate moving the bus stop to the car park for pick up and drop off and creating a drop and go space at the front of the school. After some lobbying from parents, South Gippsland Council is willing to meet with us to discuss the issues regarding parking at the front of the school. Further information will be shared with parents after our meeting.

Hills Are Alive Weekend

A number of families spent their weekend cooking sausages, burgers and bacon and egg rolls at the Hills Are Alive Music Festival. Each year for the last ten years we have had a prime spot in amongst the food vans keeping the guests (party goers) well fed! The event is a very worthwhile fundraiser for the school however it does take a huge amount of organisation and preparation. I would like to acknowledge the Lightowler family who have been involved in this fundraiser for many years and who continually step up, organise our stall and give up their time. This year Curt Lightowler (uncle to the kids) ran our stall with finesse! Thanks also to the Nettle family, the Jelbart family, the King family and the Collis family, special thanks also to Lara Standish and Luke Monson (past students) who also helped out. A huge $2600 was raised last weekend. Great job team!

Day of Action Against Bullying & Violence

Last week all of our students participated in activities to build their understanding of bullying behaviours and to take a pledge against bullying. Our students were able to clearly articulate how to be kind to each other and our Play is the Way life raft "Treat Others As You Would Like to be Treated" linked well to activities and lessons. In this week's newsletter there is a following article explaining what bullying is and the difference between mean, rude and bullying behaviours. For our parents, how do you respond when your child tells you another has behaved inappropriately, or meanly towards them? Do you know what to do and say if your child tells you they have been bullied?

Crazy Hair Day

We finished the term with our annual Crazy Hair Day parade with a gold coin donation towards the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal. Many thanks to everyone who donated. We raised just over $140.00. Great effort!

Easter Raffle

Our end of term assembly saw lots of smiling excited faces as the Easter raffle was drawn. Many thanks to everyone who donated eggs and gifts for the hampers and to those who sold tickets. Big thank you to the parents who wrapped, sorted raffle tickets and organised the final send off for the term. Great fun for everyone!