Principal's Report 

Welcome Back

 Welcome to all the new students and their families to our school. I trust that your involvement with our school will be rewarding and enjoyable. Please feel free to contact us, no question is trivial.  The first day for students is definitely my favourite day of the school year.  It was great to see our students arriving with beaming faces, happy to be back at school.

As the government has indicated, these first few weeks are going to be a challenge to us with COVID cases on the rise. It is essential that if your child is unwell at all with a cough, runny nose, feeling sick or just lethargic, that you keep them home.  Rapid Antigen Tests will continue to be sent home for daily testing.  Please continue to let us know if your child tests positive or if they are a household close contact and need to isolate.  We will continue to send messages daily via Seesaw to notify you of new cases.

Unfortunately we have had to postpone our welcome back events this year.  We hope to run them later in the term when the current COVID situation has settled.

New Classrooms

As you can see from the photos above, we were lucky enough to receive new classrooms over the holidays. With space at a premium, we have had them installed in the courtyard behind the Office.  

Donation

Thank you to Karli & Jarrod Sutherland at Quicklift who have very generously donated $1000 to our school.  Karli & Jarrod have  a special connection to the school through family members.  They have also been the ones who have so adeptly craned our new buildings into place.  The donation will help in providing classrooms with literacy stations.

Student Support Group Meetings - Student Free Day

On Friday 11th March we will hold our Student Support Group Meetings (SSGs).  This will be a student free day.  Teachers will be in contact over the coming weeks to lock in a suitable time for you.  At this stage parents/carers who are fully vaccinated will be able to attend onsite.

Seesaw

Most parents and carers are now connected to their student's classroom teacher via Seesaw.  If you need support to get this up and running, please let us know and we can help.  Further details appear later in this newsletter.

School Council Elections

Nominations for School Council are now open. If you are interested in joining our school council, I am happy to have a chat about what it entails.  below is some information also.  Nomination forms can be collected from the office and are included in this newsletter.

Why is parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills and a range of experiences and knowledge that can help inform and shape the direction of the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

Who is on the school council?

For all schools with a student cohort of Year 7 and above, there are several possible categories of school council membership:

• a mandated elected parent member category
• a mandated elected school employee member category
• a mandated elected student member category (two positions) – members of this category are enrolled at the school in Year 7 or above.
• Many school councils have an optional community member category, and a small number of school councils have nominee members.

Generally, the term of office for all members is two years. The term of office of half the members expires each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.

Do I need special experience to be on school council?

Each member brings their own valuable skills and knowledge to the role, however, in order to successfully perform their duties, councillors may need to gain some new skills and knowledge.

It is important to have an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future.

Permission Packs and Updated Student Details

Each year we need to get permission from parents and carers for a range of things including local  excursions, photo publication and head lice checks.  If you have not returned these yet, please do so as soon as possible.

We are also updating student details.  It is really important the we have your correct details.  These forms will be sent home soon.

Angela Buxton                          Jesse Whittaker                                          Carolyn West

Principal                                       Assistant Principal                                      Assistant Principal