From the Principal

Week 4 has come and gone and the calendar is filling fast. As the weather warms, the opportunities for events and excursions start to come into play. Last Friday night I had the great joy of joining Leah, Maria, Duong, Teresa, Gemma, Marcus and Josh at the Year 2 Sleepover. The students were beyond excited and for many of them this was a first time experience at being away from home. They had a wonderful time and played tabloid sports, danced at their disco, enjoyed supper and a movie in bed, “attempted to sleep” and had breaky together in the very early hours of the morning. I thank and commend the staff for giving their time and in supporting the students in this experience. It would also be remiss of me not to mention the Year 4 camping team and thank them also for their great enthusiasm in ensuring the students had a memorable experience. The weather was absolutely perfect and the feedback on student participation was fantastic. A huge thanks to Jess, Liam, Alex, Marcus and Josh for giving their time and to Amanda for her organisation and support.

Marcus and I recently spent some time with the Year 3 and 4 students to outline the process for selecting the 2020 Student Leaders. As we have our current leadership group moving to Year 5 next year we thought it was important to include the new Year 4 students in Leadership roles. As we have explained, we will have two School Captains and four House Captains from next year’s Year 4 and 5 cohorts. The students interested in a leadership role have been given an expression of interest form and will be shortlisted by their teachers in round one and successful students will gain an interview with Marcus, Rob, Jess and myself in round two. Our panel will then make recommendations and will select the 2020 Leaders from the interview process.

In the next few weeks we will be running our Christmas donation food drive and we sincerely hope our families will come on board with supporting this wonderful initiative. This year we won’t be holding a Christmas raffle, but rather we will donate all of our goods to local charities that will support community members in need. This is the absolute gift of giving with the purest of intention. Our Junior School Council leaders on both Campuses will be collecting donations and will be part of the team handing over our packages to the selected charity groups. The collections will happen as follows:

Week 5 – November 4-8 – donation of canned goods

Week 6 – November 11 – 15 – donation of packaged goods

Week 7 – November 18 – 22 – donation of Christmas items (napkins, tinsel, baubles etc.)

Week 8 – November 25 - 28 – donation of your choice

Of course you are not compelled or expected to donate each week, however please know that every donation will go to charity. We are unable to accept any fresh foods or opened packages as each item must have a shelf life. We will highlight the donations in the newsletter and via Facebook and will no doubt have the weekly items on show in a prominent position. We encourage you to participate in this initiative and share the joy of giving with your children.

Finally a few reminders:

Night Under the Stars is well underway and will be held on Tuesday 19th November from 6:00 pm. Students need to be here by 5:30 pm to get ready and then they are able to sit with their families after their performance. This is a BYO picnic night. The local pizza, chicken and fish and chip shops are aware of the evening so if you are looking to add to your picnic basket / hamper please consider our local businesses.
Excursion / Incursions – as we have now gone paperless the cut off dates for acceptance and payment of school events will stand firm. We will always try to give adequate notice, but we ask you are mindful that closing dates actually cut off in the electronic system. We are unable to make exceptions so to avoid disappointment and log into your Sentral Parent Portal to provide permission for your child/children. If you are having trouble logging in - please contact either office. In any case of financial distress, please see Marcus or myself.
Locking of gates – Staff on yard duty from 8:45 to 9:00 am lock the gates as they finish their shift so that they have time to get to class and begin teaching students. They are unable to wait for parents in the yard after 9:00 am as this takes them away from their responsibility. Locking the gates is part of a safety aspect that has been clearly expressed by parents within the community. Please note you are still able to walk through the front office to move from the yard to your car if you have stayed after 9:00 am. This is not being done to frustrate adults but rather to ensure student safety is paramount at all times.

I wish you all the most wonderful weekend and hope you enjoy the extra few days with your family. There is no school on Monday and Tuesday over this Cup weekend. We will be ready to receive any canned Christmas donations beginning Wednesday.

Cheers,

Chris

Community Notices

End of Year Art Exhibition

Local Artists

Whittlesea Show