Principal's Report 

I acknowledge the First Peoples of the Wathaurong, who are the traditional custodians of the land and waters on which I work and live, and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Forthcoming Camps

Our Year 5/6 students are growing in excitement with the forthcoming camps across weeks 3 and 4 of the term.

Thank you to parents & carers for the pre-work in preparing your child/ren for these experiences.

Next week our Yr5 students will enjoy a week long camp in Halls Gap at Norval Camp, followed in week 4 by our Yr6 students travelling to Canberra.

I am looking forward to participating at the Yr5 Camp and can't wait to hear student stories from their various experiences, that will no doubt form life-long memories and connections.

I'd like to also acknowledge the supporting staff heading away to both camps, who leave family and friends behind to support students in affording a memorable experience.

Parent / Carer support

It is always wonderful to see parents and carers at our school, supporting students in a number of different ways.  

Webex will no longer be offered for our assemblies.  We have loved having community members back in Kim barne Nitji to support us at assemblies in person - please come and join us, should you be able.

Please consider involving yourself in any capacity at our school, for our children.  Check in with a teacher or staff member in the area of interest to you.

Excitingly, we have some wonderful community events ahead this term that we hope to see maximum community support for.  Please join us when you can, your child appreciates your connection...

Swim Program - parent information

It is wonderful to have parents & carers back involved with our swimming program, and we appreciate seeing you poolside.

I am requesting parents & carers utilise this experience for their child/ren to grow their independence.  

As such, please allow staff of the school, in relation to instruction and changerooms to complete their support of students free of parent / carer intervention.

Likewise for Swim & Survive Academy staff instructing students in and around the pool, please allow them to complete their role without parent / carer disruption.

If you have pre-arranged specific support for your child/ren, then please complete these tasks as arranged.

I hope you all relax and enjoy a great experience, observing your children thrive.

2023 class placement

It is coming up to that time of the year again when we begin to work on class lists for 2023.  

For transparency purposes, I thought I would outline for you our process for placing students in classes.  Our school is held in high regard for our process, and although difficult to get 100% correct, we do our best to support all students, families and staff each year.

Our priorities lie in considering the social, emotional and academic needs of each student. While friendships are also taken into consideration, we acknowledge that class time is primarily a time for working and that students have other opportunities throughout the day to socialise and play with friends.  Students are remarkably adept at making new friends too!

We also take into consideration the special needs of students. If you think that you need to make me aware of ‘special’ considerations we are not already aware of, please make an appointment to see me via our Office staff.  

Classroom teaching staff, should not be approached, regarding 2023 Classroom Placements.  As such, they will encourage you to make an appointment with me.

I ask that parents refrain from requesting specific teachers. I believe that all of our teachers are highly professional and demonstrate a high level of commitment to the students they teach. The unique style of each individual teacher means that each of them will offer something different & unique to their students. 

We invest many hours into the development of a class list that we believe is the best choice for all of our students. 

The process we use to develop class lists is as follows: 

1. Teachers use their current class list to develop a profile of each student which includes social, emotional and academic needs as well as friendships and those students who do not work so well together.  Again, friendships are considered but class time is primarily work time not play-time. If students are not in class with their best friends, they will get to see them at play times and may in fact spread their circle of friends by making new friendships in their class;

2. Software is utilised to process key information provided by 2022 classroom teachers on all students, as well as avoiding repeat teachers

3. PLC Leaders, Executive staff members and I cross check the lists, making any necessary changes;

4. We leave these lists for a short period of time, and then check them again with the advantage of ‘fresh eyes’; 

5. Classroom teachers make a final check; 

6. Class lists come to the Executive Team for a final check. I then discuss any further changes with teachers, whilst considering any confidentiality issues; and

7. Class lists are published and disclosed at the National Transition Day (Tuesday 13 December)

This process is lengthy as well as thorough, and while decisions are made, in what we believe are the best interests of each student, there are approximately 380 students to be considered.