Acting Principal's News

YARD DUTY SUPERVISION 

A reminder to all families, that staff are on yard duty from 8:45am each morning before school and until 3:45pm each afternoon, after school.  Children should not be dropped off or left unsupervised in the school yard before or after these times.  If you have not arrived at school to collect your child(ren) by 3.45pm, they are to come immediately to the front office and wait for you.  Please remind your child(ren) of this process as we have noticed a few students waiting around the front gate after this time, without supervision.  We appreciate your support in this supervision and safety of our children. 

STUDENT ABSENCES 

We are now getting back into a settled routine, where there have been very few COVID cases within our school.  The teachers have hand sanitizer available in the classrooms and all the rooms have air purifiers in them.  School attendance is very important for our students to feel comfortable and for the maximum learning to take place.  However, if your child is sick and cannot attend school, we ask that you phone through to the office or complete the absence notification on Sentral yourself. It is important that a reason for absence is included.  Sending a Dojo message to the class teacher is useful to make the class teacher aware, but this needs to be in addition to marking it on Sentral.  Thank you for your support with this. 

Please refrain from collecting children early from school. It is appreciated by all teachers that you make efforts to make appointments for school children outside of the school working hours, to prioritise learning and social development during the school day.  Thank you.

PARENT SURVEY RESULTS 

Thank you to the parents who completed our annual parent / caregiver / guardian survey. We appreciate the time you took to give us your feedback.  It was encouraging to look through the results and identify the areas that we are doing well in and the improvement we have made in our percentages from last year. 

Some highlights from the results include: 

• An increase in the category of school communication from 75% to 80% 
• An increase in parents’ ‘general satisfaction’ from 72% to 84%
• An increase in the category of school pride and confidence from 72% to 80% 
• An increase in the area of high expectations for success from 82% to 90%
• An increase in the category of providing a stimulating learning environment from 68% to 77% 
• An increase in the area of positive transitions from 74% to 85%

The areas that we continue to discuss and look for ways to improve on include: 

• Teachers communicating with parents about their child’s progress often enough with useful feedback. 
• The school has clean and well-maintained facilities and grounds. 
• Parents having a greater understanding of how their child is assessed. 

AVENUES BAND

Our Year 6 students enjoyed the talents of Cheltenham Secondary School’s Avenues Band last Thursday afternoon.  It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces from our school come back as secondary students to visit and share their musical prowess.  They were certainly very well received, and our year 6 students loved the performance, proving to be an enthusiastic and engaging audience.  Thank you to Mrs Digby for arranging the performance from our neighbouring high school. 

ATHLETICS

Seventeen of our students attended the Division Athletics Day on Monday.  All participated with great endeavour.  Mrs Robinson will be including a write up of our achievements in next week’s newsletter.  Well done to all our students for their training and for representing our school so well.

SMILE SQUAD 

Your child will bring home a bag from the Smile Squad team this week.  The pack is a gift from the ‘Smile Squad’ who are supported by the Central Bayside Community Health Services.  In 2023, we hope that they will be supporting our community with free dental health checks.  In the meantime, they have provided us with packs containing a toothbrush, toothpaste and an oral health brochure with ‘eat well, drink well and clean well’ messages. 

WORLD TEACHERS DAY (Friday 28th October) 

World Teachers Day will be celebrated across Australia next Friday.  This is a time to celebrate the dedication and impact our amazing teachers have on the lives of our young people.  Your child may like to make a card for a teacher who has had a positive impact on their life or thank them on the day. 

YEAR 3 CAMP / YEAR 5 CAMP 

The Year 3s will be going off to camp next week at the fun Woorabinda Somers Camp at Yallourn North.  This is an excellent one-night introductory camp for the students, where they will experience a greater level of independence and achievement in some new activities and challenges.  We wish all the students and staff a fantastic time away. 

Following the Year 3s, our Year 5s will head off on Wednesday to Golden Valleys Camp in Flinders. They will have a wonderful time experiencing a rural and beach setting as well as team building and lots of fun activities.

Thank you to the teams of teachers and education support staff who take time away from their own families to care for your children this time. This is a significant sacrifice, and our thanks is enormous.

FOUNDATION TRANSITION PROGRAM 

Our new Foundation 2023 enrolled students will visit our school Monday 24th October at 2.30pm as part of our ongoing Transition Program.  These sessions are aimed at the students becoming familiar with our school’s setting and what to expect in the classroom with curriculum activities planned over the transition period.  An Information night is also planned for Thursday 17th November at 6.15pm in the library area.  We extend a warm welcome to our new families.  Thank you to the Foundation teaching team for their preparation into the success of these events.

PLANNING FOR 2023 

We are beginning to make plans for 2023.  This involves organising staffing and classes.  If you know that your child will not be attending CEPS next year, please can you let the office know, so that we can plan around our expected numbers for 2023.

VCE EXAMS 2022 

CEPS’s class of 2016 commence their VCE exams next week.  The school wishes all our ex-students the very best of luck over the next few weeks.

On a personal note, last week I proudly represented Australia in the Dancesport BDF Night of 100 Stars ProAm Teams Match in London, along with 7 other Australian team members.  With excitement, Australia were the runners up to a strong English team with Italy coming in third.  Finally, at The London Ball International Championships, my dance partner and I are thrilled to share that we won the ProAm Latin 6 Dance Scholarship in a strong international field.  Thank you to Mr Josh Bourke for stepping into the Acting Principal’s chair in my absence.

Kind regards

Leisel Ward

Acting Principal