School Starts....

Can I remind all parents of the school start time, because we are having an unacceptable number of students arriving way too early and, conversely, far to many students arriving too late.

I understand that there are issues with traffic, but this is something I cannot change and will always be there.

Arrival at school is between 8.30am and 9.00am

Students arriving before 8.30am are unsupervised in the school yard. I have no choice but to collect them up and put them in TeamKids. PLEASE do not allow your children to arrive at school before 8.30am.

Students arriving after 9.00am must check-in at the office WITH THEIR PARENT. Students arriving late is a considerable inconvenience for the office staff and the teachers, and is a disadvantage to your child. Please do your absolute best to ensure your child is at school on time.

Working Bee

The general maintenance Working Bee organised for Friday 24 Feb has been cancelled again, due to hot weather and the unavailability of school staff.

So we are trying another approach. Instead of relying on good weather on one day, we are asking parents and students to assist any time that suits them for the whole of next week - WORKING BEE WEEK - 27 February to 3 March.

Please see the advert later in the newsletter. Simply put, if you have any spare time at any time next week please pop into the office, choose a task, grab some gear and get to it.

The tasks are all just general garden maintenance - weeding, trimming, sweeping whipper snipping, etc. Every little bit helps.

2023 Parent Contributions

Can I ask parents to consider making payment of school contributions (fees), particularly those for Education and Specialist Curriculum contributions. We are quite a long way off budget forecast for these contributions.

Please understand that the income from these contributions helps pay for many of the vital resources and programs that the school offers to your children, including software packages, classroom readers, games/equipment and teaching supplies.

We hope that you are able to support us.

School Council

Nominations for School Council have been distributed to the school community and are contained in this newsletter. We are looking for at least one new member so if you are interested in a role on school council please contact me or pop in to the office for a chat.

Kevin Oakey

Principal

Holi - Festival of Colours

Many members of our school community will be participating in the upcoming celebration of Holi. This year Holi is celebrated on the 8th of March. Holi is a Hindu festival celebrated since the ancient times, welcoming Spring and a new beginning. People cover themselves and each other with coloured water and bright powders. If you are celebrating this special event with your children I would love to see your photos. Please email them indicating if you are happy for them to be shared.

I would love to acknowledge all the different celebrations our community members participate in. Please send me an email or come and see me to tell me about your special events.

Aboriginal descent?

Currently we are not aware of any of JPPS students being of Aboriginal descent, however this may not be the case… If your family identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander can you please email me k.stewart@jpps.vic.edu.au

School Photos - 2 weeks away!

A reminder our annual school photo day will be on March 15th, just over 2 weeks away. Please order your photos online following the instructions below, you can do this at anytime. We look forward to seeing students in full school uniform on this day. If you are unable to order online there are envelopes available at the office. Sibling photos will be happening again this year. Please refer to the instructions below for deadlines and ordering information.

NOT for publication - if you do NOT want your child included in the school photos you must inform the school.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kellie Stewart

Assistant Principal

Junior School Council

2023 Junior School Council