Principal's Report

Good Afternoon All,

We are pleased to inform parents that our French language program has started for senior students. Mrs. Xenitopoulos is our EAL (English as an Additional Language) teacher who also speaks fluent and has taught French before coming to us at DPS. Mandarin will continue as will Cultural Studies but we are also excited about the introduction of French at DPS.

Education week has come and gone! We had a number of activities including the amazing Grandparents morning tea, House Cross Country, Open School and school tours to name a few. It is always nice to invite our community into our school. We are very proud of what we do here at DPS and always like to show off our wonderful school. Our gardens, spacious modern classrooms, gym and outstanding teachers, not to mention the smartest kids in town are the perfect recipe for success.

COVID 19 and illness  is having a huge increase in staff and students absence of late. With a statewide shortage of teachers, finding Casual Relief Teachers to meet the demand of absent staff has been extremely difficult. As a last resort, some classes have needed to be split across other classes in the year level. At DPS, our staff plan collaboratively and deliver the same lessons and content across year levels so it makes this process a lot smoother for students and staff. We ask families to be aware that there have been a number of COVID 19 cases within staff and students and we ask you all to please keep a close eye on your children for symptoms and to test regularly. Our school office has RATs available if you require them. To minimise the spread of COVID 19, influenza and the common cold we ask families to please keep unwell children at home. Your support here is greatly appreciated.

Attitudes to School Survey We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of their school. The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. This year, the AtoSS will be conducted at DPS in the next two weeks. The survey takes around 30-40 minutes and is conducted during class time. Participation in this survey is voluntary. If you do not wish for your child to do the survey, please opt out by emailing your child’s classroom teacher. It is not a test, there are no wrong answers but in this review year we are even more interested in collecting data around the opinion, thoughts and experiences of our students.

Student Attendance It has crept up once again, the late arrivals and early departures are becoming commonplace. For students entering the class late or leaving early, it interrupts the teacher and instruction being provided. We are urging families to avoid late arrivals and early pick ups. Additionally, for most students, being at school for the commencement of the school day provides support and reassurance, as the day’s schedule is outlined to the students first up so the children can use the routine of the day to ground them. We have also had a number of children not collected by as late as 4pm. This happens everyday. It would be appreciated if you registered in after school care if you are not able to make other arrangements for your child. Asking them to make their way to the Public Library to be picked up happens and is not appropriate as children are not supervised or cared for in the way after care provides. Some students have a meeting pick up place arranged with  your parents offsite. This is fine but please ensure you have a back up plan for the occasions you are not able to be there on time. We have has situations where members of the public have brought children back to school or called us with children in distress because Mum or Dad haven’t collected them. It is quite stressful so if this can be avoided it will ensure the care and safety of your children. Please support our school and your children, I thank you in advance.