Dear families

Term 4 … here we go!

Welcome back to a new school term.  There are lots of events on the schedule so I hope that you are well-rested and ready to go.  Please keep up to date by reading newsletters, school app notifications, Class Dojo, and messages from the teachers so that you don't miss a thing.

Public School Review

The Public School Review is a two-part process.  Part 1 was the submission of a written comprehensive summary of our work in:

• developing positive relationships within and outside of our school
• our learning environment
• the quality of our teaching
• what student achievement data is telling us about how well our student are learning and what we can do differently
• how we are looking after the well-being of students
• how we use the school resources including our money and personnel

Last Tuesday we participated in Part 2.  Two Department of Education Directors spoke with staff about what the school has achieved in the past 18 months and the direction for the coming three years.   The Directors were very, very impressed with the calibre of the work that the staff have done.  They recognised our unity and commitment to continuing to improve how we teach, assess and plan at a classroom level, within the year levels and across our collaborative groups.  They valued the input of the School Board and P&C representatives and appreciated the experience that they bring to supporting the school.  The Directors ended their day with lots of very positive feedback about how well the staff reflected on the school’s journey. 

Staff committed a lot of time to preparing for the review by brainstorming ideas, collating information, double checking documents, and writing most of the content.  For such a significant moment for the school, I could not be prouder of the manner in which the staff have worked together. 

I would also like to thank the Student Council for their part in the discussion.  They talked about how much they enjoy being at school, how they would spend $1,000,000 (install a flying fox), and how they contribute to the school.  They were amazing and were singled out for high praise. 

The Directors will write a report that captures what we presented and this report will be available to the school community. 

Staff news

The children in Year 3, Room 8 have ‘new’ teachers as Mrs Maureen Lahti has commenced a period of leave to have a hip replacement.  I would like to wish Mrs Lahti a very speedy recovery so that she me be able to return to work before the end of the term.  Mrs Heidi Cobbledick will be teaching the class four days a week and Ms Melissa Dichiera on Wednesdays.  Both of these teachers are not ‘new’ and are well-known the students, staff and parents.  Welcome to them both!

Colour Run

Colour Run will take place on Thursday 5 November 2020 at 1.45pm.  It is a free dress day and children are encouraged to wear white.  I hope that the children are busy fundraising.  Children can create a student profile page at www.myprofilepage.com.au which allows family and friends to make an online donation.  Once the event is finished children will be able to select prizes as a reward for the money they have collected. 

All of the money raised goes to the P&C Association.  The P&C Association has been a keen supporter of the school making significant financial contributions to things such as the much loved Nature Play area, subsidising Year 6 camps, and purchasing furniture.

Staff professional development

In all Kindy to Year 2 classes the teachers use Sounds Write as a framework for teaching phonics which is the basis for spelling, writing and reading.  To make this framework a whole school process and to ensure that children develop strong literacy skills, Year 3-6 teachers are attending a four-day workshop.  These teachers will be away from school on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October and Thursday 5 and Friday 6 November.  The relief staff in the classes will be:

Swimming lessons

Congratulations to all of the children who passed their swimming level.  Our children’s behaviour was excellent and we received lots of great feedback about how well the children successfully completed the program. 

The next swimming lessons are for Year 6 children who are going to Mullaloo Beach.  These lessons commence on Monday 23 November and finish on Friday 4 December.

School improvements

During the holidays there has been lots of work done around the school.

We have new drink fountains which are bright and colourful.