Principal Newsletter

Congratulations to all our students and staff for a fantastic start to the term. The first ‘full’ week has been very busy with a lot of activity across the school. This has included students participating in the Open Water Program, the new STEM program starting as a specialist subject area for some year levels, our first ‘whole school Assembly,’ and the ‘Learning to Learn’ program running in all classrooms. At the start of the year we run these activities to establish classroom agreements and expectations, for students to learn more about their peers and the learning opportunities planned for the year, and for all students to better understand the learning intentions for their grade level.

School Council – Every school has a School Council that plays an important role in the governance of the school to ensure the best possible outcomes for students. School Councils are made up of members from the school community including staff and parents, with the option of also including community members with no direct link to the school. Members are elected for a tenured period and prospective members may ‘self-nominate’ or be ‘nominated.’ The process and timelines for School Council elections are included in this Newsletter and are also published on the website. Our current president is Nick Kearsey, who is an outstanding advocate for the students of our school. School Council meeting dates for this year are February 13, March 13 (AGM), May 15, June12, July 24, August 14, September 18, October 16, November 20 and December 11. Sub-committees generally meet prior to these dates to discuss relevant issues and formulate recommendations to be put forward to the Council.

Student well-being – In a recent letter to schools, the government has stressed the importance of keeping children safe as a shared responsibility, where parents, schools and governments all play a crucial role. In order to assist and provide young Australians with advice, some new websites have been established to prepare our students to become responsible and respectful adults. Please take time to access the following:

www.esafety.gov.au – (online safety)

www.studentwellbeinghub.edu.au – (student wellbeing and respectful relationships)

www.bullyingnoway.gov.au – (education and advice surrounding bullying)

Bus travel – Last week we met with all bus travellers to reinforce the importance of behaving respectfully and safely whilst travelling to and from school. As the busses are essentially public bus services, there are no supervisory teachers that accompany the students, so we rely on our children to behave responsibly and follow our ‘Bus Code of Conduct.’ All families who use the service were given the updated versions of the document last week, and by following the expected behaviours, all children should have an enjoyable and safe time on the bus.

School Captains – Congratulations to Nash, Jaime, Star and Ryan on being elected School Captains and Vice Captains for 2019. (To learn a little more about them, have a read of their profiles later in the Newsletter.) Yesterday they joined the staff Leadership Team for lunch where we presented them with their badges, discussed some of their roles and responsibilities for the year, considered their visions as school leaders, and chatted about some of the upcoming ‘public events’ they will represent the school at. They are a talented and enthusiastic group, and I am really looking forward to working closely with them this year.

I hope the year has started smoothly for all our families and that everyone has been making the most of the lovely weather. Although the sunshine is great, remember that it can also be damaging, so please ensure your child wears an appropriate hat to school. It is also advisable to apply sunscreen in the mornings, as students have significant time outdoors including recess, lunch, moving between lessons, some PE classes and other learning opportunities that transcend the normal classroom. Have a great week and we look forward to you attending the ‘meet and greet’ sessions lined up for Tuesday and Wednesday. This is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen the home/school partnership.

Adrian Waters