Good afternoon all,
Afternoon all, I hope that there are not too many burnt faces on our parents this evening and that your children are ready for bed nice and early after a big day!
We were very lucky to have a beautiful day for our Athletics Carnival. All our students were energetic, enthusiastic and well prepared which made for an enjoyable day for all! There was a number of changes in the format for 2021 with the focus being on participation and ‘having a go’ at as many events as possible. It was great to see the comradery, teamwork, and sportsmanship on display today from students and parents! We hope you saw the benefit in what we are trying to achieve and as always, we will review the format post-event, so we continue improving.
Again, a HUGE thanks needs to go to Kristy Watson who has spent countless hours getting the carnival together. Her first Athletics Carnival and with an entirely a new Leadership Team – we are very lucky to have such an enthusiastic, organised and dedicated teacher in charge of our carnivals! Please give her a high-five if you see her around.
At our last P&F meeting I mentioned that we were planning to hold a Big Day Out on the last Wednesday of school this year. Our teachers did an amazing job of getting this together, however, we have been foiled by a lack of busses this year and so unfortunately it will not go ahead in 2021. Our staff still really like the idea as a celebration to finish off the year and so we will have another go at it in 2022. To our Year 6 students, don’t worry… You are still going to Adventure World!
On Wednesday night we held our Advisory Council Meeting and we had a lot to cover. We are currently finalising the budget for 2022, our IT plans, Uniform Policy Update and of course – our new Strategic Plan which I will present at the AGM on the 1st of December. One of our members mentioned that some clarity around class lists would be appreciated so apologies if you were unclear. The process will be:
Class lists will be finalised by Friday the 19th of November so please do not make any requests after this time. As I said last week, our staff do a huge amount of work to get lists right, most of the conversations should have already taken place over the course of the year, so I do not formally ask parents to make requests – I trust that we are all communicating regularly in the best interests of the students. If you do need to discuss a concern in relation to class lists, please see Lisa or Mel prior to the 19th November.
At the AGM on the 1st of December, we will farewell those staff who are leaving and welcome new staff to our school.
On Friday the 3rd of December, after the Year 6 Assembly, we will hold a transition morning for PP to Year 6 where students will find out their new class and teacher, and spend the day getting to know each other. Class lists will be posted to parents during the day via SeeSaw. Our best advice is for parents to model a really positive response – even if it isn’t the result, you may have been ideally hoping for. Explain to your child that you trust the school, and that you believe in your child’s ability to make good friends, to have fun and to work hard with whatever teacher or children they are given. This type of parent attitude helps to build resiliency and wellbeing in your children.
Finally in exciting news, we have locked in a day to celebrate the opening of our newly resurfaced basketball courts. On Friday the 26th November we will welcome Paul Papalia into our school to open the courts and say a huge than you for his support. I will be working with staff and the P&F to organise a fun afternoon so it would be great to see you there. More info to come out soon.
Have a great weekend everyone - look after each other and I look forward to seeing you all next week!
Geordie Thuijs
Principal
