Dear Families,
We hope this newsletter finds you well as we start a new school year. We are excited to welcome both returning and new families to our school community.
I would like to welcome our Leadership Team for 2024:
* Principal, Adam Slater
* Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission, Grace Vassallo-Wakefield
* Inclusive Education Coordinator, Toni Benci
* Leader of Learning, Aimee Caruso.
Together, we look forward to serving you and your family in the exciting year ahead.
On the first day of school, we welcomed 41 reception children and their families. Many of the children were having their first day at school, joined by students from Years 1 to 6. We also welcomed new staff members who have joined us: Annie Brearley (Year 5), Tania Montin (Preschool Coordinator), and Janice Bataduwage (Educational Support Officer), who is replacing Claire Tienek on long service leave in term 1.
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD STICKERS
One of my favourite moments each day is going into the classrooms and seeing the wonderful learning that is happening. I also really enjoy speaking with the teachers and students to hand out Principal sticker awards for students who have demonstrated the three school values of kindness, love, and care. It is a wonderful opportunity to recognise students for their daily positive actions and the pride they take in making great choices at school.
LEARNING ACROSS THE CLASSROOMS
It has been an absolute delight to go into the classrooms and see all the wonderful learning that the students and classes have been exploring in the first two weeks. Last week, the year 5 students shared a task in Humanities and Social Sciences where they created Aboriginal artwork to include specific painted features to represent meeting places, such as clapping sticks, rivers, and kangaroo footprints.
The Year 1 students explored learning about sea and beach environments in science. It was great to see the students reading about and investigating the various types of seashells and marine animals.
I hope all families enjoyed the opportunity to meet with their child's teacher(s) this week. The aim of the learning conversation is for you to share with the teacher your child’s needs, strengths, interests, and future goals.
STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Before the students returned, the school staff undertook three days of professional learning that included a session with Madhavi Parker from Thriving Minds. The staff were able to focus on wellbeing in three ways:
We are now looking forward to implementing the ‘Thriving Minds’ curriculum to focus on student, parent, and staff wellbeing this year. We will share more about this work in the coming weeks.
CO-CURRICULAR
It has been wonderful that school sports have commenced. Training sessions have started, and our parent coaches have been terrific in their volunteer efforts to help guide our students in their sporting opportunities. Once again, I would like to thank the parents who coach our students for their commitment and passion to benefit our school community.
Adam Slater