What a wonderful start to the new year we have had. I believe this may actually be the first year we haven’t had very wet weather in the first week of school, though we may only have a short period of grace with that. It has been lovely to welcome so many new families to our school and to see our students transitioning so positively into their new year levels and classes. Please remember that if you have any questions, your class teachers or our office staff are only an email or phone call away. Communication is key to building and sustaining a supportive school community.

Student safety

Please be aware of a hardcopy letter that was sent home today requesting information about the usual expectations for your child/children after school. We would like to know your school departure arrangements so we can ensure we have effective processes in place to mitigate risk. 

We understand that parents have need to change the usual arrangements from time to time or maybe your family situation means there can be regular changes. We would like to establish an expectation that if there is a change from the ‘usual’ that parents are emailing teachers before the beginning of the school day. If the need for change occurs during the day, We will need parents to call the office as we can’t guarantee teachers will read their emails throughout the day- if fact we’d prefer they weren’t. The office staff will ensure teachers can communicate any changes in arrangements are communicated with students.

OSHC

Please know I am well aware of many issues with our OSHC service at the moment regarding the booking system and with availability of space due to registration. I can thankfully inform you that the increased registration has come through yesterday and should alleviate all of the booking issues. OSHC has had a significant change of staff which is never ideal but can’t be helped. I have been working with the new coordinator Kim Gowley to ensure we are getting things sorted so we have a service that is safe and reliable.

Car Parking

Thank you all for your patience and flexibility with car parking this week. Having dry dirt areas has significantly helped as has our staff arrangements. We have hired a minibus for the first two weeks and are parking elsewhere while everyone settles into the new year routine. Once our students have returned to the OSHC service, or to the drop off and pick up areas, we generally find that pressure eases in the actual carpark. When using the Drop Off / Pick Up Zone, please continue not arriving till at least 3.00pm. Children are not dismissed until then and waiting in the Pick Up Zone before 3.00pm can cause car parks to be blocked by the line of traffic that develops.

eProjects

We are very excited to see that our eProjects are already off and running with most classes having introduced their class project. We have new worms for the Year 3 gardens, the Year 2’s have met the chickens and the 4/5/6 have explored the concerns about the Great Barrier Reef. 

Students have had wonderful opportunities to get outside and enjoy our play spaces and our general school environment already this week. Next week we start specialist lessons and I am sure that our students are going to love what they have in store, especially in terms of some lunch time options too.

Have a fabulous weekend. See you all next week.

Cheers

Penny Collins