Dear Parents and Carers
We have reached the end of Term 1 and I’m extremely proud of our students and their achievements. There is such a positive feel in the Primary School and whenever we have visitors to the school, they always comment on the positivity that is present with our students and staff.
Community
I’m so appreciative of our thriving community and want to thank all parents for their involvement in excursions, classroom activities and carnivals. Founders’ Day is always a wonderful representation of both our Primary campuses coming together as one community, and this year was no exception. I recently attended the Pre-Primary Easter Egg hunt and was so thrilled to see so many parents helping make the hunt special for our students. Our parent involvement is so special and valued, so thank you. I also want to thank our staff for an amazing term. All of our staff put so much effort into their learning programmes and classroom environments before school began, and the results have been amazing. I appreciate our parents giving me positive feedback about our staff and also respecting the communication protocols that we have outlined as a school. By respecting the time of our staff and keeping our communication reasonable and respectful, our community has greatly assisted our teachers in focusing on the learning of our students. We have a very professional and dedicated staff who give everything to our students and it’s so important that we support them together.
Parent/Teacher Meetings
On Tuesday 29 April, we will be conducting our parent/teacher meetings across the school. For the first time, we are holding these on one day, which will greatly assist the teaching staff. I appreciate that it may mean that families don’t receive their ideal time, but ask that you are flexible in this process. These meetings are a great opportunity to discuss your child’s learning. The letter which outlines the process for booking in meetings has already been sent out. Please contact Primary Reception if you are having any challenges.
Traffic flow
At our parent information sessions at the beginning of the year I spoke about the work that the School has done to redesign and improve the flow of our Kiss and Drop. I also spoke about the need for patience and understanding as we are able to clear all of the traffic by 3:30pm. We will continue to refine the process but there are some things that will assist everyone.
* If parents are able to stagger their pick up times, it will assist. There are staff on duty until 3:30pm and we will always bring students to the office after 3:30pm.
* If parents avoid waiting for long periods of time at Kiss and Drop prior to school finishing it will assist with flow.
* If families utilise the parking at the rugby field this will alleviate parking pressures.
* Carpooling, bicycling, or the use of public transport by our students certainly assists.
In addition to this could I please have the community's support in avoiding parking on the grassed verge on Oakmont Avenue. This area is signed, and our neighbours have asked that we respectfully follow this protocol. Could I also politely ask that everyone avoids parking on the pedestrian paths, to keep everyone safe. I appreciate your support and understanding.
At the end of Week 9 we farewelled Mr Butcher at two worship services. The students presented Mr Butcher with a video that he can keep with lasting memories and he was very grateful. I thank Mr Butcher for his support and dedication to me and the school, and wish him nothing but the best in his new role. We welcome Dr Pennacchio into the Deputy Head of Primary role for the remainder of the year and know that he is incredibly excited about getting to know the students. I hope that our students, staff and families have a wonderful school break and make some lasting memories. I’m looking forward to catching up with families and spending time with loved ones.
Noah Clark
Head of Primary – Meadow Springs Campus