Dear Parents and Carers,
Term 4 has certainly lived up to its reputation of disappearing in the blink of an eye – here we are nearly in Week 5 already!
Thank you to all parents who have participated in our recent surveys. We greatly value and appreciate the time you have given to provide us with feedback. This feedback is invaluable for us to continue to refine and improve what we do – particularly in 2020, with the continual changes we have had to negotiate.
As well as our ‘Tell Them From Me’ survey, we have been conducting a second survey in preparation for the development of our new Strategic Improvement Plan for 2021-2024. Parents have been able to access this survey online, and staff have also been making randomised phone call surveys to attempt to gather as many responses as possible. If you have the time (only 5 minutes!) and haven’t yet completed this survey, it can be complete by following the link below.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N7KGYJC
It has been wonderful to welcome our newest students to Lithgow Public School, with our Little Learners program commencing our transition to Kindergarten. Our newest students have embraced learning all about the school, and we are looking forward to them joining us full time in 2021. Many thanks to Mrs. Inzitari, Mrs. Gordon, Miss Wilson, Mrs. Seymour and Mrs inwood for their work in organising and running our Little Learners program. As I said in the last newsletter, this makes an enormous difference for the children who will begin Kindergarten in 2021
If you have a child ready to attend Kindergarten in 2021 or know someone who does, please encourage them to contact the school to complete the enrolment process.
Classes 2021
In the coming weeks, the staff and I will be looking at class structures and student placements for 2021. At this stage, we have not finalised which teachers will be teaching which classes; however, if you have particular reasons why you feel your child should or shouldn’t be placed with specific other students, it would be great if you could drop me a letter via the school office. While I cannot guarantee that we can accommodate all requests, I can ensure that all requests will be considered in light of what is in the best interest of the entire student population. It would also be great if you could notify the school office if your child won’t be returning to Lithgow Public School in 2021. This will assist us greatly as we plan classes for next year.
Office Staffing
In the last newsletter, I made mention that Mrs. Heidi Inwood would be leaving us to take up a position at Cullen Bullen Public School. Between then and now, a few things have changed. Mrs. Jo Bennett has been offered the School Administrative Manager’s position at Wallerawang Public School until the end of Term 1 2021 and has accepted this position. Given this, the option for Heidi to work full time emerged. Heidi happily agreed and, as such, will be full time in our office until the end of Term 1 2021.
COVID-19 Guidelines
Yesterday, the Department of Education released new guidelines for schools. I am currently taking the time to look at how these guidelines will impact our operations, particularly in regard to end of year activities such as Presentation Assembly and the Year 6 Farewell, as well as the election of student leaders for 2021. I will send out additional information regarding this next week.
P&C Annual General Meeting - Monday 7 November at 6.00pm
One change that is clear in the updated COVID-19 guidelines is that P&C’s can now meet on the school premises. As a result, the school’s P&C will hold its long-overdue Annual General Meeting on Monday 7 November at 6.00pm in the school’s library. The usual P&C meeting will follow the AGM. We look forward to seeing as many of our community as possible there.
Mark Davies | Principal | Lithgow Public School
