Welcome back to the 2020 school year! It’s been a terrific start for us at Punchbowl Public School - children are settled into their new classes, and learning has once again commenced. One of the wonderful things I love to do in my role as Principal is spend time with the children each day and discuss with them what they’re learning and more importantly, why they’re learning it. I’ve been very impressed with the conversations I’ve been having so far with students in the preschool right up to our student leaders in Year 6. I look forward to another year of working closely with our students and community for the benefit everyone.
In this edition of the newsletter I’d like to raise a few matters that we’ve been dealing with in the school and ask that you read my comments carefully. If there are any issues you’re more than welcome to come and discuss them with any member of the school leadership team.
Absences
It is a legal requirement that all students attend school every day unless they are sick or have a valid family reason. As a school we regularly monitor attendance rates and ask that you have your child/ren to school every day, on time. We’re monitoring absences, including students who are arriving late, on a weekly basis. Where there are patterns of lateness, Teachers, Assistant Principals, Deputy Principals and I will be contacting parents to see if we as a school can offer you some support.
Please, if there are any issues that affect your ability in getting your child/ren to school on time, we are here to assist where we can. For more information about compulsory school attendance, please visit:
Court Orders
Unfortunately, relationships sometimes break down and court orders are necessary to outline the contact parents can have with their children, or the role they play in making decisions about their children’s education. These can be Family Court Orders or Apprehended Violence Orders. Parents can also reach agreement about issues such as contact in a parenting plan.
If this happens it is important that you provide the school with a copy of any court orders or plan that could impact on your child’s education.
In the absence of any notification to the contrary, the school will assume that both parents continue to retain a shared and equal parental responsibility for their children and should be involved in making any decisions regarding their children’s education.
This means that the school will recognise that each parent has equal duties, obligations, responsibilities and opportunities in relation to matters involving the school.
If any changes occur in your family relationships which have the potential to impact on the relationship between the school and your family, please advise the school immediately and provide a copy of any court orders that may be obtained.
These orders will be stored securely and only accessed by staff who need to see them in order to plan for your children’s learning and support and related issues.
Communication between Home and School
At Punchbowl Public School, our staff are committed to open and transparent communication across the community. From time to time we understand that parents will need to discuss matters regarding their child’s education with us. In 2019 we developed our Punchbowl Public School Communication between Home and School Procedures document which I encourage all parents to read in full. As a summary, I have copied a table for parents below – if you have a compliment or a complaint, please discuss with the appropriate first point of contact below.
| 1. | Child’s progress | Class Teacher |
| 2. | Behaviour issues in class | Class Teacher |
| 3. | Behaviour issues on the playground | Assistant Principals |
| 4. | School organisation | Deputy Principal/Principal |
| 5. | Curriculum | Deputy Principal/Principal |
| 6. | General enquiries (School contributions, charges and payments) | Office staff |
| 7. | Schools as Community Centre (SaCC) enquiries | SaCC Facilitator/Community Liaison Officer |
| 8. | Actions of a staff member | Assistant Principal/Deputy Principal/Principal |
| 9. | Child protection / misconduct issues | Principal |
Road Safety, including parking and collecting children
We all have a responsibility to ensure that everyone who arrives, enters and leaves the Punchbowl Public School site does so in a safe manner. You will have received at least 3 notifications via SkoolBag, Facebook and SeeSaw in the past couple of weeks reminding the community about various matters including road safety, crossing the road and parking legally. Please ensure that you are complying with all requests as no one wants to see any of our community hurt because of carelessness.
Until next time, I hope you are all keeping well. Take care of one another and I will see you in the school yard at some point.
Dace Elletson Principal
