Dear Parents/Carers,
I would like to thank everyone in the Parkhill Primary School community for the warm welcome I have received since taking up the Acting Principal role, and Elaine Brady for her support and considered planning to ensure a smooth transition. As I have settled into the routines and ways of doing things at Parkhill PS, I have been incredibly impressed with the commitment, dedication and professionalism of the staff in catering to the needs and interests of students across the school, particularly through the challenges of remote learning.
I would also like to acknowledge the amazing efforts of the Parkhill PS families in supporting your child/ren with their learning and ensuring they remain connected to their teachers and peers. The recent news that Victorian primary school students achieved the best NAPLAN results in the country this year, despite spending more than 120 days learning from home since the pandemic began, is a strong validation of the success of the continuity of learning programs through the lockdown periods and the effort and support of teachers and families. Individual student NAPLAN results are not yet available to schools, and we will provide information to families once we receive this. While this success is worth acknowledging, supporting the mental health and wellbeing of students is always our first priority. The Department of Education has developed a number of resources for families to support students’ mental health and wellbeing, which can be found on the links below.
Resources to support children’s mental and physical health and wellbeing.
Wellbeing activities and conversation starters for parents of primary school-aged children.
Headspace has also created a video providing tips to support parents and carers during lockdown and are running webinars for parents and carers about offering support when they are concerned about a young person’s mental health.
I am looking forward to working with the Parkhill PS community over the next 8 months, and am particularly looking forward to meeting the students and families face to face when we are all back at school.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time if you have anything you would like to discuss.
Take care,
David Wells
Acting Principal
