VACY PUBLIC SCHOOL

Dear Parent & Carers, 

After a flurry of student and staff illness and isolation, things seem to be settling down now at Vacy School. 

Due to the easing of restrictions, parents are now welcome to enter the school grounds again and participate in activities and events. We are all looking forward to the Easter activities which will be the first time in many months that we can actually open our doors to all of our community. It's going to be a fun and exciting time for our students so please try your best to be there for the parade and morning tea (10am Friday 8th April). A notification went out on Skoolbag recently but if you need any further clarification, do not hesitate to call the school.  

Last night we finalised our executive team that will assist our P & C to run efficiently and smoothly for the year. Below you will see the parents and citizens who make up our committee. On behalf of the students and staff and the wider school community, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to all of those who volunteered their time to support our school.

We have many special, extra-curricula opportunities planned for our students this year. In light of the restrictions of the past and the disappointment our students have faced due to the pandemic and more recently the floods, we are hoping that we can offer our students a few more things then we normally would.

Our excursions are not compulsory however, they are offered to support and enhance the programs we provide here at Vacy. For example, our Stage 3 camp this year (Term 3) is to Canberra. Our older students will participate in a unit of work about government so subsequently, this trip gives them the opportunity to visit the many places that they have all been learning about. Whilst the invitation to attend what is offered to our students is for everyone, we do stress to our students and parents that if a child's behaviour at school is not positive, that invitation may be withdrawn. This rarely happens at Vacy School, but the responsibility is there for all to manage their choices in a positive manner.

The new Inclusive, Engaging and Respectful Education Policy is being implemented in schools next term. I will be delivering the professional learning to our staff shortly after I consult with the Primary Principal's Association this week. The three policies: Inclusive Education, Student Behaviour and Restrictive Practices Framework and Policy are quite different in some respects to what we now have in place and will require us to change some of our practices within the school. A new Anti-Bullying Policy will need to be drafted in consultation with the parent body. 

Any cyber-bullying concerns that are reported to the school will be passed on to the Incident Reporting Hotline and if needs be the Child Wellbeing Unit.  These incidents are taken very seriously, and Police intervention is sometimes required. Our students will be participating in a Cyber safety Program with the Police Liaison Officer shortly to assist them in this matter. Please be aware of what your child is doing online and who they are interacting with. If any inappropriate content or actions occur, keep a screen shot as evidence and block the other user straight away. It is important that you let sites such as Facebook, SnapChat etc. know what has happened too along with the Cyber Safety Team. Please also let me know when incidents concern students at our school so I can put procedures in place to protect those involved.

Interest groups will begin next term so if there is anyone who is interested in assisting us in the following areas, gardening, music, drama, cultural groups, robotics, craft, team sports please email or call the school.

Our recent school closure was determined by the advice taken onboard from the local Police and SES. The department supported their concerns about the possible flooding situation being worse than 2015 in the Dungog area which saw people lose their lives. This decision was not mine but the departments. Thank goodness everyone was safe in the end.

Finally, congratulations to Mrs Sally Rogers who has been successful in her application for the permanent position of Assistant Principal Curriculum & Instruction position at Vacy PS. We are all looking forward to working with Mrs Rogers whose wealth of knowledge and experience will continue to be beneficial for both the staff and the students.

Kind regards,

Karen Fonti

Principal

Some students did not receive their full allocation of RAT kits when they were last distributed to families. At the time we were waiting on our next delivery however, we were instructed to get them to families asap so we did.

If you need more tests, knowing that you should now only be testing if your child has symptoms, please contact the school as we have some here for you. All students were allocated 8 each. 

Karen Fonti

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) is a comprehensive whole school approach to addressing student wellbeing and behaviour.

So how does PBL work?

· At Vacy Public School we have 3 core expectations that underpin the PBL framework in our school. These expectations are we are responsible, we are respectful, and we are safe.

· Rules and expectations for behaviour are very clearly set out for each area of the school and are visible, in the form of signs and symbols in classrooms and out in the grounds.

· It requires staff members to be consistent, meaning that processes for managing students who need school rules to be reinforced will be the same right across the school. Each class has the same system in place to deal with issues that arise.

· The school-wide rules and expectations are explicitly taught in the classroom so that all students are aware of the rules across all areas of the school and that they understand what these rules actually mean. We need to explicitly demonstrate how to be responsible, respectful and safe at school in the same way that we teach the students how to read and write.

·  Each class has PBL lessons which are reinforced throughout the week.

· Our core expectations are reinforced on assembly each Monday morning and also on Friday as the class awards that are handed out are based on our core expectations.

· A PBL Reward System is put into place where students receive splats when they are seen to be complying with the school rules and expectations. These are collected and recorded. 100 splats =bronze badge, 200 splats =silver badge and 300 splats=gold badge. These badges are proudly displayed on their hats each year.

·  Year 5 students who wish to nominate for leadership position must have achieved silver level in order to do so and have a clear negative behaviour record throughout the year (no detentions).

At Vacy Public School we are dedicated to providing a safe environment where the students are responsible and respectful. The PBL system allows us to achieve this goal.

Congratulations to the following who people who have been voted into executive positions within our P & C for 2022:

President - Penny Evans

Vice Presidents - Phil Clements & Cassandra Allison

Treasurer - Katheen Iles

Secretary - Vanessa Barwick

Canteen Coordinators - Chantelle Hannah & Connie Kleinig

Uniform Coordinator - Belinda Butler

Fundraising - Heather Maddocks & committee

We look forward to working in partnership with you for the benefit of our students.

Congratulations to the following students who are our swimming champions for 2022:

 Junior Boys Swimming Champion 2022 - Jake Hansen

11 Boys Swimming Champion 2022 - Izaak Rienecker

11 Girls Swimming Champion 2022 - Taylah Johnson-Ham

Senior Girls Swimming Champion 2022 - Taylor Benbow

Senior Boys Swimming Champion 2022 - Noah Lagettie

These students will be presented with their swimming medallions along with our Junior boys relay team that narrowly missed out on representing the Maitland PSSA team after the rulings were changed by the association, during our Friday assembly shortly. Please note: we are waiting on these medallions and will contact parents when they have arrived. 

Congratulations to all.

Congratulations to all the winners and those who had entered. A big thank you also goes out to the organisers and the judge.