Hello everyone,
This past fortnight has seen so many different kinds of learning across our school, it is a very exciting time for our students as their teachers are forging forwards with highly engaging writing lessons and making the learning environments so supportive. Our two school goals for 2020 continue to pulsate with Writing and ‘Fit for Purpose” environments. I would like to acknowledge the incredible efforts being put in at the moment from all teachers from Preschool up to Yr 6.
This time of year is a very important one for us as it is the time we reach out to you, our community, parents and carers and ask for your support in completing the annual School Satisfaction Survey. This is the one main opportunity that is given to you each year, to fill in your opinions on how you perceive our school is operating and meeting the needs of your child. Last year we had a phenomenal response with over 380 surveys completed, we are hoping to receive more this year.
Why do we have these surveys? Well, simply, it gives us data. We invite all households to complete the survey, all members of staff and all students from Yr 4,5 and 6. The Leadership team is then presented with the entire picture and we use this information to guide our next year’s goals, we use this information to steer the school in the direction that will raise student outcomes and instil a sense of belonging and safety. For example, last year, shortly after I arrived, the SSS results came in showing that there was a generalised belief that student behaviour was a concern from parents and students, that it wasn’t being addressed in a timely and appropriate manner. Using this information, and through observations from the new leadership team, we were able to deeply embed PBL, have several meetings with several year levels about unsafe and hurtful behaviour, meet with parents, provide professional learning around behaviour management and introduce a flow chart of actions for staff to take when there were instances of bullying and harmful behaviour. We have built stronger relationships with families, and we are seeing a reduction of major behaviours across the school. We have followed our procedures and warranted suspensions when needed, providing us with the necessary time to engage with other staff from the Directorate to support us in creating plans for future use.
So, please know the feedback we receive is taken very seriously by my leadership team. We are working hard to improve areas of our school, and we are united and determined to continue in this way, with you as partners. Please take 10 minutes or so, to complete this survey to help us shape the future of our school. Also, we greatly appreciate positive feedback, this also gives us the data that we are on the right track or to continue with our plans.
Could I please ask for your support around arrival times to school each day. We would love for everyone to be ready and in class, to start the day’s learning promptly at 9am. Again, our data is showing us that we have far too many families arriving to school after 9.15am, this disrupts the flow of learning and is not ideal for your child to be set up for the day ahead. Thank you for considering this request. Each late day, can add up to hours across a term of missed learning.
Finally, I wanted to shout out a big proud congratulations to our senior students. Our Yr 6 students have been exemplary leaders this week in supporting the preschool Athletics Carnival. The spirit, leadership and delight shown was an absolute joy to see…I certainly think there are some ‘teachers of the future” in the making.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Regards,
Kate Smith
Principal
