Issue 1
Term 1
Thursday 20 February, 2020
On behalf of the Department of Education and school staff, I would like to welcome all of our families and community back to Aspiri Primary School for the 2020 school year. I trust everyone had a restful holiday break and have returned ready to embrace everything 2020 has to offer. In particular, I would like to welcome all of our new families to Aspiri Primary School and hope that your child’s journey is rewarding, challenging and productive. We will certainly be working towards ensuring this is the case.
We begin the year with nearly 710 students which is an increase of around 150 on 2019. We have staffed according to this number and we are using nearly all available teaching spaces. We no longer host a Kindergarten cohort from Harrisdale Primary School as they now have their own annex to cater for these students. Within the next couple of months, you will see the arrival of two transportable classrooms. This is in an attempt to be ahead of the demand for additional teaching spaces in 2020. We are also planning for the arrival of three more classrooms for the 2021 school year. Our plan is to use available spaces between existing teaching blocks along Rossiter Avenue in order to preserve the large, open play spaces and grassed areas – but that may be driven by the preferences of the Department of Finance teams who manage these projects.
With so many families at Aspiri Primary School, parking remains an issue. In the strongest terms, can I ask that parents are both careful and patient when using the carparks in the mornings and afternoons. We are looking at new strategies to assist in alleviating the issues, but if everyone drives to school, we will always experience this congestion. Look for our walk or cycle to school initiatives and support them, park in the Rossiter Pavilion carpark or simply be a good parking citizen.
Requests for information around the possibility of Interm Swimming being made available at Aspiri Primary School are still being made. We have not introduced the program in 2018 or 2019 as our priorities have been focused upon establishing the school in general. There are advantages and disadvantages to running a program such as this in schools, and this has all been taken into account by your school Administration team and the School Board. We will be surveying the entire school community in the coming weeks to determine the preference of our school community in relation to this initiative and the School Board will then make a decision based on this data. I remind the community that in the interim, Vacation Swimming Programs run by the Department of Education are still available to all families. You should also note that, if the community votes in favour of Interm Swimming, the earliest that we can participate will be 2021 due to Department of Education guidelines and associated timelines.
Next week you will receive an email with a link to vote for candidates in our 2020 School Board election. We have two vacancies and these will be filled in time for our first Board meeting on Thursday March 19, 2020. Please use your opportunity to vote and use it wisely as the parent representatives on your Board are your voice in our strategic planning, decision making and directions moving forward.
Finally, a reminder that, as advised last year, next Friday, 28 February, 2020 is a pupil free day as the school takes the opportunity to undertake professional learning, look at 2019 data and revise strategic and instructional processes for 2020.
See you at the gate.
Noel Morgan, Principal.
