Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the end of week five. We have crossed the halfway point of the term. The next 5 weeks are a significant few weeks with many events and tasks that need to take place. From the Fete next week, graduations to leadership handovers, orientations, reports, and excursions, to name a few, we will all certainly be busy. With a sense of business also comes fatigue and tiredness. This is true for all in the community. Please look after yourselves and each other during this busy period. If you have any concerns or you need support during this time, please don't hesitate to contact the school.

Setting goals with your children and talking to them about how they respond to tiredness is important. Knowing an extended break is not far away is an excellent goal to have. Please also encourage your child to let teachers know if they are tired or run down so they can be supported. We can only support the things we know about.

Fete

We are in the final stages of planning for the Fete next week. We thank all families for their contributions to make this fete a success. All money raised is returned to the school community, and this year, it is being returned in the form of a new sports shed and updated sporting equipment. Please see the survey in last fortnight's newsletter collecting feedback about fundraising. I thank you for your support of our students.

We have asked if families can collect students from 12 pm next Friday so we can set up for the Fete after school. We recognise this will not be possible for all families and will continue to offer supervision during this time as needed. This will allow for rides and stalls to be set up in anticipation of the Fete, which starts at 4 pm.

Staffing

We are close to finalising our staffing for 2024. Ms Laura Hay will leave us at the end of the school year and has accepted a teaching position back in Sydney. We thank Ms Hay for her work as Sports Coordinator and our Gifted High Potential Teacher over the last two years and wish her all the best with her move closer to home.  

Class Lists – 2024

The students have submitted their requests for 'Friendship Five' to the teachers who are compiling the class lists for 2024. Multiple factors are taken into account, including, of course, the friendship choices of the students. The school can only guarantee one friend from the students' lists.

Working dynamics, even split of gender and ability, and teacher knowledge need to be factored into the final lists. We use a program, Class Creator, to help create our lists by entering a range of data fields, including the friendship five responses. Once this is completed, we review the lists using our professional knowledge and judgment to make considered adjustments.

Thank you to those parents who have written to me with considerations for their child in 2024. These have now closed. These considerations will be reviewed in line with the professional knowledge of staff and cannot always be entertained for a variety of reasons. Please rest assured that we will closely consider these parent recommendations and try to honour as many as possible where appropriate. A final note, general teacher requests cannot be entertained. The final decision regarding class and teacher placements rests with me.

Renovation

The final joinery units have been delivered over the last two days and will be installed over the next four days. We anticipate a move by Yr. 3 back into classrooms on Tuesday afternoon and Library/ STEM on Wednesday.

Ring Road Before and After School

Can I remind parents and carers that the drop off for students in the morning via the ring road is outside the hall after 8:30 am. We have had an increasing number of parents pulling up outside the BASCA gate to drop off students. This causes disruptions to traffic on Casey Crescent, frustration to other road users and ultimately, complaints from the general public and Action because the road is blocked.  This is similar in the afternoon when parents pull up and block traffic before the cones are removed from the ring road. I will spend some time next week speaking with people to remind them of this request.

Blessings and best wishes.

Sean Rutledge

Principal