PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Dear Parents and Carers
Kindergarten Orientation and Information Night
Yesterday we held our Orientation Morning for our 2022 Kindergarten cohort. It was a wonderful opportunity to welcome our new students to the school and to give them an opportunity to get to know the school a little better. The students had a very good morning and settled in well, in the time they had, to school life. Last night at 6 p.m., we held an Information Night for Kindergarten parents. The Kindergarten team spoke, as did the Leadership Team. It was one step towards what I hope would be, in the future, a return to normal school practice, regarding having parents on the school grounds and attending meetings.
2022 Planning Day
Today, the Leadership Team met for the day to focus on and plan for 2022. Our preparation involved reading some recent education articles that CE have provided to Principals and Assistant Principals. We also reread some Church documents on Catholic education and revisited our current Annual Improvement Plan and 2020 – 2022 Strategic Plan. Our work, thinking and conversations led to asking the question, ‘What is the biggest need in our school?’ This question will lead to the further refining of three goals for 2022, which will in turn inform our Annual Improvement Plan. I look forward to sharing the plan with the Community in the near future.
Please see a link to an interesting and thought provoking article written by Natalie Wexler for ‘The Atlantic’ magazine, which helped inform our thinking:
Reports and Class Lists
With only 5 weeks left until the end of the school year, necessarily the thoughts of the school and the teachers turn to the tasks that are essential for a smooth transition to the following year. The teachers are currently preparing class lists for 2022. Like this year, we will have 13 classes next year, with two classes for each grade and three classes for Grade 3/4. The teachers will prepare the class lists keeping many factors in mind, ensuring the classes are as balanced as possible. Importantly, as part of this process, students will be consulted and asked to name three friends with whom they would like to be placed, for 2022. The school guarantees one of the friends. More friends than one may be included. If you have any concerns over friendship dynamics, please email me, or your child’s teacher/s. Requests for individual teachers will be unable to be met.
Teachers are also in the process of gathering assessment and beginning the report writing process. Reports will again be delivered online via Compass, as they were last semester. Due to COVID and Remote Learning, there has been a disruption to the normal amount of assessment that can be managed. Teachers will report on Maths, English and Religious Education, with one other subject included. Spanish and The Arts will also receive a grade. There will be no comments this semester. In place of comments, there will be Parent/Teacher interviews in Week 10, on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. Reports will be made available on Compass in Week 11.
Community Council
Next week, our Community Council is meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. It will be the final meeting of the year. The year has proven to be difficult in terms of planning whole school events for families and parents (e.g., Trivia Nights and the like), due to COVID and its impact. Nonetheless, the Council has made numerous attempts at different times to plan community-building events, and we look forward next year, as school restrictions should ease, to providing some afternoon and evening events for parents and families.
Have a wonderful week with your families.
Best wishes
Cameron Johns
Principal