Dear Families

Parent engagement in learning is known to lead to improved outcomes for students of all ages. Schools and teachers can support families to engage in school by building partnerships to connect learning at home and school.  Thank you to families who took the time to visit their child’s classroom last Tuesday afternoon and to attend our after- school BBQ.  Many families took advantage of the shade in our courtyard and enjoyed a sausage sizzle and some activities provided by our Launching into Learning team.  Thanks also to our Aboriginal Education Worker Kristie and our Library Tech Nicole for setting up displays. Thank you also to our School Association for providing funds for the purchase of two new school barbecues which were used at this event.  We look forward to providing more opportunities for you to connect to school and to find out more about what your child is learning during their school day.

Our school values communication with parents and uses the Seesaw APP to share classroom events and samples of your child’s learning with you.   A technical issue with the Seesaw APP has meant that families were disconnected from Seesaw for the early weeks of this term.  Parent and guardians should now be reconnected to Seesaw.  Please remember that Seesaw is for sharing learning.  Any queries regarding behaviour or wellbeing need to be shared by phone call or in person with your child’s teacher.  Please contact Mrs Bannerman at school if you have any issues with reconnection.    

Another way in which we will connect with you to share your child’s learning will be by sending home progress reports for students in Prep – Year Six.  These reports will be a tick box style and share information about how your child has settled into the classroom and work habits.  Progress reports will be sent home on Friday 28 March.

Kinder Progress Reports:  will go home on Wednesday 26th March.

Our 4/5 and Year 6 classes had their Assembly on Wednesday this week.  Assemblies provide opportunities for regular sharing of learning and give our students the opportunity to speak in front of an audience.  Our assemblies acknowledge students who regularly live out our school values through the presentation of Values Certificates.  Each assembly also has a Golden Ticket draw.  Golden Tickets are awarded to students by staff when they are seen to display a school value.  Several golden tickets are drawn out each assembly and a canteen voucher awarded to those students who receive them.     

Congratulations to the following students who received Values Certificates at this week’s assembly:

Year 6:  Benji T, Charlotte C, Jaxon B, Makayla M, Chase P, Indi E

Year 4-5: Austin B, Maddison M, Ryan B, Harper E, Harrison H, Addalyn W

Congratulations to the following students who were successful in this week’s Golden Ticket Draw: Charlotte C, Taylor A and Jayda W

Elections have also been recently held to fill our student leadership positions for this year.  Our school provides our Year 6 students with many opportunities for leadership during their final year of primary school.  Leadership develops social and communication skills, supports students to set personal goals and fosters responsibility for others.  At our assembly on Tuesday, we formally recognised our School Captains, House Captains and Community Captains elected for 2025.  A list of our new leaders is included in today’s newsletter.  Congratulations!  We know that you will have a positive contribution to make to our school this year through supporting other students and assisting at school events.

Passenger Conduct Code for School Bus Services

All families with students travelling by bus to school are asked to read the Passenger Conduct Code for School Bus Services. The Code sets out the expected standards of behaviour for students when using a bus. It also provides guidance and processes for bus operators and drivers to follow when a student breaches the Code. The Code sets out a shared understanding of the expectations of students travelling on buses – and the consequences for any inappropriate behaviour.  The majority of students behave appropriately when travelling on buses. Unfortunately, there are times when this does not happen. This can affect the safety and comfort of other passengers, as well as the driver. When students do not have access to a safe bus service this can affect their sense of well-being, which may impact on their ability to learn and places pressure on parents/carers to find alternative means of transport.

If you have a child using a school bus service, please read the Code at Passenger conduct code for school bus services

Illness

To support all staff and students, please make sure that students do not come to school if unwell.  We are already seeing viral illnesses and cold and flu symptoms amongst students and staff.  School will continue to provide measures to support a healthy environment by encouraging good hygiene practices such as handwashing routines and use of hand sanitiser.  Please make sure that you let our School Office know if your child is absent and unwell. 

Allergies

Our newsletter today contains an allergy aware letter to all families, seeking your support to make sure that we are offering a safe environment for all our students.  If you have any questions about this letter or processes in your child’s classroom, please talk with your child’s teacher.

Australian Government School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) over the NBN

If there is a school age student at your home and you don’t have an nbn connection, you could qualify for free home internet until 30 June 2028. Please see the information included in today’s newsletter to see if your family qualifies for the Student Broadband Initiative.  The information also includes how to make an application.

Working with you for a positive school community,

Sonya Plunkett-Smith

Principal

Last week on Wednesday 26^th February the Grade 3 /4 classes had their first Assembly for the year. We were so happy to see so many family members able to come along and share in the fun and see all the great things that are happening in these classes.

Three classes had their turn to share their work. Miss Hedington’s class shared their ‘Recipes for Success’, Miss Mika’s class shared their ‘Learning about place value in Numbers’ and Mrs Iyers class shared their ‘Learning about sentences and how to turn them from ‘boring’ to interesting’. Well done to all these students who bravely stood up and shared what they had learnt.

Values Certificates were awarded to two students from each class who have demonstrated School Values so far this term (Respect, Responsibility, Growth, Courage, Connection). Congratulations to Aiden and Chelsea 3/4 C, Lily and Josh 3/4 I, Hayley and Matai 3/ 4 B, Hamish and Saxon 3/4 H and Max and Ethan 3/4 D.

Three excited students also had their names drawn from the Golden Ticket barrel to receive a $10 Canteen Voucher. Congratulations to Theo, Mirabelle and Grace. Keep up the good work.

This Assembly was made extra interesting and fun with a great presentation by Gwen Harper, who is the Waste Education Officer for Brighton Council. She brought new FOGO bins for all the Grade 3/4 classes and explained how reducing waste by collecting and recycling/composting Food Organic and Garden Organic waste can make a difference. All the students took a keen interest, nearly filling up the bins by the end of the day. A big thank you to the Brighton Council for providing everything needed to set up our FOGO bin Program and to Gwen for her wonderful presentation, which included bringing a waste truck for students to check out.

Dorothy Raymond

Assistant Principal

3 / 4 Sector Head

School Captains 2025

Mitchell Rogers and Sky Finlayson

Community Captains 2025

Mason Triffett, Harrison Bell, Brock Carden,
Shanzel McDonell, Stevie-Rose Camilleri & Letti Iles

House Captains 2025

WELLINGTON
CAPTAINS: Tyson Harris and Ava Hursey
JORDAN
CAPTAINS: Noah McMacken and Rubi Buckley
DERWENT
CAPTAINS: Riley Sturzaker and Ayla King
DROMEDARY
CAPTAINS: Dane Byers and Sophia Whitehouse

At the beginning of the year, the students of 3/4 Hedington reviewed our school values and created our very own ‘Recipe for Success’ using those values, and other things that we felt were useful to succeed in 2025 and beyond. All of us are working hard to follow these recipes and create what we hope to be a fabulous year!

Here is a selection of our recipes, but you are most welcome to come in and see them all in person!

Miss Natalie Hedington (3/4 Teacher)

The Kinder Pirates enjoyed our first visit to our Kitchen Garden on Tuesday. Kristie, our Aboriginal Education Worker, showed us what vegetables are growing in the garden and we took a look around the kitchen. Then we explored the garden with a partner and tried to colour match the plants we could find. The kinders did a fabulous job with this task and as you can see were very proud of their finished work! We are looking forward to our continuing fortnightly sessions with Kristie this year.

 Sarah Lee (Kinder Teacher)