WELCOME BACK

Returning to school at the start of the new year is always an exciting time. Watching the children return with such enthusiasm and wonder is very heartening as a teacher and reminds us of why we chose the vocation we did.

After a mixed year last year, we are looking forward to a better consistency and stability for the children and staff. We look forward to the wonderful things they will be doing in their learning.

Along with our new Kinder families, we also welcome the children of Steffens, Stanford and Hocking families to our school. 

MEET THE TEACHERS

We would like to encourage you to connect with your child’s teachers early in the term. We encourage all parents and carers to pop their heads into the classrooms and introduce yourselves. On Thursday 15 February from 4-6pm, families are invited to meet with their child's teachers during a whole school  “Meet & Greet”. Each stage will be open at different times in the afternoon, so for those with multiple children can meet them all. There will be a sausage sizzle available for an afternoon snack or early dinner.

As an introduction to the staff, here is what they look like and their role in the school.

KINDERGARTEN: Mrs Patty Dunn - Patty is also our Religious Education Coordinator. She will be released for this role by Hannah Matheson 3 days per fortnight - Thursdays and every second Friday.

YEAR 1: Mrs Cathy Fren who comes to us as a very experienced infants’ teacher – even before her fame.

YEAR 2: Ms Rhiannon O’Bree – really looking forward to consolidating the work with her class again this year.

YEAR 3: Ms Laura Slattery – Laura is also our school Gifted Education Mentor  - She will be released for this role 1 day per week by Ms Kailee Jones – every Thursday

YEAR 4:  Ms  Teagan Peyton – Teagan  is looking  forward to the change from infants to Primary.

YEAR 5: Mr Blake Watmore – Blake will also be taking on the role of Sports Coordinator. 

YEAR 6: Mrs Amber Deagan – Amber is also our new Assistant Principal & Pedagogical Mentor (to be explained at a later time) – she will be released for these roles 5 days per fortnight by

Mr Mark Fren. – every Wednesday, Thursday and second Friday. Mark is also teaching CAPA to all our classes - POP ART is the focus this term.

LEARNING SUPPORT:  Mrs Jennifer McCallum (Tuesdays and Fridays) &

Mrs Alissa Homer (Wednesdays and Thursdays) coordinate the support and learning for our children with special learning needs.

Mrs Samira Telford,

Mrs Belinda Gallacher

& Mrs Rachel Paul support the children and teachers in the classroom setting.

ATSI EDUCATION: Mrs Hannah Matheson has been appointed as our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Educator. She works closely with the teachers to support the ATSI children in our school and provide links to the curriculum for all the children.

LIBRARY: Mrs Margaret-Mary Spencer (Mondays and Tuesdays) supports the curriculum in the developing research and communication skills alongside the class teachers’ programs across the curriculum.

Mrs Christine Moore takes care of the administrative side of borrowing and stock control. Borrowing is on Wednesdays and Fridays.

OFFICE:  Mrs Leanne Fry is the face of the school at the front office. She is your contact for fees and enrolment enquiries. Office hours are from 8:30am to 3:30pm.

Staff of 2024 - Missing Margaret-Mary Spencer, Jenny McCallum & Samira Telford

CAPTAINS’ INDUCTION

We will be inducting our new school leaders next week on Friday 9 February at 2pm. All our Year 6 will be presented with their leadership badges and be inducted as leaders of our school. Please come along to welcome them in their new roles and encourage them to be the best they can be.

KINDER ARRIVAL

We are looking forward to the arrival of our Kindergarten cohort next week. The Year 6 children are chomping at the bit to welcome their little buddies to school. The Kinder's day will be from 9:30am to 2:30pm for the first week and supervision for those that need to go to OOSH or be picked up with Siblings will be available.

AFTERNOON PICKUP

We all like to keep our children safe, so we would like to encourage some of the following considerations when we pick up our children in the afternoons.

• Parking - if you are coming into the school to pick up your child, we respectfully ask that you do not park on the school side of Lovell Pde between the church and the bottom gate. This greatly hampers the smooth flow of the Valet Pickup line. Please consider parking in the church carpark and walking down the short 50m into the school.
• Valet Pickup - please be patient and wait the 30 seconds for the car in front of you to secure their children before they move off. Be mindful of the traffic coming down the hill from the carpark. Also be mindful if you are across residents driveways and please try to secure your child as quickly as possible.
• Sandgate Rd - Please do not call your children to cross the road unescorted. Those children that do need to cross will be escorted to the lights by a teacher.

RESPECTING OUR NEIGHBOURS

We are fortunate to live in such a welcoming and open neighbourhood. Parents are asked to be respectful of the private property of our neighbours and not to venture into their yards or play in the front lawns as you make your way to cars parked in the  church or surrounding streets.