Dear Families
Welcome to the new school year! I hope you all had a lovely break from the routines of school. I’m fairly certain that the majority of parents will be thinking (if not saying) ‘well that was a good break, but we’re ready for everyone to go back to school’!
There is something comforting for many, about returning to a routine.
There will also be a mix of emotions. Some children will be excited by the new stationery, new books, new lunch box, new shoes. Some will be excited to be seeing their friends again. Some will be nervous. What if …? What if …? What if …? If you have a child feeling nervous or anxious, your instinct may to be to say something like ‘You’ll be fine – try not to think about it’. However, for many children it’s more helpful to acknowledge how they’re feeling. Reassure them that it’s normal to feel anxious about something new and ask them what helps them to feel okay when they experience uncomfortable or ‘big’ emotions. As parents and carers, we want to take children’s discomfort away, but we sometimes need to pull back and instead help them to sit with discomfort. They are going to need to navigate disappointment, nervousness and frustration throughout their lives. We can help by using challenging experiences as opportunities for growth – opportunities to let children know that we get how they are feeling, that we’ll sit with them in their discomfort, that there are things they can do to manage how they are feeling and that the discomfort will pass. We need to do more supporting and encouraging and less rescuing. That’s our challenge as the adults in young people’s lives!
Staff
This year we have welcomed a significant number of new staff. Most, but not all of our new faces are in fixed-term positions while others are on leave. Ms Trovarelli, Visual Arts specialist has extended her leave and Mrs Abigail Fenwick will be with us for Semester 1. Mrs Loleva has also extended her leave, and Mrs Rose Fleming and Mrs Eva Tsolakis will be teaching Pre-Primary in Semester 1. Mrs Minissale and Mrs Norton-Smith are working closely with them. Mrs Davey and Ms Burrows, Music and Phys Ed specialists, commence parental leave at the end of next week. Music and Year 3-6 Phys Ed will be taught by Ms Anja Cirkovic and Ms Kate Scott this year. Mrs Jonklaas is on leave during Semester 1 but will pop in to do some teaching when she is not travelling. Ms Skye Cannon has joined us to share a Year 3 class with Mrs Barton. Mr Hodgson also extended his leave this year.
At the end of last year, Mrs Emma Cory accepted a full-time teaching position at a nearby school, and Mrs Joni Gardner will be sharing the Year 5 class with Mrs Zaltsman. Finally, in the final few days of Term 4 2022 Mrs Linda Wayman, Manager Corporate Services (MCS) won a position at another school further north; and Ms Bronwyn Carey, Deputy Principal accepted an offer to work at a school a few minutes from home. We have welcomed Mrs Sue Logan and Mrs Gail Taylor to the MCS position and Mrs Aleisha Niebieszczanski (Nib-e-shanski) to the Deputy Principal position held by Ms Carey. Can you guess how I spent my school holidays? ?
What our First Day Back will Look Like
The last two years or so created opportunities for us to look at new ways of doing some things. Like many people and organisations, there are some things that we noted worked well that we would like to keep. One of these is how we manage the arrival of children, their families and several hundred boxes of books and stationery on the first morning. The morning of Wednesday 1 February will therefore look as follows:
- Ms Lund (6L), Mrs Powell (5/6P) and Ms DeBrass (4/5D) will greet their students and families in the basketball court adjacent to the library
- Mrs Zaltsman and Mrs Gardner (5ZG), Mr Watson (4W), Mrs Hopetoun-Smith (3H), Mrs Tsironis (3/4T) and Mrs Barton (3BC) will greet their students and families in the undercover area
- Mrs Tusak (2T), Mrs Chipps (2C), Mrs Tombides (1T) and Miss Stewart who is now Mrs Upton (1U) will meet their students and parents at their classes
- Mrs Minissale will meet her PP students in the Music Room, and Mrs Fleming and Mrs Tsolakis will meet their PP students in the Art Room
- Each group of Kindy children will pop straight into Kindergarten on their respective first day
Please help:
If you are able to bring stationery and books in reusable bags rather than the boxes most items were delivered in, that would be appreciated. One or two flattened boxes in your home recycle bin will save us flattening and carting 400+ to the bin on Styne Road. We will reuse some boxes but not several hundred, so thank you if you are able to help.
Pre-Primary
Families with a child starting Pre-Primary will receive a short email from me, following this one.
Yesterday and today have been very busy, but productive days. If you are waiting for a phone call or email, I’ll get to it asap.
I’d like to extend a welcome to our new staff, students and their families – you are joining a special school community.
Very best wishes for a happy, settled first day everyone. See you in the morning!
Elizabeth Blackwell
Principal