Principals Report
School Review
As an Independent Public School we engage in school reviews. This is where a Director from the department and a peer Principal meet with the school (staff, school board etc.) and work through school documents and information to validate our school self-review process. Our school will be having our review on Tuesday 20 October.
Business Plan
Our Business Plan will be finalised by the school board over the next week. After it has been signed and endorsed by the School Board it will be published. All families will receive a copy and it will be posted to our website and schools online department website. Our Business Plan is for the next three years and outlines our school priorities and how we will achieve our set academic and non-academic targets.
Yarning Circle
Our yarning circle has started being created! Students across the campus have created designs which have been given to our artist who used these as inspiration when creating the design for the yearning circle and the seating. A concrete pad will be poured this weekend in preparation for the artwork. When complete, the yarning circle will be used as collaborative way to communicate and encourage responsible, respectful and honest interactions.
Wellness Day – Friday 4 September
Next Friday the campus will celebrate Wellness Day together. This is a day when health and wellbeing activities will be run campus wide and students work together in groups for the day. Students from our school will be working together with peers in the primary school. Students are encouraged to dress up representing an emotion. Students can dress in colours that reflect the way they are feeling.
Pre-Primary Students 2021
A reminder for families who have children who are pre-primary age next year that you must re-enrol for 2021. Enrolment forms have been sent home to families. Please return them at your earliest convenience.
Attendance Letters
Earlier this term some families received attendance letters which indicated that your child’s attendance was under the average student attendance. I wish to apologise for some of the confusion felt by families when this was sent out.
The attendance data indicated in the letter was only inclusive of term three attendance. The attendance did not include absences from school because of therapy. The data did however include absences due to a student being sick, or for medical appointments etc. We completely understand that students who are away from school because they are unwell, or have unavoidable appointments have valid reasons for not being at school. The intention of the letter was for families’ information, and not intended to cause confusion or distress.
Parents we need your feedback!
ASEPA (Australian Special Education Principals Association) have teamed together with the Australian Catholic University to create a survey for families of students who are attending education support facilities. There has never been a survey like this done before and as parents of children with disabilities it is an opportunity to give some feedback on how you feel about education support centres and special schools.
We need your help to give your feedback about how satisfied you are with specialist schools in Australia. This is a national survey, and all responses are anonymous. The link can be found below.
Natalie Hatton
Principal