Term 2 is well underway and our students have gotten straight into their learning. Our Year 5/6 students participated in an incursion relating to Government, which was very well received and by all accounts our students displayed our values in an exemplary manner. We have just had a 4 day weekend to commemorate ANZAC Day and to enable teachers to improve their classroom practice and curriculum knowledge with a Curriculum Day on Friday. We hope your children return refreshed on Monday.
New Staff
We’d like to welcome Tam Tuaoi, Alaa Hussein, Gurinder Kaur and Nalia Le Farrell to our staff. Tam will be assisting with student engagement. Alaa and Gurinder will be working as Education Support staff and Nalia will be our New Office Manager working with Kate, Jade and Jo. We hope you will make them feel welcome.
Camps
We have a couple of camps coming up later this year for our Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 students. Camps will run for 3 days and 2 nights. Our Year 3/4s are travelling to the Lady Northcote Camp and our Year 5/6s will attend Weekaway. This is the first time we will be sending students to camp, so we are hoping that most will go. More information will be sent out soon on Compass and you will need to pay a deposit to hold your child’s place.
Parking and dangerous behaviour at the front of the school
I have asked on several occasions that parents consider the safety of the students at Thornhill Park PS by ensuring you do not park in the pick up and drop off bays or further along on the road during school pick up and drop off. I am seeing some very dangerous behaviour where parents are performing U-Turns in front of the school whilst people are driving the other way, people double parking or opening car doors in the middle of the road. I am also seeing parents overtake people who are waiting patiently to pick up their children as the drop off becomes vacant. I am also seeing many parents not using the designated crossings or holding the hands of young children when crossing our roads. Due to impatience from people who may not be connected to our school in trucks and the like, there is an increased risk of erratic driving behaviour that could cause one of our children to be struck by a car. Please take that extra couple of seconds to do the right thing and cross at the appropriate places or park your car in one of the many spaces situated in the streets around the school.
Beanies
Beanies are available from the front office. They are only available at our office and you cannot get them at Dobsons. They are $15 each.
Uniform and school photos
We will be having school photos in the first couple of weeks of May and we expect all of our students in full school uniform every day and especially on this day. I am noticing that most of our students are wearing the correct uniform, which is very pleasing. We do, however have quite a few students who are wearing random jumpers and jackets. I also notice that some students often wear jeans or black tracksuit pants, which are not part of our uniform. We expect all students to be wearing navy blue pants or shorts with no branding present. This is not negotiable. Tops need to be either our Bomber Jacket, Hoodie or Windcheater with our School Logo. Wet weather jackets and parkas are permitted to be worn to and from school and outside on cold days. They are not to be worn in class. There is a winter and a summer school dress. Students are permitted to wear a long sleeve navy or light blue skivvy or a school polo under these dresses. Hijabs and patkas/turbans need to be either navy blue or light blue. Students can wear gloves or mittens if they are cold, but need to remove these in the classroom. All of our classrooms are heated. Please ensure your child’s name is clearly labelled on all uniform items. Sometimes writing in a texta on the label becomes smudged and difficult to read, so please ensure you are mindful of this when labelling your items. There are too many items being handed into lost property that still do not have names on them.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Darryl Spiteri
Principal