Welcome to our first newsletter of 2025! The beginning of the year has been excellent and the students have settled in well to our new timetable; it has been fantastic seeing some of the work that has been taking place in classrooms already, particularly within the literacy sessions and morning check-ins.  These will be a significant focus for us this year to enhance our literacy development, and align some of our practices to the Berry Street Education Model which focuses on Trauma Informed Practice.

As you would likely have seen, Mr Gorton shared a Connect message at the beginning of term outlining his plans for retirement at the end of this term.  Once more information becomes available, I’ll keep families updated as to recruitment processes to find a substantive (permanent) replacement as well as how we will mark the significant event for our school.

Next week, we also have our first assembly presented by CR6 and CR7 which we can’t wait for, also just a quick reminder that this back on to the long weekend for the public holiday (Labour Day) with students returning on Tuesday 4 March.

Swimming Lessons      

Thank you to all of the families that responded to the short survey regarding intentions to take part in swimming lessons year; the overwhelmingly positive response to this means that we can go ahead with planning for lessons to occur.

Letters regarding this will be sent home after the long weekend, with the school being split over 2 blocks, one being 10 days and the other being 8 days. The cost of these will differ slightly to reflect the length of these, with the costs being made up of bus transport and pool entry each day. As mentioned previously, the highest cost that I anticipate will be $90 and will hopefully reduce slightly based on the information that families have provided.

Once this letter comes home, if you would like to set up a payment plan, please feel free to contact Mrs Sparks in the office to organise this.

School Board Expression of Interest

Last year, the tenure of some of our Board members expired, and some have moved away from Alkimos PS. As such, I am inviting expressions of interest to fill some of the positions; dependent on the amount of these received, an election may be required later in the semester. Rather than providing oversight and management of the school, The Board provides a link between the school, families and community members and can be consulted before introducing policy that may impact the school community.

 If you are interested in this, I am more than happy to make a time to discuss this in more detail, before you put your name down. Once expressions of interest are closed, and the current board members have reviewed how many new members are required, I will contact those interested. 

Please note, anyone seeking election to the School Board is required to undergo a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check before being nominated.

If you are interested, please complete this short form: https://forms.office.com/r/ckN0Xkd1ze

Playground (Upper Primary)

Recently, we have been discussing the need for a more structured playground for our older primary in Years 3-6. This is still in its infancy and may take a while to get underway, but over the next few months we will be getting ideas from students as to what could be an option and obtaining quotes from suppliers.

As we go through this process, we will share plans and updates; you may also note that there have been commitments from some prospective members of parliament to contribute to this and should this occur, this would go directly towards the construction of the new play area.

This new play area is in addition to the ‘refresh’ that we are working on in our Early Childhood playground. You may have noticed the new play cubbies where the sandpits used to be which have proven to be very popular! A new sandpit area is next on the agenda and will hopefully be underway soon!

Connect and Respect

Late last year, I published a copy the Minister for Education’s Connect and Respect Initiative. These resources provide clear expectations for interactions on school grounds and in communication with students, staff, and other adults. While our teaching staff at Alkimos Primary School are more than happy to arrange meetings with families to discuss any concerns, these meetings may not always be immediate. Staff will organise appointments as soon as possible based on availability.

Over the last week, we have experienced instances where individuals (parents) have approached children who are not their own, interacted inappropriately with other families during drop-off and pick-up times, or engaged with school staff in ways that do not align with the respectful environment we maintain at Alkimos Primary School. Such behaviours are unacceptable and will not be tolerated; repeated or severe instances of this may result in formal warnings being issued or those responsible being barred from entering school grounds for a period of time.

We would like to remind everyone that it is never appropriate to address or discipline another child directly. Should an issue arise, please contact the child’s classroom teacher or school leadership for support and resolution.

In addition, we ask that all adult interactions on school grounds remain courteous and respectful. Specifically, the following behaviours are inappropriate during meetings with staff or while waiting for student collection and interacting with other adults:

• Swearing or using offensive language in the presence of students or staff
• Intimidating or aggressive behaviour
• Inappropriate conduct
• Use of derogatory or racist language

If you have any questions or concerns about these expectations, please feel free to contact the school office to arrange a time to discuss them with me.

Regards,