It is hard to believe that we are already nearing the end of Term 1; it has absolutely flown by! These last few weeks have some even more amazing work coming up to show us in the office, and I’ve got a few photos of some of these superstars in this newsletter! Next term, we will officially have a farewell assembly for Mr Gorton, with the date to be advised early Term 2. Whilst a recruitment process in undertaken, I’ll continue in this position and will keep you updated once more information is available.

Next term, Miss Ramsden will also be leaving on parental leave for the rest of the year, I know that you will join me in wishing her all the best, and we look forward to seeing her back next year! There will also be some other minor staffing changes, which we will communicate once these are finalised via Connect.

One event that has crept up on us is our Easter Hat parade that is on the SchoolZine calendar.  This will be on Friday morning next week (11^th April) and if you would like to create an easter hat with your child, you re more than welcome to do so. Students will also have a chance to make a simple hat in class if they wish. Parents are welcome to stay for this if they would like, and we will begin at 8:45 on the quadrangle (near the flagpoles). This is completely optional for students to do, so please do not feel obliged! In addition to this, we are currently reviewing how our community lunches / events look, so there advertised community lunch for next Friday will not go ahead, and I’ll let you know how these will look and how we hope to get families involved early next term.

New Student Information System and Attendance System

Next term, our system for recording student information and attendance is changing. As of Tuesday 13^th May, we will be transitioning to Compass, which some of you may have used previously, particularly if you have students in High School. Most of these changes will be in house, however there will be some changes that you may notice at the start, primarily with the absentee texts coming from a different sender, and the ability to click a link in this message to provide a reason.

Later on, either in late 2025, or early 2026, we will also begin providing parent logins for this so that we can:

• Provide real time updates and messages (potentially replacing Connect)
• Gain online consent and payment for excursions and activities
• Request absences ahead of time (for appointments / planned holidays)

We look forward to sharing more information around this early next term.

Drop Off / Arriving Late at School

Recently, we have had some feedback around the times that our gates are closing in the morning where students are arriving late. Our gates are locked between 8:30 and 8:35 am each morning by our student leaders. Locking the gates at this time helps support students who may be unsettled in the mornings and minimises unnecessary movement around the school once classes have begun. While this may sometimes result in families arriving to find a gate closed (or closing), this approach prioritises student safety and security and aligns with our attendance procedures, as classroom rolls are marked promptly at 8:30 am to prevent unnecessary absence notifications from being sent to families.

If your child is arriving close to, or after 8:30, please drop them off at the front of the school where they can enter through either Gate 1 (if still open) or the office so that they can be marked as present for the day.

I understand that this process may be inconvenient at times, however, it has been extremely disappointing that some families have been quite vocal with the students closing the gates, to the point of berating them. Please note, this type of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. On the other hand, thank you to those families that have intervened when they have seen this, and reminded those adults that it is not ok.

Great Work

Some of our younger students have been doing some amazing work lately and have been showing off their reading and writing skills. They have loved coming up and showing us, making their teachers especially proud of how hard they are working!

I hope that everyone has a great end to the term, and look forward to seeing lots of families at our final assembly of the term tomorrow, presented by CR9 and CR10!

Regards,