Dear Parents,

Welcome back. Term 4 is always very busy with learning programmes and assessments as well as athletics days, gifts for the elderly, carol service, final assemblies and prize giving. Although we have a countdown schedule, the most important thing is that I have an expectation that teaching and learning programmes continue right up to week 10. There is an awful lot of learning to happen and we expect all students to make good progress during this term.

Earlier this year I published the new reporting to parents schedule. Just to remind you why we changed the reporting to parents system – we wanted to report to parents in real time, not through reports that were often written a number of weeks before being sent to parents.

This is our year of change and as always with change, things don’t always go to plan! I had indicated that the parent portal would be opened in term 3 so parents could see exactly what their child was learning. Due to the shortcoming with the programme we had decided to use, the information we wanted to share was not at the level we wanted, so we had to flag it. To cut a long story short, our current student management system eTap, has a parent portal and this will be open later this term for parents to view achievement data for their child.

So, this term we will be reporting to parents in the following ways:

• Child, parent, teacher triadic interviews
• Parent portal open for viewing end of year achievement data
• Report – a different format this year; part of our changed system of reporting

You will receive an email when the interview times are available and you will receive logon details for the parent portal.

A couple of reminders:

Parking/driving/walking – please, please do not park on yellow lines or across our neighbours driveways. It is inconsiderate as well as breaking road rules. Ask yourself – how would I feel if someone was parked across my driveway and I couldn’t get in or out? Same with yellow lines. They are there for a purpose and that is to ensure the safety of all motorists and pedestrians. Again, ask yourself – how would I feel if my child was knocked over because a passing motorist wasn’t able to see him / her due to illegally parked cars blocking their view? If you are walking your child home, please model correct use of the pedestrian crossing. Again, ask yourself – how would I feel if we were hit by a car as we crossed the road just a few metres away from a pedestrian crossing where you could have crossed safely?

Correct uniform – Please ensure your child is wearing the correct uniform. This includes the VAS hat, black, white or navy socks and that any garment worn underneath the uniform is white, navy or black. I have noted some colourful additions to the uniform this week! Jewellery, coloured bracelets or anklets and over the top fancy headbands are also not allowed.

Sunsmart – children must wear a sunhat in term 4. We give them a week’s grace but from Monday any child without a hat must play in the shade. Please start thinking about applying sunscreen even if the day seems overcast.

Kind Regards
Janice Adamson