It has been interesting listening to all the stories of athletes, not just from Australia, but across the world from the Paralympics over the last two weeks.  The obvious common theme is overcoming adversity, but more importantly the desire to improve and the ongoing commitment and dedication that these athletes are prioritising to achieve their goals.

For our students there are significant lessons that can be learnt here through the experiences of others.  Firstly you need to identify a goal and make a decision to get better.  Having a positive but realistic view about what your goals may be, is always helpful.  From there it is about maintaining your effort and focus on the steps required along the way.

Sharing these goals with others, however big or small, increases accountability and helps to stay on track.  Having others giving you reminders and assistance is also another way to make the most of the opportunities that are presented.  This is particularly true with learning goals.

We have been continuing our focus on respectful behaviours across the school.  Often as we get further into the term, people’s tolerance and resilience decrease which can lead to conflict.  We are working with all our students to ensure they have the skills needed to assist them to deal respectfully with each other and also with staff.

We have a big day on Friday with our 5/6 students hopefully being able to participate in their last round of sport.  Weather permitting we trust that all our students get another opportunity to demonstrate their sportsmanship and team play irrespective of the sport they are playing. 

We will also be hosting some teams from Scottsdale High School who are participating with us in the Write A Book In a Day competition (WABIAD).  In teams of 8-10 students will be starting at 8am and developing ideas and storylines, creating the text and illustrations and publishing a book before the cut off time of 8pm.  They will have access to a variety of technology including laptops, cameras and a photocopier/scanner so that they can incorporate a range of material.  This is a fantastic co-operative learning activity and one which will hopefully inspire students not just on the day but into their future.

Thank you to all our visitors for your consistent approach to checking in and using the QR codes around the school.  We are very conscious of the need to stay in good habits so that we can manage any future scenarios in a prompt and controlled way.  Our students are great ambassadors in this space, routinely washing and sanitising when they enter different spaces.

A big thank you to all those families who are supporting us in a variety of ways to ensure the best outcomes for students.  Having more students in uniform, arriving punctually to school and being ready to learn are some examples of the improvement we have seen over recent weeks.

Please use the survey monkey link and complete the survey around Out of School Hours Care so that we can advocate for you to increase options for families around the challenges of work and school.  We are hopeful that there is enough support to increase services and assist our community.

Colin Pearson – Principal