Glengala Family Fun Day
The big day – our first ever Glengala Family Fun Day – was held on Saturday! It was wonderful to see so many of our families, staff and community members attend this wonderful event. I think one of the highlights was seeing Kris and some of the teachers getting soaked from having wet sponges thrown at them, whilst I know the rides and petting zoo proved a big hit with students. We were very lucky to have a warm sunny day, with a bit of a cool breeze to keep the temperature down. Thanks to our sponsors who generously donated prizes, helped with advertising and provided funding, our staff who gave up their time to organise activities and hold stalls on the day, and to all of our community members who attended. We are hoping to make the day even more of a success next year, so any feedback you can give that will help us make the day even better is most welcome! Just pop in to see Kellie in the office to let us know!
Student Attendance
Congratulations to the 5/6 Learning Space who had the best attendance for the month of February. They were awarded the Attendance Cup, and their free-dress day is today (Thursday).
Why does attendance matter?
Being a responsible member of the Glengala PS community means being at school every day. It is not acceptable to be away from school to go shopping or because it is their birthday. Being absent from school has a significant impact on learning outcomes for individual students, and also for other students in the class who may have group work affected. We have high expectations around attendance for two reasons:
* The impact it has on student learning outcomes.
* It teaches our students to develop responsible attitudes that are highly desired in society.
I believe very strongly that parents play a crucial role in working with the school to develop these responsible behaviours. We need to be firm with our children in relation to attendance because if we are not then we are letting them down.
When your child is absent from school – even for one day – their academic, social and emotional learning is impacted. Students who continually miss days at school are significantly impacted. Students with more than 5 days away each term will miss over a year of learning between Prep and Year 6!
So what are we doing about it?
When your child is away, if you haven’t notified the school, you will receive a call from our office staff to find out why your child is absent. A note will be sent home each week for you to fill in and return to the office, to notify us about why your child has been away. You can also notify us by calling the school, emailing us on glengala.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au or through the absence notification on the School Stream App on your phone. If you are planning an extended family holiday, you must inform us in writing of the dates that you will be away before you leave, so that we can enter this data into our system.
We understand that sometimes your child is sick and needs to stay home, or you may have cultural or religious observances that require a day absent from school. We also understand that sometimes, you may need some extra help to get your child to school, for example providing breakfast or lunches or help with uniform. We are always happy to help support you in any way that we can – you are welcome to come and have a private chat with myself or Kris if we can help you in any way to support you to improve your child’s attendance.
Riding to School
It’s been fantastic to see so many students coming to school by bicycle, scooter and even skateboard. Any student who rides, scoots or skates to school MUST wear a helmet to protect their head in the case of an accident. This is a legal requirement – children not wearing a helmet can be stopped by the police, and a fine may be issued. Please ensure your child wears a helmet any time they are riding, scooting or skating. Children without helmets will be required to leave their bike, scooter or skateboard at school for later collection by an adult.
If you have any questions, feedback or are experiencing any difficulties, please do not hesitate to give Kris, Sam F or myself a call, send an email or come in and have a chat.
Samantha Cunningham
Assistant Principal