Sadly last Friday afternoon one of our Learning Spaces, the 3/4 Portable, had a break in. While nothing of significant value was taken, there was quite a mess left by the people who broke in. Police and Department of Education Emergency Management were notified of the incident. The Crime Scene Investigation unit from Sunshine Police attended on Saturday morning and were able to collect some finger prints from the crime scene. These finger prints will remain on file with Police and any offenders will face the consequences of the law.

One of the most disappointing parts of the break in was to discover some of our current and recent former students were involved. Also of serious concern was that numerous members of our community, students and adults, apparently have known about this incident and others which have gone unreported to the school or police.

We seek to provide an outstanding Learning Environment for our students and community. We offer and support our students and community in many ways above and beyond the standard expectations of staff; making this a deeply disappointing occurrence for all members of staff and our community.

I ask that if you, or your children, ever see anyone mistreating or breaking the law on or around our school and grounds to contact the Police immediately on 000.Together we have many eyes to protect our school and to allow valuable time, money and resources to continue to be dedicated to growing our school and support for students.

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence

The eighth National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence will be held tomorrow. This annual day provides a focus for all schools to say Bullying. No Way! and to strengthen our existing everyday messages that bullying and violence at school (or anywhere) are not okay at any time.

At Glengala PS we aim to ensure that students learn the behaviours and social skills that will enable them to happily take their place in any social group. Unfortunately most children occasionally get teased or annoyed by other children at school. Responding to this is one of the common challenges that children have to face at school. Being bullied is more serious. Bullying is when a person (or a group) repeatedly and deliberately uses negative words and/or hostile actions against one specific person that causes distress and hurt.

Bullying can be:

Physical (e.g. hitting, pushing or damaging personal property)

Verbal   (e.g. insults or nasty name-calling)

Social   (e.g. spreading lies or rumours)

Cyber   (e.g. using technology such as email, mobile phones or social networking sites to bully     someone verbally/socially or to frighten/intimidate)

It isn’t called bullying if any of these things happen only once, if people have a mutual argument or fight, or if a person chooses not to spend time with another person.

Let me be very clear – at Glengala PS we do not tolerate bullying behaviour by anyone – students, staff or parents. We work hard at our school to be a positive and respectful, bully free safe environment. To continue to achieve this we need your ongoing help. Please reinforce and model this concept with your children. You can use information in our newsletters, assemblies and the parent and community room as resources. Please let your teacher, Laura, Sam or myself know if your child is feeling unsafe or bullied at school and we will investigate. Please be prepared to be a part of the solution, as it is only together that we can support the social development that every child needs to function successfully.

Staffing Update – Welcome and Congratulations

Recently we welcomed two new members of staff to the Glengala team. Kathy Tardrew commenced in an Office Admin role last week. She will be working fulltime in the office and joins Kellie, Jenny and Dean to finalise our Office Admin Team. Laura Esson commenced this week in a fulltime Primary Welfare Officer Psychologist role. She joins Phoebe and Kirsty in the Allied Health Team. Laura will oversee all student welfare and wellbeing at Glengala, as well as leading the Allied Health Team.

On Wednesday three members of staff on short term contracts secured positions at our school until the end of 2018. Congratulations to Rania Tadros (Foundation Learning Space), Keith Heng (DigiTech and Classroom role) and Nikki Daley (PE and Classroom role) on securing these positions after completing merit based selection process.

Harmony Day: ‘Everyone Belongs’

Next Wednesday 21st of March we will be celebrating Harmony Day as a whole school. Harmony Day celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. It is a day for all Australians to embrace cultural diversity and to share what we have in common. The central message for Harmony Day is that ‘everyone belongs’, reinforcing the importance of inclusiveness to all Australians.

Students and staff are encouraged to come dressed in the costume and clothing of their cultural background. In the morning, students will participate in a Parade of Nations on the basketball courts. Students will then spend the day rotating through multi-age activities to learn about different cultures and nationalities. Students will then celebrate with a shared lunch from 10.40-11.40am. All students are asked to bring a plate of food which represents their cultural dishes to share with students in their Learning Space. Parent/guardians are warmly welcome to attend the celebrations on the day.

Easter Raffle

Students will have brought home their raffle tickets and information this week. Please try and sell the book of tickets allocated to your family. If you would like further raffle books please visit the office. Remember the 3 families with the most raffles tickets sold will win a prize!

Parents and caregivers are very powerful figures in influencing the behaviours and attitudes of their children. If you have questions, feedback or are experiencing any difficulties please don’t hesitate calling, emailing or coming and have a chat with myself or Sam.

Kris White

Principal

white.kris.k@edumail.vic.gov.au