Quick links to sections in this post:
Students taking part in the Nature Play incursion in Week 6.
Good News Story
A walkthrough is a casual visit to a classroom to see what learning is happening and how everyone is travelling. I am lucky enough to get to a lot of classrooms and interact with learners each day. I have seen some great learning already:
- Students across the school are actively engaging in Soundwaves Spelling each day and are learning the different ways to spell and represent sounds. Ms Ehlers’ class were working on the ‘e’ sound and told me that ‘ai’ makes the sound in the word ‘said’.
- Miss Emily’s Reception class were practicing their catching using tennis balls in PE and there were some of them who have better hand–eye coordination than me.
- Mr Heard and Ms Gregory’s Year 5/6 students spread out into the yard to read with a partner each day. This builds fluency and confidence and is a vital part of the Literacy program here at Porties.
PRINCIPAL UPDATE
Welcome to our Week 7 Blog. I hope that you were able to get out and about over the long weekend. We held our Governing Council AGM on the 1st March 2022 online. The office bearers and committee members are as follows:
Chairperson: Skye Forde
Finance Representative: Kathy Blacker
Aquatics Representative: Britney Duffus
Governing Council members: Phil Sanchez, Rachel Edwards, and Ben Hatcher
Deputy Chairperson: Chris Burns
OSHC Representative: Gillian McFarlane / Penny Sanchez
Fundraising Representative: Sophia Eriksson
Fundraising Committee: Briana Croudace, Jack Croudace, Gillian McFarlane, Penny Sanchez, and Kristy Day
Our next Governing Council meeting will be held online on Tuesday 22nd March at 5:00pm. We will be finalising the school budget, setting the Pupil Free days for the year, and discussing the Term 2 External School Review. I am excited to work with the Governing Council team and welcome other representatives / parents / carers from the school community to join Governing Council. Please email the school to register your interest.
External School Review
Every 3 years, SA Government schools have an External School Review (ESR) and we are scheduled for ours in Term 2. It was to occur this week but was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. This is my second ESR at Port Noarlunga Primary School and I am looking forward to the team of a Review Officer (former Principal) and a Review Principal (current Principal) coming in and digging into our teaching and learning. There are opportunities for the Governing Council, parents, students and staff to be involved in the process and it, usually, takes place over 2 school days.
At the end of the ESR we are provided with Directions which we must follow and then report our progress at the next ESR. We have worked solidly towards achieving the Directions set at our November 2019 ESR and the Review team will report on our progress at the upcoming review. I am lucky enough to participate as a Review Principal in the ESRs of other schools each term. It provides me with new ideas, affirmations and refreshes me as a leader.
Grounds and Facilities
You will have noticed some trees disappearing across the school grounds. We have had a number of diseased trees removed as they were potentially dangerous and a WHS concern. There was also a couple of trees that blew over or dropped branches recently. We are becoming very popular with the tree lopping company sadly. There has been an unfortunate poisoning of a large patch of grass and 2 trees along the back fence of the school. We have reported this vandalism and have had the area tested to determine its safety in regards to continuing to be part of the play area. Thankfully, this area is safe but unsightly.
The soccer goals and cricket pitch are scheduled to be removed and replaced with movable soccer goals and footy goals. This will form 2 playing areas for the two most popular winter sports at our school. It also supports the change in size required for the playing areas in primary schools now that Year 7s have moved to Secondary School.
We have noted some damage to wooden structures including the amphitheatre due to their popularity as an out of school hours, Skate Park. While these are great for practicing moves, we now need to replace the edge planks with plastic ones rather than the existing wood. We like that our grounds are useful for all kinds of activities however, we ask that people are mindful of the damage that is being caused.
Miss Emily and Miss Bayly’s classes have taken on an area of the yard that they will turn into an outdoor learning space. This area will be situated between their classes and the external fence line. The students have been coming up with some exciting designs and plan on including a mud kitchen in the area. They have also been propagating plants for the area. It is a wonderful project that will be useful for nature play.
We have a major plumbing project occurring at our school soon – hopefully in the school holidays but I haven’t heard the final date. We have 112 metres of pipes that need to be worked on which includes replacing some sections. This will mean that we will have some areas of the school dug up and then replaced. This will be a large job and one that we hope won’t cause too much disruption. Tree roots and the age of the pipes appear to be the major causes of the problems although I am sure the flushing of chip packets and a pool noodle (!!!!!) haven’t helped. I will keep you posted on these areas as dates and implications for teaching and learning come to hand.
Take care,
Marie
Events Calendar
School events can be found on our web page:
You can find ‘Events’ in the main menu on the front page at all times.
Event notifications will also be posted to ClassDojo.
Enquiries: contact the school.
