Week 4 is almost done - and students are definitely feeling a mid term level of tiredness. It is vital during these colder months, and shorter days, that we have consistent routines to support our little kids growing minds and bodies. Promoting good sleep and eating habits is something that we can all do to support them.
Over the past week the I have been in contact with a number of groups to bring awareness to road safety. Consistently we are seeing cars and trucks going well over the 40km speed limit during drop off and pick up times, creating a safety hazard for our families. Since the highway patrol has been sitting at the front of the school, we have been blown away by how slow 40km actually is! We thank our families for their support with the parking madness, and not utilising the opposite side of the road which is a no-standing zone. We will continue to campaign for our school with the City of Greater Geelong, Victoria Police, Vicroads and the local members of parliament. We are also looking at changing the back of our school sign to a road safety message to replace our values for a short duration of time.
I have been absent from Anakie a few days over the past few weeks, and this will continue for a few more weeks this term. I have been participating as a challenge partner at Lara Lake Primary School, which has seen me offsite for 4 days. This has been a great learning opportunity for me to see another school through the review process. I am also undertaking some professional learning relating to my principal role which will allow me to continue to grow as a leader and support our staff, students and the broader community.
At our school council meeting on Monday evening, we had a discussion around uniforms. The council have made some suggestions of some changes to the uniform list, which we will closely consult with our families. We will seek feedback, and also will be looking at the uniform policy closely at our next meeting at the end of August. As a school council, the aim is to streamline the list to reduce the amount of options, whilst offering affordable alternate optoins to our families. Please keep an eye out for this information in the next few weeks.
Over the next fortnight you will be receiving links to two different surveys. Firstly, the OSHC survey - we want to find out everything that you feel about the service to ensure that we are doing the best that we can. Secondly, the Department of Education conducts a Parent Opinion Survey each year. I will be sending this link out to all families in the Anakie PS community, not just a selected group. As a school we would appreciate families taking the time to provide us with feedback on these surveys. We take on your responses to support us in our future planning, and to ensure that we are providing you with all you need as a parent, whether it relates to communication, academic programs, or the social and emotional wellbeing of your child.
Last Friday member of Grade 5/6 and the Junior School Council were lucky to participate in National Tree Planting Day. After last year's mammoth effort of planting the trees right around the school, we went for a more minimal approach this year, planting some natives and shrubs around the new play space. We once again thank Sarah & Bunnings Nth Geelong for their continued support of Anakie Primary School. Check out the some pictures below.
Don't forget that Book Week Dress Up is on Monday 21st August. We also have a Student Free Day on Friday 18th August - OSHC will run on this day, please keep an eye out for booking requests. There are lots of other dates filled in on our calendar - make sure you check them out at the following link: http://www.anakieps.vic.edu.au...
Finally - congratulations to our F/1/2 students who are celebrating their 100 days of learning today - we will share more on this at assembly, and photos galore will be in our next newsletter!
Many thanks,
Louise Kahle
