Today was the final day of our two-week intensive swimming program with some very tired individuals making it to the end!  Yesterday I managed to sneak away from the school to watch the swimming and it was warming to hear how far many of our students have come during this time, reminding us why this program is so important for every student.  As I’ve mentioned before, we’re incredibly lucky to have this swimming program time, leading into our summer spell and an increase of water activities over this period.  We know that this program has provided the confidence and skills to help students during these times.  A massive thanks to Mrs Hueston for her organisation of the program, juggling groups and setting everyone up for success!  Thanks also to the Geelong Aquatic Centre for hosting us.

Next week is the school camp for students in grades three to six with an exciting camp organised to Anglesea.  Students will be off surfing, hiking through the bush, participating in adventure activities and, quite possibly my favourite, a sneaky visit to the ‘Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie’ (I quite like their chocolate aniseed rings, Mrs Sobczynski  – hint, hint!). Camps are a great opportunity for our students to learn in a different environment and to try new things.  For many, this is often their first time away from home, building their confidence in this with familiar people to support them.  Camps are also such great fun!  We wish our campers the best and thank our staff members attending for taking time away from their own families to support our camp.  Thanks to Bec in the office and Miss Wise for organising our camp too.

Recently we’ve noticed an increase in poor behaviour choices with some students being disrespectful to staff and students, not putting in their usual effort, and disrupting the learning of others.  While we can say that the ‘term four blues’, the exhaustion of swimming, the buzz of Halloween, or the recent full moon and winds might have some impact on students behaviour choices, it stands that this type of behaviour is not acceptable at Wangala Primary School.  I take this is as an opportunity to remind our community of the procedures we have in place to address poor behaviour choices, beginning by stating that, at Wangala Primary School, we all firmly believe that poor behaviour choices are a sign of other unmet needs and/or worries of students.  Our approach is to positively reinforce behaviour choices, reflected in our ‘Positive Behaviour Matrix’ (see at the end of our newsletter), and to reward positive choices.  Sometimes when students engage in continued poor behaviour choices, we must apply the Wangala Primary School ‘Behaviour Support Process’ (see below) providing students with opportunities to refocus their behaviour to a more positive outcome.  Part of this process also results in a Compass ‘Behaviour Notification’ outlining to you, the parents and carers, your child’s behaviour choices and the positive behaviour conversation your child was engaged in with one of our staff members.  Students also spend time completing a reflection sheet with our ‘Stay and Play’ staff member, that has them reflect on these behaviour choices, the impact of these choices, and the better choices for next time.  When you receive these ‘Behaviour Notifications’, we ask that you discuss them with your child, reinforcing the choices made as poor, the positive conversations around impact and consequences, and better choices next time.  Sometimes we may ask you to make time to come in and work with us to support your child to successfully engage in their schooling, ensuring the strong partnership between school and home.  Thankfully, the large majority of students only need one or two reminders around behaviour to change their choices for a more positive outcome.

On a more positive note, many of you will have recently received a ‘Positive Behaviour Notification’ outlining a ‘gotcha’ moment where one of our staff members saw your child making a positive behaviour choice.  I hope these fill you with as much joy as they do me when I am emailed the notifications!  It’s great to see and celebrate so many of our student’s choices!

I hope to see many more positive behaviour notifications soon!

Regards,

Steven King
Principal