Primary Principal Reflection
MARCUS ABNEY - HASTINGS
What a wonderful year 2023 has been! I would like to acknowledge with genuine gratitude the partnerships that make our school a productive and enjoyable working environment—our parents/carers, students, and staff together. When I reflect about this year, it is a great sense of pride and excitement that I feel. Our students have showcased outstanding academic achievements in various subjects. It is always hard to pinpoint school highlights for a year, as these will inevitably vary between students and families. It is certainly hard to choose from the myriad of engaging learning experiences, or our new initiatives introduced this year including greater student access to targeted high ability programs across Prep - Six, or, the introduction of STEM into our specialist curriculum. There are many examples throughout the year to support enhanced student learning outcomes. Every year level across the school have had extraordinary wins and opportunities to celebrate through camps, excursions, and special celebrations. The hard work and dedication of our teachers have played a significant role in fostering this growth. However, l think the activities that can be grouped under the heading of ‘ building connections ’ would have to be our
greatest success. Our school concert was simply spectacular in every way, bringing our College together. This event, you could say, even triumphs our 100 days of Prep celebrations, our 3/4 and 5/6 Camps, our Year 1 dinner or Year 2 sleepover that have happened over the year. I will let the students decide on that. These experiences have enriched our curriculum, fostered teamwork, leadership, and our students ’ social skills. It is heartwarming to witness their growth beyond academics. Another highlight this year has been our ever - improving NAPLAN data in Years 3 and 5. Yes, it is a snapshot of a student ’ s ability on a given day, but this is something that our students continue to have great success in - especially across the areas of Literacy. Our Attitudes to School Survey data continues to be strong compared to similar schools within our network and across the state of Victoria. This means that our students love coming to school, feel safe and have a connection at school. This is something that l am proud of. These 2 data sets continue to show the strong partnership between our school, our students and our parents/carers. Thank you for the trust and support you give to your children and the school.
2023 has also brought with it several facility improvements throughout our Campus. New carpets throughout the learning streets and classrooms, new toilets in the Prep/1 space, continuation of landscaping improvements throughout the front of our school to build a sense of pride and belonging - just to name a few. These improvements will continue throughout 2024. We want all our families to love your school and be proud of it. This does not aways mean we get everything right, but we work hard to support our families through providing the best education and facilities available. Thank you and a short farewell to our Year 6 students who are moving onto our Secondary Campus or other educational settings in 2024. We congratulate you on your effort, connection, and sense of enjoyment in your learning. We look forward to seeing you in 2024 as Year 7s. To our parents/carers on School Council, thank you. The support and work you have done across the year has been much appreciated. The organisation of the Father ’ s Day Breakfast, Mother ’ s Day stalls and hours spent at School Council to make our college a better place continues to enrich our College.
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