Welcome back everyone for what is sure to be an amazing school year! Our students and staff have certainly “hit the ground running”, with classes quickly settling in to routines and learning. We would like to extend a very warm South welcome to our new students and families along with teaching staff, Mrs Vicki Gee and Miss Steph Holz, along with Miss Hollie Singline who is working with Miss Garwood as a 4^th year University intern. We also welcome Ms Lauren Hajro in the school psychologist role.

Our two school focus areas will once again align with the department’s in Reading and Attendance. These have been our priorities even before the department embarked on their Lifting Literacy strategy, and it has been very affirming for us for the department teaching and learning approaches to align with our core beliefs and approaches that we have been implementing over the past 6 years. We have some exciting new initiatives that we are looking at introducing in March- watch this space!

Also keep an eye out for updates on the redevelopment plans for the school. Last year we were given $15.1 million dollars to upgrade the school and work is underway in selecting the architects. More information will be distributed over our Social Media channels and in the newsletter. We will be relying more upon our Social Media platforms to distribute information than the traditional newsletter source, as our metrics tell us that this is where the majority of our South community get their information from. Newsletters will be 2 to 3 times per term and be an assimilation of much of what we send via social media.

Term 1 will be busy with Athletics carnivals, NAPLAN, swimming and water safety, Esk Band beginning amongst a myriad of other fantastic learning opportunities that align with our school vision of “empowering students to participate and succeed as creative, ethical, and purposeful members of our community and society”. We look forward to continuing to work with you all to make that vision a reality.