Thank you to our families for your ongoing and generous contributions over the past weeks to support the many special events we have recently held! As always, we are looking to adjust the timing of some of these events next year, as we are aware of the demands these have placed on some families all within a short time frame. 

Community Sport

Information about Community Sports (Equestrian and Cycling) for 2018 will be sent out later this term, once staffing and day allocations have been finalised.

Traffic Safety at Scotch

This week our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the community of Banksia Road Public School in Western Sydney. The loss of life and serious injury to children whilst attending class, is a tragedy that will have ongoing consequences for the families and school community.

At Scotch student safety is a priority. This year we relocated our bus zone to Albert Street, placed teachers on crossing duty at Muggs Hill Road, and have met with local council to review pedestrian safety. When required we have also placed safety bollards to refresh drivers’ memories of the dangers of dropping off on yellow lines.

We have a well-educated community and, together, we can prioritise student safety.We greatly appreciate your support in the following areas:

• The no standing zone (no parking) at the end of the Noman Walk cul de sac is to ensure vehicles can turn safely without compromising pedestrians.
• The paved area in front of the school is pedestrian only area.
• The disabled carparks by the reserve are for drivers with disabilities (we have school families who need to access these)
• Double parking poses a hazard - if you are unable to secure a carpark, off-street parking can always be accessed at the Edinburgh Hotel and in Mitcham Reserve.
• The embankment at the end of the Norman Walk cul de sac is an emergency access and evacuation point -please do not block it by parking there.

Staffing Considerations for 2018

Primary teaching, by its very nature, makes for a broad and varied career of great fulfilment! A primary teacher must have the skills to teach the very youngest learners who are beginning to acquire literacy skills for reading, as well as teach a personal health unit to children entering puberty!

As I moved across year levels, in my role as a classroom teacher, I found great value in having time to build curriculum expertise, child development knowledge and a passion for each of those stages. I spent a number of consecutive years at each level to do so. Accordingly, as a Head of Campus, I greatly value stability of teaching staff across year levels to allow my staff the same opportunity. Therefore, staff movement between year levels will always be reflective of staff seeking new challenges, to provide opportunities to share expertise and practice across the school, or to build the staff team numbers required for a year level. Movement will always be carefully planned and targeted each year to ensure we are building on our capacity, rather than making a broad sweeping action to ‘shake everything up’ for the sake of change.

I would like to announce that Mr. Sebastien Lefeuvre has personal leave approved for 2018, in order to pursue professional development, working in the field of bilingual education. Whilst we will miss Sebastien in 2018, we look forward to him re-joining us in 2019.

Student Action

I have appreciated the Scotch Uniform committee (Senior Leadership, Staff and Parents) taking the time to table student representations at their meeting this week.  Tansy Haigh (Year 4) and Jeanie Barton (Year 2) have both independently shared their perspectives and concerns regarding the limitations that playing in a girl’s summer dress can have. We will continue to promote opportunities for students to be given a voice on matters that are relevant and important to them.

This week we have remind students to wear their blazer / jacket as their outer garment (not the jumper) beyond the school grounds.

Ieva Hampson
Head of Mitcham Campus

Community Sport – Mountain Bike Riding

Yesterday a group of 16 Year 3 to Year 6 students headed to Brownhill Creek Recreation Park to learn about safety, risk management and skills of mountain-biking. This was part of the Scotch Community Sport program.

We rode to our first mountain biking location to learn how to manage bumps, rough courses and obstacles. We focused on stability and control by using heavy feet, light hands, bent knees and elbows lifted, and allowed the bike to travel smoothly beneath us.

We also focused on the mountain -biking ready position and practiced this a lot when we traversed the road-side trail.

Our youngest rider has greatly improved his confidence, control and lever brake use over the last three weeks. Fair Day did seem to provide a lot of energy for all the riders!

Thank you to Mr. McKenzie for coming along and carrying the first aid bag, Mr. Tomich for joining us. and Tyson for coaching us.

Jack Savage - Year 6 Mountain biker