February 5th, 2010.
Well it doesn't take long to feel like the five weeks was just a long weekend. Back into routines is often a better thing than just lying around reading a book - who said that!
Our new systems continue to have some teething issues but we can see just how good the system of attendance monitoring will be. Remember, our attendance is marked electronically cutting down valuable hours of office time in transferring information from assorted sheets of paper. Soon, we will begin to send a text message to parents of students who are absent (according to our rolls). We are setting up a voice mail link in our phone system to accomodate return phone calls from parents of absent students.
Our technology continues to impress our staff. With the DER laptops and the BER smart boards in operation, lessons are slowly becoming far more powerful learning experiences for the children. In time we will see students becoming the centre of learning, devising pathways for themselves to investigate information and processes. Year 9 students will be receiving their laptops towards the end of March. Staff have to wait until September to get the final rollout. It doesn't sound right to me but with every Year 9 student in the state being issued with a laptop it is understandable. Still, our Year 9 students are very keen to get their hands on their very own computer.
Just a few reminders:
1. Roll Call: this is held during period 1. The daily Notices are also read to students during the early part of period 1. Students who arrive after the teacher are deemed to be late and need to follow the correct procedure.
2. COLA Assembly: last year, this was held at 8.30 am every Monday (weather permitting). We are changing the time of the COLA assembly on Mondays to just before recess. This will allow students to have some consistency of time for roll marking.
3. Uniform: If students are out of uniform they are to be registered and have a lunch detention. If students have a note then they are not placed on detention.
I hope you enjoy the week. Please take a look at our calendar - some interesting events are coming up. Senior Leader Induction, Swimming Carnival, High Achievers Assembly and so on.