Schools are busy places and Tenison Woods is no exception. This is probably the reason that my first four weeks seem to have flown by. It has been great getting to know the children and I am now starting to recognise more and more parents. I wish to iterate what I said in the last newsletter. I continue to see what a beautiful community we have in this school. Your children have been wonderful to greet and farewell each day and that has been the best part of my day. I love the way children rush in to school and greet their friends in the morning. Even more heartening is the way they go out of their way to help others who may have fallen over or are upset. It doesn't mean that everything is perfect though. I am sure that we still have our times when things don't go to plan and we don't necessarily see eye to eye. We as adults have differences and arguments and yet we seem to expect that children will not. The reality is that they will and it is your job as a parent and our job as a school, to help children navigate through the difficult times, have hope and see new ways of getting along.
We are getting ready for our new group of Reception students due to commence in Term 3. We have our Transition mornings planned for Week 8 and 9 to enable our new young people to get a feel for what school is like. We currently have vacancies for students from Reception to Year 4 so if you have friends who are considering schooling at the moment then please let them know about Tenison Woods Catholic School. As an incentive we are offering free fees for 2020 to anyone who commences in Term 3. If you have a younger sibling please remember to lodge an enrolment form for them when they turn 3 so that we know that they are coming!
On Tuesday afternoon I had an impromptu meeting with an inspector from the council and a couple of neighbours. There appears to be a problem at the end of the day at dismissal time with some of our parents blocking driveways as they are waiting to drive into the school grounds. This is exacerbated by the fact that parents are 'parking' in the kiss and drop area. Please remember that this area has a 2 minute time limit and drivers must remain with the vehicle as outlined in the signs near the church building. There should not be a need therefore, to have cars drive into the kiss and drop area before 3:08pm. I understand that this situation has been compounded by the fact that we only have one access gate at the moment because of the building works and that parents are not permitted to enter the school grounds. The council officer indicated that they will issue fines for cars that are blocking driveways and that they are considering placing a no right turn for cars trying to enter the gate when travelling east on Bickford Street, forcing cars to go around the roundabout and back again. My concern with this restriction is that it is likely to block the roundabout on Brooker Terrace which may be a greater problem.
The important thing here for me though is the safety of our children and our families. I ask that parents obey the local traffic regulations, our school 2 minute time limit and maintain consideration of others and have patience. Please consider parking in the car park or appropriately in the street rather than using the drive through (which works just fine in the morning with different drop off times). While everybody likes to get the front position or best spot, it is sometimes good to have that little bit of a walk with your children.
These take place in Week 6 (two weeks time). Thank you to those families who have already booked a time via the School Interviews website. We had been hoping that these conversations could be face to face but our most recent advice from Catholic Education SA is that these need to be conducted via telephone. With this being the case, teachers will telephone families at the time you have chosen or has been allocated to you, using the first emergency contact number you have provided to the school. If you require us to use a different number then please let your child's teacher know. We have allocated 10 minutes for each conversation, with a change over time to allow teachers to prepare for the next student and connect via telephone. Please be patient as this is a new experience for everybody and be prepared for face to face if the situation regarding restrictions changes.
This week has been National Volunteer Week. I am aware that there are usually many volunteers here at Tenison Woods. The current situation has meant that I have not been able to see you active in the school. However I wish to acknowledge all of the great volunteer work you have done in the past for our school community and look forward to when you are able to join us again. You are a special part of our school and you are greatly appreciated.
This week our Year 3 children held an assembly in the 3/4 Neighbourhood which was live streamed to the other neighbourhoods using Microsoft Teams. Congratulations to all those children who received Principal awards for their great work, effort or for the way they have cared for others. I look forward to presenting more of these at future assemblies. Thank you to Signora Ciocca, Mr Do and Mr Atyeo and the Year 3s for organising and sharing this assembly.
On Wednesday night this week I had the opportunity to meet with the School Board for the first time. We discussed a number of items including the new building and oval, the impact of COVID-19, our Term 3 intake and news and snippets from the classrooms. The School Board is an important body in any school and I thank those parents who give back to their community in this special way, with consideration for the whole school community rather than just their own children.
You would be aware that Sarah Constructions are building our new learning spaces next to the oval. The work is progressing on budget and on schedule. We have had a tremendous working relationship with everything going smoothly so far. I am excited to announce that at the School Board Meeting last night Sarah Constructions donated $10,000 to support a project of our choosing at TWCS. This is simply fantastic and I am sure you will join me in acknowledging and thanking Sarah Constructions for their very generous donation.
Likewise I was able to meet with the Executive of the P&F for the first time last week. I am sure that you understand the difficulties Covid-19 has created for our hard working P&F. The whole physical distancing requirements makes it difficult to hold any social activities. We were able to have a good conversation around the types of activities the P&F provides here at TWCS. It was good learning for me.
Please remember that Friday 5 June is a Pupil Free Day (after P/T Conversations and before the long weekend) with the Staff continuing their professional development in the area of Restorative Justice with Michael Lincoln from Catholic Education SA.
We continue to pray for Mrs French, her family and all those who may have lost a loved one recently.
Cheers
Peter Mercer
Acting Principal
