Newsletter Week 10 Term 1 2024

Principal’s Message

In Week 8 the P & C held its AGM and elected a new P & C Committee. The P & C is an important feature of ACT schools. The Forrest P&C is an active and effective parent body within the school organisation. It meets once a term and is crucial in supporting the school financially and socially via a variety of functions throughout the year.

I would like to thank the members of our school community who have taken on roles in the Committee.  You can read more about the members of the P & C Committee later in this newsletter.  Please consider coming along to the next P & C meeting on 30 May at 6pm in our school library.

This week we also had our first School Board Meeting for 2024.

The School Board consists of three parent representatives elected by the school community, two teachers elected by the staff, the Principal and an officer appointed by the ACT Education Directorate. The role of the Board is an important one - it monitors, approves and develops policy, oversights finance and generally works closely with the staff and parent body to ensure the school runs smoothly and achieves its goals.

The School Board of 2024 consists of:

Rob Nicol-  Board Chair

Lucy Clynes - P&C Association Member

Vaughn Melano - Parent Member

Bill Maiden  - Community Member

Tara Durnin - Teacher Representative

Kay Farrant-Durnin  - Teacher Representative

Laurel Rodrigues-   Principal

Sonya Bergamini  - Secretariat/Assistant Returning Officer

I would like to extend my thanks to Erin Palisi for her commitment and service to the school board as a teacher representative for the past two years.

Parent Portal

Next term we are introducing a new Parent Portal, a secure online platform used to share student information between you and your child’s teachers.

Using the Parent Portal on your mobile phone, tablet or computer, you will be able to:

• notify us if your child is sick or explain an absence
• book parent-teacher interviews
• receive academic reports
• receive our school newsletter
• receive messages from your child’s teachers
• make payments
• access the school calendar and your child’s student timetable.

You can start the sign up and identity verification process now so you’re ready to go. Head to the Education Directorate website Parent Portal page for all the details.

Reminder – Monday 29 April 2024 is a Pupil Free Day

A friendly reminder to all parents and carers that there are 3 remaining student-free days for ACT public schools in 2024. These are the dates for each school term:

• Term 2 –
  • Teachers commence on Monday 29 April 2024 (student-free day).
  • Students start school on Tuesday 30 April 2024.
  • Term 2 ends on Friday 5 July 2024.
• Term 3 –
  • Teachers commence on Monday 22 July 2024 (student-free day).
  • Students start school on Tuesday 23 July 2024.
  • Term 3 ends on Friday 27 September 2024.
• Term 4 –
  • Teachers commence on Monday 14 October 2024 (student-free day).
  • Students start school on Tuesday 15 October 2024.
  • Term 4 ends on Tuesday 17 December 2024.

Student-free days are for staff development, enabling teachers and schools to plan in a student-free environment. The increase in student-free planning days from 2024 is part of our Teaching Staff Enterprise Agreement, which prioritises better teacher workloads for educational leadership, teaching and learning.

Have a lovely school break.

Kind Regards

Laurel Rodrigues

Meet the Forrest School Parents and Citizens Association

Forrest After School Activities (FASA)

Regrettably, the P&C is unable to offer any after school activities (known as FASA) in term two. Whilst we all believe the activities provide enrichment for our children, we cannot run them without a dedicated coordinator. If anyone is interested in taking on the role of FASA coordinator, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)

Building a national picture of child health

From May 2024, our school, along with thousands of others across the country, will participate in the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

The AEDC is a teacher-completed census (similar to a questionnaire) which provides a comprehensive picture of how children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school.

The AEDC is an Australian Government Initiative and is completed nationally every three years.

Children don’t miss any class time while the AEDC is completed, and parents/carers don’t need to supply schools with any new information.

The data collected through the AEDC is used by schools, communities and governments to better understand children and families’ needs, and identify the services, resources and support they need.

AEDC data is reported at a school, community, state/territory and national level. AEDC results for individual children are not reported and the AEDC is not used as an individual diagnostic tool.

Some teachers have found that completing the AEDC made them more aware of the needs of individual children and their class, and that the data was useful for planning for transitions to Year 1 and developing programs.

Participation in the AEDC is voluntary, however the AEDC relies on all schools with children in their first year of full-time school participating in the collection.

Parents/carers don’t need to take any action unless they choose not to include their children in the census.

To find out more about the AEDC and how it is being used to help children and families visit: www.aedc.gov.au.

If you have any questions, you can contact Hayley Singh (Deputy Principal):  hayley.singh@ed.act.edu.au