Newsletter Week 10 Term 3 2024
Message from the Principal
Parent's Meet and Greet with the Principal
Earlier this week I met with parents to talk about some of the ideas I have for my time at Forrest- somewhere over the next 5-10 years. I spoke about high expectations for how we interact in our relationships with each other across everyone in the school community, how things need to be in balance, equitable for all and that I like to build community and culture. I then went on to talk about the importance of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) to children in an ever-changing world. I discovered that the group’s knowledge of the PYP differed and so I aim to support parents with some information on this over the next term. Sometimes people think the IB is just about inquiry and not so much on explicit teaching; you need both (balance). I finished by highlighting things I’m keen to build upon across the school: the arts, explicitly teaching phonics to those who need it through an enlarged intervention model, strengthening the PYP, sharing book packs across the class/cohort and reducing swearing and offensive language.
The last point is an important one. Over the last couple of weeks, teachers had been informing me of a small group of children, typically in the upper years, who were using offensive language, and other children were scared of reporting this. The parents agreed; many of their children had heard this language or been a victim of it. I will not tolerate this: children have a fundamental right to be, and feel, safe in their school.
Yesterday (Thursday), I spoke to all children in years two to six. This is what I said:
- Most of you do the right thing every day. Thank you, we recognise and appreciate this.
- Many of you hear or see the wrong thing. I am sorry for this. As the principal, it is my responsibility to try and stop this.
- Some of you are the victims of this language. Again, I am sorry for this. We will do our best to stop this.
- There will be consequences for this behaviour. To the years four, five and six children I added there are a few children making these choices and, after we have ensured children understand the inappropriateness of this language, there will be further contact with parents. If the behaviour continues, further consequences will apply.
Forrest is a lovely school, a great school, and I feel so honoured to be here, working with the gorgeous children, amazing staff and fantastic parents and community. But there are a small number, a very small number, of children who are upsetting others, making them feel unsafe, and I intend to stop this. After speaking with the parents on Wednesday night, Rob, our Board Chair, Glen, our P&C President, and the entire staff yesterday afternoon, I know I am well supported. You can support at home by talking to your children about appropriate language, that certain words are very harmful, and that we build the community we want to be in which means letting a teacher know if this language is heard.
There may not be a ‘quick fix’ to this but over time we will get there together. If you wish to discuss the above, you are welcome to contact me: chris.jones@ed.act.edu.au
We also discussed communication channels in the school. I am happy to workshop further ideas with the parent community next term. More details will follow.
On behalf of the Forrest staff and community, I hope you get to spend some quality time with your children over the next fortnight. Thank you for welcoming me into the community, take care, and I look forward to seeing you and your children in a fortnight.
Chris
ACT Track and Field Championships
On Tuesday September 17 we had eleven students represent the South/Weston region at the ACT Track and Field Championships. It was a fantastic day of competition, and all Forrest students represented our school/region with pride and gave it their all in their event(s). Well done to all students who qualified.
Special mentions for Elliot in 4D, Phoenix in 3L and Kanoa in 3M. Elliot came 2nd in the 10-year-old boy's shot put. Phoenix came 3rd in the 9-year-old boy's 100m. Kanoa came 1st in the 8-year-old boy's 70m and 100m. Congratulations to all of you.
Thank you to all parents and carers who have helped out and attended our sports carnivals this year. It has been wonderful to see our school community supporting these events and cheering on our Forrest students. We are excited for our sports carnivals again in 2025.
Disco Event - Thank You
Forrest P&C Disco
The P&C's first big events, the Junior and Senior Discos on Saturday 14 September were a big success. The children all seemed to enjoy themselves and I think so did some of the parents especially doing the macarena!
We also raised $2113.13 to go towards our current fundraising priority, Year 6 furniture. This brings the total raised so far across events to $4,425.61.
Special thanks to our two amazing DJs, Mark and Jimmy, who gave up their time to DJ at both events as well as putting together playlists that the children loved!
Thank you to all the parents who donated snacks and sweets and also volunteered on the day, we could not have done this event without you all!
Thank you to Supabarn Kingston for donating 3 dozen donuts.
It was an absolute pleasure organising this event and seeing some great people in action. We look forward to seeing you at the next P&C event, the Colour Run on Thursday 7 November, stay tuned for details.
Forrest P&C
P&C Events
P&C Fundraising Update
Your Views on the Children's Week
Forrest Primary School is excited to bring the wonders of Bush Tucker / Sustainable Food to our school garden as part of Children’s Week 2024.
We would like to ask that you answer our simple survey question with word/s or short phrase so that we can create a poster made by our whole school in response to this year’s Children’s Week theme of ‘children have the right to a clean and safe environment’
As prompts you might like to consider:
*What does incorporating these traditional plants mean to you and your family?
*What is Bush Tucker from the country you are from?
*Or that of your families?
We'd love to hear how this project might inspire learning, fun, and a deeper appreciation for sustainable living
Survey will close before the start of Children’s Week which starts on Thursday 17th October at 5pm.
Yarning circle will be held as a gentle space to discuss this theme and our poster on Friday 25th October (time TBA).
Our event will also be included in the online Children’s Week Programme at:
Get your Colour on!
Forrest P&C is hosting a Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun!
Our Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun will be on Thursday 7 November during school time. A schedule will be provided soon.
Not only are we hosting an awesome Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun, but students can also order up to a total of 5 prizes based on the donations they receive. If you don’t want the prizes, you can choose to donate your tokens (instead of cashing them in for prizes) to one of the five causes:
- Carbon Neutral (tree planting)
- Great Barrier Reef Foundation (coral planting)
- Great Barrier Reef Foundation (turtle protection)
- The Smith Family (reading support)
- OzHarvest (providing meals).
Students will receive a sponsorship book with instructions on setting up their cybersafe, online fundraising profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au. This is an entirely online fundraiser; all cash donations must be converted to online donations to redeem prizes or donate to a cause.
Extra Incentives to Fundraise!
- Online Golden Coins – complete fun online tasks to redeem an extra $75 towards your prize credit.
- Monty the Monstar’s Bonus Prizes – achieve milestones to unlock Monty’s bonus prizes.
- $10,000 Budget Booster Bonanza Spending Spree for one organisation’s highest fundraising student
- Our school will win an extra $5,000 if we have the highest average fundraised amount per student in 2024.
- A Play Station 5 Gaming Bundle – see your child’s sponsorship booklet for more!
If you do not want your child to participate in this event and/or receive a free Icy Pole on the day, please obtain an Opt-out form from the Front Office, complete it and return it to the Front Office.
For more information, please contact the P&C at events@forrestpandc.com.au