It has been so nice to have all the children back to school. Mrs Debrincat, Mrs  Brunetta and I have been at the Larkin Place entry each morning welcoming them as they come through the gate. I’m aware that some schools created a fanfare with balloons and a “red carpet” walk. We decided to make our welcome back personal and “calm” in its approach simply because the children needed to see that everything would be the same (as possible with COVID directives), and having the opportunity to personalise their return with their teacher as they went straight into their classrooms. In addition every child received a special welcome back bookmark with the “You And Me And A Cuppa Tea” prayer on it as well  as every teacher’s special emoji. It is my wish that they use it when reading any book to remind them about how much the staff care about them, their wellbeing and learning.  The decision to welcome back our students this way has worked out well as very few have come through the gate totally overwhelmed by the significant change. 

Class Placements 2022

Our school is operating at a rapid rate as we begin to move towards the end of the year. With this comes many deadlines, planning for 2022. The events associated with remote learning has made things a little more challenging than usual.  In light of this it is now the time to prepare classes for 2022. I believe this is best determined by their current class teachers as they know your child best in the class setting and playground. During the year, I am sure your child has talked to you about their journey at school, even with the past two years having such an interruption to their education. When my own children were primary age, I used to listen intently, very rarely make comments and even more rarely discuss the concern with the teacher. I always wanted my children to work through their problems rather than expecting me to “jump in and save them”. With the children being away from school for so long, I know this will make things somewhat more challenging for some of our children and parents. My wife and I are actually quite proud of our achievements. As my children enter adulthood they are able to take responsibility for their choices, name their learnings and make things happen rather than me doing it for them. I am sure you want the same for your children.

I am sure this is also the outcome after your child leaves school, that you are seeking. I have come to realise with my own family journey that this needs to start now in primary school as we try to build resilience, independence and self-confidence into every child.

There is a clear process that needs to happen to ensure we are faithful to the above outcome. I need to ensure there is an element of balance when it comes to requests concerning class placements for next year. In the past, my experience has been that in a number of these requests, quite often the students were fine, had patched up their differences and moved on, but obviously the parents had not. “My child needs to be with their best friend” is also an unreasonable request. I also had a number of requests about not having a job share arrangement for their child. In many grades, there will always be a job share arrangement due to Executive Teachers being released to fulfil their leadership requirements. Quite often, this is supporting other students or teachers in another class. This is how the capacity of the teachers is enhanced and also how we target the needs of a specific student or group of students. In addition to this, an employee returning from maternity leave in any workplace has the right to return to a part time position. This is the way of the world and I am sure many parents have exercised their right to return to work part time after the birth of their child.

I hope this makes it clearer for parents and enables you to establish whether a request will be reasonable. When I am overwhelmed with requests concerning friendship groups or job share situations, it eliminates the right to consider the better good of all students. It also creates a domino effect when setting class placements for next year, where, when you move a particular child, it then creates another problem between additional students. Our main goal is to have a balance in gender and ability in all classes.

When I first came to St Paul’s class placement requests were over 50 each year. This is not reasonable and parents need to understand that such a need should only occur for extreme situations. Parents choose the school they seek for their child’s education, however, it is the school’s responsibility to establish class placements and teacher placement, otherwise leadership of the school is deferred to the parents and naturally this can never be the case when we seek to balance the rights of the individual with the better good of all.

In light of the above, the following protocols MUST be adhered to when making a request for class placements in 2022:

ALL REQUESTS MUST BE IN WRITING via info@spcdow.catholic.edu.au NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2021. AFTER THIS DATE, CLASSES WILL BE FINALISED AND NO FURTHER REQUESTS CONSIDERED.

• All requests must be in writing and followed up with a zoom appointment with the Principal. This gives time to discuss requests with class teachers. Asking the class teacher to follow up a request will not be accepted.
• We ask that you do not request your child be in a particular class because of friendships. Children need to build resilience and a way to do this is by building new friendships. In addition their class teacher will be across such matters.
• Ultimately, the decision concerning class placements must rest with the Principal and class teachers as we know your child in the school setting which is often very different to the home setting

• Keep any request to a minimum of two. Anything more than this is unreasonable.

• I have advised some parents to meet with me each year due to the complexity of their personal situation and the need for it to be reviewed each year.

• PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO CHANGE AFTER PROMOTIONS DAY

Go gently,