Welcome back to the new school year, to our new and returning families.
It has been an excellent start to the new term, with students settling into the routines of school very well. It is certainly very different to the start of 2022!
Uniforms
It is very pleasing to see that our messages around school uniform have been heard, with so many students at school in full uniform every day this term so far. It is particularly noticeable in our senior school, which has been a focus for us. There are processes in place to follow up with students not in uniform, and staff will be making contact with parents to discuss and offer support in some cases. Please make contact with the school if you are experiencing difficulties in procuring uniform. It makes a very significant difference to a positive school culture with everyone embracing our team spirit.
Preschool We welcome all of our new preschool students and families to the Harrison School Community. This is a vital first stage in our children's schooling journey, where our children engage more fully with peers and the school environment, often being apart from family for the first time. I love spending time in our preschool, and seeing these beginning moments. Despite a few tears on the first day or two, students have been explaining their classroom to me and making new friendships this week.
K-6 Classes
Staff in our junior school are reporting very positive results from our move to single year levels, which has enabled us to consolidate cohorts in the same learning areas and provide more targeted support for all children. We are very pleased with how this is progressing.
You might hear your child talk of 'tokens'. As part of our Positive Behaviours for Learning program, teachers will acknowledge positive student behaviours under the banners of respect, responsibility and learning. Each positive incident is recorded in our student management system, contributing to house points, individual school awards and class rewards. Our students also receive a tangible item when this occurs, in the form of a 'token'. Currently these are a paper slip that looks like this: As we progress through the term these will also be using plastic tokens that students can put in special transparent containers in common areas, so they can see the progress toward the achievement of shared goals and their associated rewards. This program is in widespread use around Australia, you can read more about it here: Positive Behaviours for Learning
7-10 Re-structure
In 2023, Harrison School has implemented a new timetable structure to support a broad and balanced approach to curriculum and learning, which we advised families of last year. As part of that process, our staff have been supported by a software program that has been affected by updates during that time, and so we have had some disruptions. The beginning of a new academic year can be challenging, and some of the small delays and uncertainty relating to subject allocations did not help. Year Coordinators and Curriculum Executive teachers have been working with students to catalogue errors, submit change requests and to ensure that these disruptions have been kept to a minimum. We finalised this earlier this week and students were issued with updated timetables.
Part of our restructure in the senior school has been focussed on increased support for wellbeing consistent with our 2nd priority to enable positive social and emotional development for all students.
Notes and key messages are delivered in the first lesson each day
Students attend a weekly SEL (Social & Emotional Learning) lesson on Wednesday mornings
We have rebuilt our pastoral care program which includes:
significantly increased time to our four year-co-ordinators
a new 7-10 Wellbeing Executive – Mr Darren McCrea, recruited to Harrison for his expertise in wellbeing and behaviour management
allocation of increased administrative support for this team
A new wellbeing space located in the heart of the school which brings the team together, including our youth worker and careers and transitions officer
All students have been introduced to the new staff, and have been made aware of their location.
As you know, we had small fire in a common area on the first floor of our Mulligans building in the 7-10 site. Contrary to some media reports, it was not in a classroom, and was rapidly extinguished. We know the cause of the fire, and the appropriate follow up actions have occurred. All staff and students followed our evacuation plan, behaving calmly and responsibly. No-one was injured, and the disruption to learning time in the High School was less than 30 minutes.
Despite this drama on Tuesday afternoon, our senior school is very settled, calm and engaging very well in learning. This afternoon we rewarded students wearing school uniform with a zooper-dooper! It is wonderful that so many in our senior site are doing their part to contribute to positive school culture.
Colour Run for the Vivekanandan boys You will recall two of our young students tragically lost their lives last year. To celebrate and remember them, two trees were planted, and all of our students participated in a colour run to raise money for the family. It was a wonderful day, which brought our community together in kindness and joy.
We look forward to a positive year of learning and wellbeing, and with your support Harrison will be a happy, healthy and successful school!
As always, contact us directly with any concerns or enquires.
