PRINCIPAL’S REPORT ~ March 18th, 2026
Wellbeing Update
Attendance
BEING AWAY FROM SCHOOL FOR 1 DAY A FORTNIGHT EQUALS MISSING 1.5 YEARS OVER 13 YEARS OF SCHOOL
For 95% attendance, you can miss 5% of total school days, meaning in a 200-day year, you miss about 10 days;
Schools consider 95% and above attendance excellent, with anything below 90% often flagged as a serious risk to learning, emphasizing that every day counts for academic success
TOP ATTENDANCE TIPS FOR PARENTS
· Schools want to work in partnership with parents – act early if you have any concerns by contacting your child’s school and asking for advice and support
· Remember that every day counts
· There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes and their social connectedness
· Talk positively about school and the importance of attending every day
· Open and prompt communication with your child’s school about all absences is a good idea
· Avoid making routine medical and dental appointments during the school day or planning family holidays during the term
· Seek help from your school if you are concerned about your child’s attendance and wellbeing. Schools want to work in partnership with parents to support student attendance and wellbeing.
Curriculum Update
How can parents help? Earlier this year teachers have let you know about Numbots and Times Table Rockstars which are engaging and motivational websites designed to engage students in doing practice through repeated and reinforced learning of number facts:- addition, subtraction, and timestables. If they do these as many nights as possible even for just five minutes at a time, that will help them develop that automatic recall of number facts so that in class they can focus on new learning provided by the teacher in Maths.
You can access these websites via an app or the website themselves. Students have log in details, which may be in their diary, otherwise ask their teacher and keep it somewhere you can find it easily eg. Fridge door. The websites are:-
NumBots | Motivational maths practice for schools and families.
Term dates
School for term 1 will finish at 2.30 pm on Thursday 2nd April and students will return for term 2 on Monday 20th April.
Curriculum Days for remainder of the year will be:-
Friday 5th June Curriculum Day
Tuesday 28th July Parent Teacher Interviews
Monday 7th December Curriculum Day
Management Update
Parent Engagement
Thankyou to all that participated in the Parent Information Evenings/Meet and Greets and 3 Way Conferences. We will be seeking parent volunteers to help with the Colour Fun Run. Please email the office to register your interest. clifton.springs.ps@education.vic.gov.au
There will be a large number of opportunities for parents to engage with the school including volunteer work for events, working bees and fundraising.
May
Wonderful Women's Day (Mother’s Day) Stall
Gumboot toss
Yr 3-6 Athletics
August
Book week and Book fair
September
Magnificent Men (Father’s Day) Stall
Sack race
School Musical – Dare to Dream
Oct
Learning Expo
We will be calling out for your help with each event before the event and let you know ways in which you can help.
3 way conferences
The 3 way conferences were held on Tuesday 10th March (after the long weekend). If you missed the 3 way conference you are welcome to contact your child's teacher to make another time.