I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to 2024 and to wish you and your family all the best for a very happy and successful school year at Punchbowl Primary School. I feel very privileged to be joining your community and I look forward to meeting many of you over the next few weeks.

I would also like to extend a very special welcome to our 29 new students and their families, in addition to our Kindergarten children, who are commencing at our school this week. We hope that you enjoy getting to know and being part of our community.

We are commencing the year with 322 students, 13 classes and 48 staff and I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our new staff to you:

• Andrew McPhan - Grade 3/4 McPhan/Sutton
• Nic Beckett - 3/4 Beckett/Faulkner (Term 1)
• Felicia Butler-Literacy Support
• Fiona Kleinig - Science
• Lou Padgett - Health and Physical Education
• Pat Symes - School Business Manager (Term 1)
• Chelsea Wells - Teacher Assistant
• Cathy Irwin - EFA

I also wanted to share with you a few details about my background. I am joining you from Port Sorell Primary School where I was principal for 3 years. Prior to that I was Head of the Junior Campus at Launceston Grammar for 8 years.  My experience also includes working in Borneo, Lombok, Sumbawa and Jakarta setting up small international schools and I feel very grateful to have had this life changing opportunity. I have also worked in leadership positions at Norwood, Ravenswood and Waverley Primary Schools, so I feel very comfortable returning to Launceston and particularly Punchbowl Primary School.

As you would be very aware our school has a reputation within the community for being a very successful school, with a positive culture, strong academic results, a dynamic and skilled staff and beautiful grounds. I am looking forward to us all working together to ensure that we continue to be the best school that we can be.

As a new principal joining our community you are probably wondering what am I going to bring to our school?

I hope every day to bring my passion and love of working with young children, my strong commitment to developing kind and respectful relationships, my commitment to student and staff wellbeing and my passion for creating inspiring environments characterised by high levels of student engagement and agency. I am particularly committed to our core business of knowing and understanding every child and the provision of learning programs that encourage children to be the best versions of themselves.

This week our staff have been involved in professional learning sessions which have all been underpinned by the education department’s values of connection and building a sense of belonging. Our workshops included focuses on Mathematics, Reading and the establishment of orderly learning environments. I would like to acknowledge the work of Bec Frerk, Jess Bennett and Jane Jones in facilitating these sessions.

In 2024, there are very clear departmental changes being implemented in relation to the teaching of Reading. This means that there will be some changes made to our teaching and learning practice and also our home reading model. We will be sharing these changes with you over the next few weeks.

Finally I have included a link to a clip that was first viewed during Covid but is one of my favourites. It is a positive reminder about the many things that are important for us to keep in mind, both at home and at school.

https://youtu.be/Nw5KQMXDiM4

I hope you and your family have enjoyed the first week of our 2024 school year!