Dear Children and Families,

We are thrilled to welcome you all back to school for the start of Term 3! It is truly a joy to see our place of learning filled with laughter, excitement, and curious minds ready to embark on another enriching and fulfilling journey of learning.  This term we have a range of events planned including our Book Week Parade, Reading in Your PJs evening, Special Person's Breakfast: Father's Day Edition, Art Show and Science Week.  Included with this newsletter is our Term 3 Community Calendar with dates for all events happening across the term. 

As we begin this new term, we want to express our gratitude for your continued trust and support in our school community.  Term two was not without it's challenges and I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude for the immense trust you place in the staff at IPECS.  I would also like to acknowledge all of the staff at IPECS.  I am proud to lead a such a committed and dedicated team of professionals who over the course of the year have gone above and beyond to support the learning needs of children.  As I emailed last term, we have welcomed some new faces to IPECS this term, as well as welcoming back our deputy principal, Annie.  To provide us additional resources, Mel Lloyd will continue as an additional deputy principal at our school.  We have also welcomed Pavlina who will soon be the permanent teacher of the Opals.  Sharon has also joined our team of co-educators and will be working across kindergarten to year two to support children's learning. 

What happens at a Learning Yarn?

The purpose of our Learning Yarns is for teachers to share information regarding children's learning and for you to ask any questions specific to your child.  Today, you would have received information by email on how to book in for a yarn.  During the yarn, you can expect to hear from your child's teacher about your child's learning strengths, areas for development and strategies to support and extend learning.  Yarns are being held next week however if the times available don't suit you, please don't hesitate to talk to your child's teacher to make an alternate time.

What is a preschool assessment and rating process?

Over the coming weeks, our preschool service will embark on an assessment and rating process against the National Quality Standards (NQS).  All early childhood education and care services (ECEC) are assessed against the seven quality areas of the National Quality Standard (NQS).  The process involves an assessor from the Children’s Education and Carer Assurance (CECA) spending 2-3 days in our preschool observing our educators, asking questions and viewing our documentation including policies and procedures.  Following this, we will receive a written report against each of the standards as well as a rating for each standard and an overall rating for our preschool service.   We were last assessed in 2015 and we look forward to the assessor visiting our preschool.  Our preschool team is currently preparing for the assessment and rating process under the leadership of Michele Foley.  

How did we celebrate the end of term two?

Thank you to our GEMS P&C, in particular Jess Woodruff, for organising our end of term Movie Night.  The night was a huge success with children and families enjoying the screening of Kung-fu Panda and treated to some delicious food.   The GEMS P&C have been busy behind the scenes organising a range of events and fundraisers for our school community to enjoy.  You will soon receive a letter from the GEMS with key dates for events as well as information on how to volunteer to assist.  I encourage all parents/carers to consider how to volunteer to ensure that the events are a success.  A big thank you to all our GEMS for everything you do to support our school community - your time and dedication is greatly appreciated. 

Take care,

Simon Barker

Principal 

Students with disability, developmental delay and diverse learning needs – Transition information sessions

The ACT Education Directorate is holding an online information session for families with children and young people with development delay, diverse learning needs and disability who are transitioning to a new school in 2024. The session focuses on how parents and carers can plan for and support their child’s transition. It will cover transitions through preschool, primary school, high school and college.

This session will be held online on Thursday 27 July 2023 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

For more information including registration, families can email EDUCommunityPartner@act.gov.au with the school year their child will be entering in 2024.