Heard on the Hill Term 4, Week 10

From the Principal                  

Bonjour à tous, and Wanju

Sssshhhhh! Can you hear that? It sounds like the holidays.

Well done everyone. We’ve made it to the end of another great year. As I said at the last General Staff Meeting, I am so proud of the work that we have done and the direction that we are going in.

Sorry for the lateness of HOTH. Yesterday, I walked with the Year 8s on the Cape to Cape track. The students did a really good job helping each other out when it became difficult. I walked with Odin, Dane and Myra for a bit helping Odin along.  He made it the whole way. When they began to struggle we slowed down a little, took some pictures, had something to eat and paddled in the water at Smiths Beach. Myra said something very interesting to me. She said “ the walk seems so much easier when you don’t think about the end and just have fun along the way”. I wonder if she realised how applicable this is to our everyday.

As we come to the end of the year, I hope that you have “had fun along the way”; I urge you all to look back at the year and revel in your personal, team and whole school achievements. Well done.

We have a little fun coming up this week at the staff Christmas party. I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Once more, I would like to thank you and hope that you accept my heart felt greetings for the holidays. You've all put in a lot of effort. I hope you can spend some time with those who are most valued to you. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

En Avant

Mike Sinagra

Nuts and Bolts

The school leadership team acknowledges the hard work by staff and the need to build into our SDD time Wellness activities.  These activities are a great way to unwind, decompress and build the team culture that we are known for.  Engagement is the feedback to us that this is valuable use of the SDD time.

See attached School Development Day agenda for the last day.

Click this link to register: https://forms.office.com/r/x4iU3VNjKY

To assist with planning can you please register by 3pm Tuesday 12 December.

Thanks to those who are running the sessions.

Any questions please chat with me or your PC.

Onsite over vacation

If you intend to be onsite over vacation, can you please ensure you text Geoff Kinter on 0400 586 082 to let him know you are onsite. Please also ensure you turn off lights, fans and aircon and lock and arm your area, if you are the last to leave.

Thanks for your cooperation and please see me with any queries or concerns.

Christmas and the holiday season can be a difficult time for some people who struggle to navigate the celebrations and festivities going on around them. They might be dealing with the strain of financial pressure, work demands, recent events, grief, or a challenging family situation.

If there's someone who's finding this time of year tough you can make a difference by checking in and having meaningful conversations with the people in your world who: 

• Are grieving
• Have had a tough year 
• Don’t feel safe in their home 
• Are struggling financially 
• Have been affected by natural disasters
• Are working over the holidays 
• Find the holiday season stressful 
• Are unwell 
• Have challenging family relationships 
• Are spending the holidays alone
• Feel excluded at this time
• Are feeling overwhelmed by world events

It can sometimes be tricky to know how to support someone who may be struggling at this time of year.

The Calendar of Connection provides a range of connection ideas to help you reach out and lend support. You don’t have to take any particular action on the exact date allocated, rather use the calendar as a thought starter for checking in across the festive season.

For more information visit: https://www.ruok.org.au/holiday?utm_source=EDM&utm_medium=TX&utm_id=COMM&utm_term=Seas&utm_content=Holiday

Workload Advisory Committee

Workload is often the main cause of staff stress or anxiety. Our school has a workload advisory committee, which was set up as part of our focus on Staff Wellbeing in our previous business plan, and which we continue to support through the new Staff Wellbeing Committee.

Staff Representatives for this year (continuing their 2 year tenure) are: Renee Chapple, Luke Marinoni and Adam McGill.

If you have workload issues, please discuss them first with your line manager, as many of these can be resolved quickly and easily.

If you have an issue that cannot be resolved, please submit it via either the survey link provided here, or on the document below (which can also be found in the School Templates folder on your desktop.

Media and Marketing

Thank you for another great year.