We’ve already enjoyed many wonderful moments this year, with our students taking part in a variety of activities both inside and beyond the school grounds. Recently, I had the joy of accompanying our student leaders to the annual Kate Washington MP Student Leaders Morning Tea at Hunter River High School. It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to connect with other young leaders from primary and secondary schools across the Port Stephens electorate, meet Kate Washington in person, and be inspired by guest speakers Dr David Harasti and Dr Laura Parker from NSW Fisheries Industries. One particularly memorable moment was when our young leader Braxton spoke with the minister, sharing his thoughtful message that leadership doesn’t require billions of dollars like Elon Musk — it simply comes from using kind words and caring for others. Ms Washington was truly impressed by Braxton’s wisdom and thrilled to see him actively living out his values by getting involved and spreading kindness. She even remembered Braxton and his family from last year’s presentation day at our school and praised the amazing contributions they’re making to our community. Such uplifting words that remind us all of the power of kindness and leadership!

We had a wonderful time hosting the annual Small Schools Swimming Carnival at Beresfield Pool. It was a big team effort from our staff, especially Mrs Moore and our P&C, who worked tirelessly to organise everything. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who pitched in leading up to and during the event. A special shoutout to all the parents and students who baked and donated delicious treats for the cake stall, and to the families who helped sell them on the day. I was truly touched to see parents volunteering to sell cakes and cheer on our swimmers, even when their own children weren’t competing yet — they made the trip to support our community regardless! Moments like these beautifully highlight how wonderful our school community is, with families coming together to encourage and uplift each other’s children. For me, this carnival has been one of the absolute highlights of the year and a reminder of why I love coming to work every day: being surrounded by such positive and caring people is truly a joy!

There are many exciting opportunities coming up for our students in the next couple of weeks as well, including an incursion from Hunter Water for our K-1-2 students, our student leaders will be attending a full day workshop with other Tomaree Learning Community students and even some of our staff will be attending professional learning at Murrook. We'll also be ramping up our skipping skills with the official launch of our Jump Rope for Heart skipping challenge. Stay tuned for updates on all of these activities.

I recently attended some professional learning with three other local principals and assistant principals as part of my role on the HPGE Lead Team (High Potential and Gifted Education). We completed an intensive two-day course through the University of NSW, which aims to help build our skills in leading education for high-potential and gifted students. I am looking forward to helping build our school's capacity to positively support our students, and to help build a network of schools that excel in delivering high-quality outcomes for our gifted students across a range of academic, social/emotional, creative, physical, and cultural domains. 

To wrap up, I wanted to share my biggest highlight from the past fortnight (even though there have been many). I received a phone call asking me to come to the K-1-2 classroom. I arrived to find all 5 little kindergarten people standing on the steps, holding little whiteboards up to face me. On every single whiteboard was some writing. Real words. Words these children had written for themselves. When they arrived at our school only a couple of weeks ago, they hadn't even learnt the sounds that make up these words, but here they were already independently using them to write words! I was so excited. There were high fives and smiles all around. This is the result of incredibly dedicated and highly skilled teachers who have created a learning environment that ensures children are reaching their potential, and children who come to school prepared and engaged every day, supported by families who share that same dedication and passion. It really is a collective effort; one I am so proud to be a part of.  

I can't wait to see what learning happens next! 

Mrs B