Dear families,
After nearly 12 months of consultation with students, parents and schools, the Purpose of Public Education in South Australia has been released by the CE Professor Martin Westwell. I have included a one page summary of the strategy for you on the next page, and more information can be found on the Department for Education website. Our alignment with the levers for impact and vision for our students in the Murraylands is very reassuring, and I look forward to developing the areas of impact even further.
This year we celebrate our 25 year friendship and welcome staff and students of Funabashi High School, Japan. We were honoured to have Vice Principal Mr Nishikawa and teacher Ms Shobu, along with 12 students take part in the cultural exchange this term. We partner with Mount Barker High School who have the other half of the group. The primary aim of the exchange is to refine the speaking of English, and our students have been excellent in including students in their daily lives. I understand from Ms Shobu that Australian English is quite different, and our use of slang and shortened words was initially a challenge to understand, and she was most appreciative of everyone’s efforts. I would particularly like to thank the host families that have welcomed students into their homes, and provided experiences that will be long remembered. To acknowledge the 25 year milestone Funabashi High School has invited a group of Murray Bridge students, under the leadership of Helen Peake, to travel to Japan later this year. Having been part of the 20 year celebration in 2018 I know they will be in for an exciting and memorable experience!
Every year we seek feedback from families through parent and student surveys, and this helps us to confirm things that are working well and those that need to be refined further. I really appreciate it when parents and caregivers share with me what is important to them so that we can build an understanding together of what will make a difference to the lives of our young people in this community so that everyone can thrive. The survey is open from Tues Aug 1 to Sun Aug 27.
In staffing news, congratulations to Shana Weston, Healthy Lifestyles Leader for next three years. We welcome Abbey Gosling to the teaching team in the PE learning area. Bree Coulter has joined us as the School Mental Health Practitioner, and the referral process includes engagement with our Wellbeing Leaders. Our MBHS family is continually increasing and we congratulate Grace and Matt Sampson on the birth of Dylan Otis, and Nick and Amy Pearce on the birth of Grace Ella.
Regards,

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