Dernancourt School

Tuesday	4th February	Meet and Greet	5pm - 6pm
Monday	10th March	Public Holiday	School Closed
Friday	14th March	School Photos	8:30am - 1:00pm
Mon-Fri	24-28th March	Parent Teacher Discussions	Whole School
Friday	4th April	Sports Day	Whole School
Friday	11th April	Last Day Term 1	School finishes 2:00pm
Tuesday	2nd December	End of Year Concert	Whole School

Welcome back! A special welcome to all of our new families, friends and staff. What a fabulous start we have had to the 2025 school year. It has been lovely to chat with students and families before and after school each day, listening to the excited chatter of the students and hearing stories of fun and sunshine from the holidays. Thank you all for making the effort to chat with and make our new families feel welcome.

You will have seen on Audiri that we have our annual ‘meet and greet’ coming up on Tuesday evening from 5-6pm. Classes will be open; specialist teachers will be in their rooms and available to speak with and the leadership team will also be wandering around to have a chat with. Jane, our PCW will be holding a second hand uniform sale under the veranda of the canteen during this time. The meet and greet provides an opportunity to chat with your child’s teachers and explore their learning spaces. If you would like to speak with your child’s teacher about a specific issue, please make a time to see them for separate conversation. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

If you enter the school grounds by the kiss and drop gate, you may have noticed that our butterfly garden is looking fantastic. We are currently seeing many butterflies at the moment, and there are many more waiting to emerge from their chrysalis. This has been very exciting for our students to see.

We have been very lucky with the weather this week; the students have been able to play outside at each break and have been enjoying the cooler weather. As the weather heats up next week, we will monitor the temperature prior to each break. If the temperature is 36 degrees or higher at the start of the break, the students will remain inside for play. A friendly reminder to ensure your child has a hat and brings a named drink bottle to school each day.

Staff have been working together to monitor attendance and there is some information further down in the newsletter about the importance of attending each day. If your child is away for any reason, please contact the office by phone, or submit an eform via the Audiri App. We thank you for your cooperation.

The dates to remember section of the newsletter is starting to fill up. Please mark these days in your calendar. You will notice that sports day is planned for later in term 1 – an exciting day for everyone! Our Student Free Day dates will be sent out as soon as we have the appropriate approvals.

2025 Leadership

Principal  Julie Raggett

Deputy  Kym Dinedios

Student Wellbeing Leader Shannon Leonards

2025 Teaching Staff

J2  Tatum Ryan and Sharon Robinson (Alternate Friday’s)

J3  Amelia Travis

J4  Adam McCaskill

J5  Georgina Nikolopoulos

J6  Nikki Pellegrini

J7  Kaye Coley, Victoria Crawford (Friday)

P2  Catherine Cunningham (Mon and Tues), Emma Salini (Wed, Thurs, Fri)

P3  Myf Spencer Smith

P4  Rose Crompton, Catherine Cunningham (Thursday)

P5  Nishu Khanna

P7  Karen Bell

P8  Niki Kenyon

P10  TBC – (Monday to Thursday), Laura Toland (Friday)

P12  Scott Barabas

P14  Amy Farquharson

Health and Physical Education   Kieran Ryall

Performing Arts   Juliette Barry

Japanese   Meryl Jing, Shannon Leonards, Sera Gagliardi

Special Class NIT   Victoria Crawford

Autism Inclusion Teacher   Kaye Coley

Aboriginal Education Teacher   Shannon Leonards

EALD   Ingrid Molnar

Reading Leader   Tom Kibble

2025 Ancillary Staff

Business Manager   Lisa Harker

Front Office   Caroline Travis, Sharyn Beckwith, Mary Spagnoletti

Student Support    Jodie Dorsey, Sandra McInnes, Jacki Roupas, Julie Williams, Sue Thornton, Rachael Osborn, Tammy Jones, Ida Icolaro, Jane Adamson, Nikki Wharfe, Laura Visentin, Michelle Flannigan, Mary Theodorou, Sienna Garstka, Mel Garstka, Erin Piro

IT Support  Va Phung

Grounds Tom Giordano, Yusuf Kavlakoglu

Canteen Tracy Jones

OSHC Director Tom Kibble

Music in Education Gaby Freer

EVERY DAY COUNTS! Missed school adds up to a lot of missed education. Attendance rates since Covid times have not yet recovered to pre Covid (normal) rates across South Australia. We are working to have children at school every day. Every day matters. Please let the school know via the Audiri app, a phone call or Seesaw message if your child needs to be away and if it is for sickness or for family reason. All unexplained absences require follow up by teacher/school. An exemption signed by the Principal is required for family holidays of 3 or more days. Every day counts!

For some students, including those on the autism spectrum, the sensory environment, academic demands, executive functioning requirements and social aspects of school can be overwhelming and lead to distress, confusion, and potentially unexpected behavioural responses. To avoid this, students may need support to regulate their emotions. It is important that students are supported in regulating themselves before they are completely dysregulated (unable to manage their emotions or behaviour). One way of doing this is by providing a 'safe space' or 'calm space' where students can retreat in order to calm down. At Dernancourt School we have created ‘The Nest’ where children have the option of movement, sensory and calming activities to help them regulate with the aid of a trusted adult and return to their learning. This wellbeing initiative reflects our belief that a child's wellbeing is essential for their learning and overall development.

Assemblies are held on Friday mornings at 9:05am in the gym. Listed below are the weeks assemblies are being held.

Term 1	Week 5 and Week 11
Term 2	Week 5 and Week 10
Term 3	Week 4 and Week 10
Term 4	Week 5 and Week 9

Term 1 - 2025 Crossing Monitors

Week 1	Thomas (P14)	Aidan (P14)	Ethan (P14)
Week 2	Indy (P12)	Alexander (P12)	Hiro (P12)
Week 3	Holly (P10)	Shlok (P10)	Mitchell (P10)