Dernancourt School

Thanks to all of the families who were able to attend our meet and greet night on the 3rd of February. The evening was well attended by families and children, with the specialist classrooms always a popular place to visit. It was great to speak with many of you on the night. There was lots of interest in our second-hand uniform sales at the meet and greet, and Jane will again be offering cash sales of second-hand uniform from the pastoral care office after the assembly on Friday Feb 27. We will also be having morning tea in the staff room following the assembly for anyone who would like to join us. It would be lovely to see you there.

Our Governing Council AGM is coming up on Tuesday March 3, at 7pm. At this meeting, we will hear from our various school committees share our Annual Report and undertake the election of new members. This year we have seven vacant positions. Information about what a Governing Council does and how to nominate for a committee or to be on the council can be found below.

With Governing Council support, the dates for our Pupil Free Days have been finalised for the year. These can be found in the dates section of the newsletter. I encourage you to mark them on your calendar – they come around faster than we think.

The students are starting to talk about and share their excitement for our water safety week in week 6 (March 2 to March 6). Water safety consent forms have been sent home for years R-5 and they are yellow in colour.

This year, our school is again being used as a polling station for the State Election on March 21. Our fundraising committee is organising a BBQ on this day. Keep an eye out on Audiri as we get closer, as we will be calling for volunteer support to cook and sell the Democracy Sausages.

We are currently seeking nominations for our 2026 Governing Council. The AGM and election of members will take place on Tuesday March 3 at 7pm in our school staffroom.

Dernancourt School Governing Council meet twice per term - usually on a Tuesday night in weeks 3 and 8 of each term. Meetings usually run for around 90 minutes, depending on the agenda.

In 2026, we have 7 vacant positions on Governing Council. If you are interested in attending the AGM, nominating for Governing Council or would like to join the Parents Association, Fundraising Committee, Education Committee, OSHC or Canteen Committee, please fill in the form at the link below.

Information about what Governing Councils and the committees do can be found below. If you have any questions, please reach out to Julie or Kym, who are more than happy to answer any questions. Thanks. 😊

2026 Nomination for Governing Council, Committees or RSVP to attend

Nominations close at 5pm on Monday March 2, 2026.

Governing Council Committees

Parent Association meets approximately once a term during school time, and organises some fundraising activities and supports with special events for students.

Fundraising Committee meets approximately twice per term during school time and works to arrange fundraising activities to help fund school improvements. The colour run, raffles and election day BBQ are examples of their work.

Education Committee meets approximately twice per term during school time to look at, review and where needed, develop school policy in conjunction with the leadership team.

Canteen Committee meets twice per term during canteen hours to discuss menu options, special canteen days, and day to day canteen issues.

OSHC – Out of School Hours Care Committee meets one to two times per term, usually after hours to discuss aspects of running the OSHC service including usage, budget and policy.

GOVERNING COUNCIL INFORMATION

What do Governing Councils do? Governing councils are bodies that govern a school or preschool.

Governing councils work with the site leader (principal or director) to help set and monitor the direction of a site.

A governing council meets regularly to talk about the direction for the site. The timing of meetings can be different for each site, but it’s no less than twice a term.

Meetings are a big part of being on a governing council, but it’s not only that. In your role on the council, you might:

· be on an interview panel to select the site’s principal

· need to deal with media in response to an event or a good news story · be an employing authority of out of school hours care (OSHC) and canteen staff.

Shared responsibility

You do not work alone when you are on a governing council. You and the site leader have shared responsibilities, but your day-to-day involvement is different.

In your role on a governing council, you work with the site leader to:

· involve the local community

· develop and approve local policies

· set the broad direction and vision of the site · monitor and review the site improvement plan · be the employing authority of some services, including OSHC and canteen.

Site leaders work with governing councils to:

· give educational leadership

· carry out the site’s policies

· carry out the site improvement plan

Nominations close at 5pm on Tuesday March 3

Our next steps in our 'values' journey will focus on student voice. After brainstorming with staff about what is important to us when we think of respect, kindness, and teamwork, we will now invite our students to share their thoughts. We will ask students what these values mean to them and how they might look in different areas of our school, such as classrooms, the yard, and shared spaces. By listening to our students, we hope to build a shared understanding so that everyone at Dernancourt School can live our values every day.

The message of Harmony Week is “Everybody Belongs”.

It is a week to celebrate Australia’s diversity. It is a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home – from the traditional owners of this land to those who have come from many countries around the world.

We will celebrate this year on Friday 20th of March. We are encouraging children to wear orange clothing on that Friday (instead of school uniform) and to bring in something orange for Brain Break.

Some suggestions are listed below:

•       carrot

•       orange

•       mandarin

•       rockmelon

•       mango

•       pumpkin

•       apricots

Please ensure that it is cut/ sliced and placed in a sealed container or resealable bag.

Thank you for your support,

Harmony Week Committee

We’re excited to introduce our student leaders for 2026—our School Leaders, Eco Leaders, and Sports Captains. These students will represent Dernancourt School in a range of ways, including working with classes and connecting with the wider community. They’ll help lead school-wide projects and events and always show our school values in action. Congratulations to everyone who’s been selected—we can’t wait to see the great things you’ll do this year!

School Leaders – Ziyi Yeo, Reyansh Puri, Samuel Pollok, Mikayla Morris, Chloe Bland, Sami Nasra

Eco-Leaders – Mihinu Ranasinghe Arachchilage, Shyama Patel, Aadyaa Pandit, Louis Bishop

Sports Captains

Ind – Samuel Pollok, Rory Adams, Isabella Monti, Araina Court

Parsons – Abby Trebilcock, Ziyi Yeo, Olivia Olley, Charlotte Magoch

Packer – Alice Gill, Eeshan Velishala, Sami Nasra, Lincoln Haring

Short – Mikayla Morris, Chloe Bland, Will Miles, Lucas Verrall

Shyama P10, Elizabeth P4, Ryan J3, Cody J3 and Kai Sheng J4 joined in our first Garden Club for 2026. They worked together to brighten up the entrance by planting colourful flowers in pots. They also rolled up their sleeves to weed and prepare the garden beds, making sure the soil was ready for new plants. It was a great team effort, and everyone enjoyed getting their hands dirty and making the school grounds look fresh and inviting.