Plattsburg Public School Newsletter

 Last year, Plattsburg undertook a significant attendance campaign, and we are pleased to announce its success. The end-of-year data revealed that Plattsburg's attendance rate surpassed that of other schools within our network and across the state. We extend our sincere gratitude to every parent and carer who actively supported our efforts to promote regular attendance.

As we embark on the new year, our commitment to fostering attendance remains unwavering, encapsulated in our motto: "Not turning up makes easy things hard and hard things harder." We encourage your continued support for our attendance initiative throughout 2024. Many students recognized that consistent non-attendance resulted in missed learning opportunities, making the process of 'catching up' exceptionally challenging.

We celebrate the positive practice of families contributing cakes and other treats to the front office, allowing students to celebrate their birthdays with classmates instead of taking a day off. We hope this heartening strategy will persist in enhancing the overall school experience in 2024.

While we celebrate our achievements, we acknowledge a crucial area for improvement—late attendance. Students arriving after 9 am on a regular basis face significant disadvantage. They miss out on socializing with friends and crucial early-day instruction. It's important to note that this critical instruction is not repeated, and other classmates are not asked to pause their progress while the teacher revisits the material. The cumulative effect of consistent tardiness directly correlates with diminished academic achievement.

Our dedicated Learning and Support Team is here to assist. If you encounter challenges in ensuring your child's punctual attendance, please reach out to us. Together, we can discuss the underlying issues and formulate a plan to support both you and your child in their educational journey.

This term, you will notice new posters around the school that aim to help support a safe and respectful culture at our school.

These posters are part of an initiative to remind everybody to treat our hard-working school staff with kindness and respect. Every school community around the state is very different. While most schools are respectful and harmonious, violence and unsafe behaviour in any form is not acceptable in schools. School staff and students have the right to learn and work in safe and respectful learning environments.

With that in mind, I encourage you to join everyone at our school in getting behind this important work to make a positive change.

We value our partnerships with you to support our students to learn, grow, and belong. It is up to us – the school and the parent-body - to be good respectful role models to our students. Together, we can create a safe and harmonious environment for our students and staff.

I hope you will support this initiative. What do you need to do? It is easy: Please treat our students and staff with kindness and respect, at all times. We are here to help you.

I invite you to contact me if you have any questions.

Mrs Bax

Our Education Support Dogs have a very important role within our school. We see every day the positive impact Sadie, Toby and Rennie have on our students. We have a responsibility to ensure we continue to inform and educate our community on the role and policies around our dogs at school.

Rationale

Plattsburg PS is committed to differentiation across the curriculum and to align with that we have Education Support Dogs. The dogs can provide support to students in a number of ways, including offering emotional support, recognising signs of anxiety, and helping improve concentration and communication skills as well as reducing the incidence of antisocial behaviour and bullying.

Guiding Principles for Practice Research into the effects of therapy dogs in schools identifies many benefits including:(Fine, 2015; Zents et al.,2017; Herbert & Lynch, 2017)

- Animals can teach empathy and appropriate interpersonal skills

- Help individuals develop social skills

- The relationship between therapy animals and the therapist can be a model for a healthy relationship

- The presence of animals is soothing and can more quickly build the therapeutic relationship for children, adolescents and adults

- Patting an animal has been demonstrated to lower blood pressure, lower anxiety and lessen stress

- It has been shown that animals have the potential to lower human anxiety by simply being present

There is also evidence suggesting Education Support Dogs can:- Reduce the severity of aggression and hyperactivity among children and reduce disruptive classroom behaviours which is conducive to learning

- Increase captivation of student attention when an animal is present

In summary, the Education Support Dogs at Plattsburg PS play a vital role in supporting our students. These dogs serve as ambassadors of empathy and kindness, fostering an inclusive school environment where students learn the importance of respect, compassion, and tolerance. Through their presence, they help create a sense of unity and discourage negative behaviours, ultimately promoting a safer and more harmonious school community.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our education support dogs please contact the office.