I hope everyone enjoyed a short break over the recent curriculum day and Cup Day holiday break.  Our staff were working hard at school on Monday participating in PD around the new Numeracy curriculum roll out for all Victorian schools in 2024/2025 and working on our expanded vocabulary scope and sequence.  Teaching staff also had valuable time to go over assessments, preparing for the end of year reporting period.

This week I have been reflecting on the survey results and specifically around our uniform.  It was great to hear that our community love the most recent update to our uniforms and that this is something the students find comfortable and easy to wear. Uniform, however, represents slightly more than just something we wear five days a week: our school uniform is tied to our sense of who we are, what we stand for and our community. In the Public Health Review, researcher Johanna Reidy (2021) found that while uniforms themselves were not responsible for academic success, the wearing of uniform fostered an environment that led to such success. Her article also reported that neat, tidy uniform school wide supported student’s psychological and emotional wellbeing when the uniform was culturally sensitive and appropriate for the setting. PISA studies have noted a positive significant statistical difference between classrooms where students have uniform and those that do not: they found that uniformed schools had significant higher rates of ability to settle into work and higher levels of conducive environments for learning.

My own observations relate to our sense of community and school pride. As the proud principal of Parkhill, my wish is for all our student community to feel connected, safe and to identify with what our school stands for. I believe correct uniform helps foster this sense of pride and achievement and reflects our school values of community.

This week we’ve recruited some student “fashion icons” to help show what correct uniform looks like at Parkhill! Thank you to our volunteer models for your help this week. Please be aware that the school has many options available should you require good quality replacement garments for your child: come to ask at the office and we will be more than happy to help!