Most of you will have heard about our exciting new Performing Arts Centre. The dream is a little closer to becoming reality as we are looking forward to Stage 1 commencing very soon. Thanks to our talented teachers and students we are bursting out of our current facilities so these rooms will serve an important purpose.

The placement of Stage 1 will mean that the road parallel to the main entrance of the College will be cut off from what is now the main entrance and the central exit. We are excited by the change as it will open up the College, providing more opportunities for green space and generally making the whole College safer and more attractive for children to travel around.

However, sometimes gain comes with pain and that will be the case for a little while. The beginning of Stage 1 means we have to make drastic changes to our traffic flow.

The specific changes include:

• The current entrance where the LED sign is will be for deliveries and some staff only.
• As the building is going across the current ring road the road that is parallel to the main entrance of the College will be cut off.
• The current two exit only lanes that turn left and right onto Roberts Road will change. The lane closest to the church will be the entry and the lane closest to the Prep buildings will become the exit. To ensure the safety of all our children the exit lane will be restricted to left turns only. Our traffic engineers believe that the left turn only at the exit will help the traffic flow out of the College significantly.
• A new car park will be created on the eastern side of the Admin block as soon as possible. Negotiations for this are continuing but we are confident that this will be established soon.

Of course we will be putting off major road work until the school holidays as much as possible, but if our building is going to be ready at the beginning of next year for our use we will not have much time to delay.

Although we have not worked out the specific timeline with our builders yet, we will also see the construction of our new undercover basketball courts, new gym and PE classroom coming soon.

During this time of change it will be more important than ever to be patient, gracious and extremely conscious of child safety. Now is the perfect time to make full use of our lovely Kiss and Go lane and get your children used to being picked up and dropped off at the zone.

There is one thing I ask of you all – please be solution focussed rather than problem oriented. We are doing everything possible to make the pick-up process safe and smooth for everyone. Even though it may at times become frustrating for you, I ask you to model good behaviour to your children and other parents. We are all in this together.

Kiss and Go Lane

Thank you for your patience with the traffic situation. Even though our parking facilities are the envy of many schools, drop off and particularly pick up can often stretch patience to the limit.

Many of you and your keen-eyed children have commented on the drone hovering in the sky during pick up time. The drone footage has been allowing us to get a better perspective as to how the traffic flow is functioning as a whole. Clearly, there are a few ways that I think we can make the whole afternoon operation work more smoothly.

One of the big problems is that motorists are waiting to occupy the Kiss and Go lane and the traffic is backing up through the one lane road running parallel to the back of the Prep. This is having a major effect on the flow of all traffic through the College as access to the Eastern Carpark and to the Central Carpark are congested. To alleviate this problem there are ways that the users of the Kiss and Go lane can contribute to a better traffic flow and it is all about “closing the gap”;

1. Motorists must close the gap between the car in front as much as practical before allowing your children to enter the car. One of the big efficiency problems is when parents stop their car the moment they see their children approaching. They will be fine and the exercise will do them good if they have to do a little bit of walking to your car. It will also improve the efficiency of the Kiss and Go no end. You will notice that Yvette the Kiss and Go Supervisor is doing her best to ensure that this happens. Please support her in this endeavour.
2. Close the gap in front of you before you pull out of the Kiss and Go parking lane. I have often seen the situation where children have been picked up and immediately the parent has pulled into the exit lane, this then adds to the congestion and actually blocks access to the spaces that often exist further along the lane. The best way to merge is the way you might do to access the highway, wait until you can travel no further in the merging lane and then “bleed” into the traffic.
3. The faster children are loaded the better the whole facility runs. Ensure that your children know the routine of your pickup. For instance, if the routine involves putting the school bags in the boot then please ensure that the car boot has been popped and this is the first thing they need to do (even before giving mum and dad a “hello” kiss!). The only time a parent should leave their car in the Kiss and Go lane is to assist with the loading routine. I am very happy for this to happen. It is amazing to see how some of you have got the loading routine down to a fine art.
4. Follow the instructions of Yvette as the Kiss and Go Supervisor. If Yvette has asked you to come down the lane a little further before you stop then please do. If she is stopping your children from approaching you it is usually because there is still a gap between you and the next car. She has a difficult job and she always appreciates your support.

P and F new appointments

Our last P and F meeting was very productive and I am pleased to announce we have a new President and Secretary. Welcome and congratulations to Lisa Moyle as Coordinator (previously called President) and Chrissie (Christine) Kirkitscha as Secretary. A big thank you also to Patti McNulty who is graciously continuing as our Treasurer.

At the meeting we talked about the three smart outdoor ping pong tables the P and F purchased for our students, the dates for Primary discos and the funds for the Road Safety Grant. There was also a little discussion about changing the name of the P and F but we will talk more about that at next month’s meeting. Come along and join in the discussion. Everyone is welcome and we are trialling staggered time slots with the hope of making these meetings more accessible.

Mike Curtis, Principal