Student News

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS AT SOUTH MELBOURNE PARK

The Royal Commission into Family Violence identified the critical role that schools, and early childhood education have in creating a culture of respect to change the story of family violence for future generations.

In 2016, Respectful Relationships Education became a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from foundation to year 12 and is being taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools.

Everyone in our community deserves to be respected, valued, and treated equally. We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and equality are embedded in our education settings.

Schools are places where children learn how to interact with others and work together in a respectful way.  Respectful Relationships is a whole-school approach, recognising that schools are a place of learning, a workplace, and a key part of local communities. Respectful Relationships is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire community, from our classrooms to staff rooms, sporting fields, fetes, and social events. This approach leads to positive impacts on a student's academic outcomes, their mental health, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students.

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) teaching and learning resources have been developed to support schools to develop student knowledge, understanding and skills to build and manage safe and respectful relationships. In the Personal and Social Capability curriculum, students learn to recognise and regulate emotions, develop empathy for others and establish and build a framework for positive relationships. 

South Melbourne Park Primary School students will be developing their personal, social, and emotional skills through a series of learning experiences. The Resilience and Rights components of the teaching and learning materials (Topic 1-6) help students develop the essential social and emotional skills, knowledge, and understandings they need to have before addressing the concepts in Topic 7 & 8, which is the Respectful Relationships component of the program. Topics 7 & 8 will be covered in Term 3 at South Melbourne Park Primary School. The content covered in the Topics is age/Year Level appropriate and is available for viewing here: 

https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/ResourcePackage/ByPin?pin=2JZX4R

Together at South Melbourne Park Primary School, we can lead the way in creating genuine and lasting change, so every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential. The 8 Topics in the RRR programs are outlined below:

Thank you to parents/carers that attended the virtual Parent Information Session on Monday 30th of May. We will continue to have some parent information sessions in upcoming terms this year. Keep an eye out for more information & updates in the newsletter throughout the year.

STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES

At South Melbourne Park Primary School, we aim to give students increasing responsibility and ownership for their learning so they can develop into independent, life-long learners. One of the best ways we could involve the students in their own learning is to have them conduct and participate in a ‘Student-Led Conference’.  This means that each child conducts a ten-minute conference with a parent/carer(s) and their teacher. The Student-Led Conference replaces a Parent-teacher Interview. 

WHAT?

A ‘Student-Led Conference’ is an authentic way to encourage the students to take responsibility for their own learning, actions and decisions.  This process also demonstrates to the students that we positively support their learning and acknowledges the value we place on their views and the respect we have for their opinions.  It also clearly demonstrates that, together, we will support their learning and celebrate their achievements.

Teachers will not be available for conversations with parents/carers without the students on the evening/day of the Student-Led Conference. This is an opportunity for students to be present. Along with the student’s mid-year report, the Student-Led conference allows for students to reflect on their improvement and learning.   Please note that if there is a matter that parents/carers particularly want to discuss without their child’s presence, they are welcome to make an appointment with the teacher via email or phone. Additionally, parents can request a Student-Led Conference in a specialist area. Teachers at South Melbourne Park Primary School are always available for a meeting with parents/carers when required. 

WHY? 

Advantages of student led conferences include: 

• Greater accountability by students for their own learning. 
• Increased pride in achievement among students and empowers them to take greater responsibility for their learning. 
• Increased confidence and learning independence by students. 
• More positive student teacher relationships. 
•  Increased parental participation. 
•  Increased communication with parents resulting in a deeper understanding and confidence in what happens in school and learning.
• Links to our school values. eg. Kids at the Heart and Learning doesn’t just happen at home.
• Alignment with our school vision. ‘A place to inspire the next generation of curious minds’. 

WHEN?

We are pleased to be running Student-Led Conferences in July in the beginning of Term 3. The learning conferences are a time when children can clearly describe their goals and achievements from Semester 1 and discuss with their parents and teacher their goals for Semester 2. 

HOW? 

The Student Led Conference will run for 10 minutes. To encourage active participation, our conferences include these five steps: 

1. The student begins the conference with a brief welcome. 
2. The student explains their personal or social goal. 
3. The student shares work samples in Reading, Writing and Mathematics that highlight their strengths and their future learning through learning goals. 
4. Parents/carers then respond to the presentation to clarify or expand the student’s thinking about the specific strengths and areas of improvement that were discussed.
5. The final word of the conference is reserved for the student to respond to any ideas that were discussed during the meeting.

Each year level structures the conferences according to the needs and developmental level of the children. However, in most classrooms you can expect to see students sharing their work with their parents, several families in a space at once, a student talking to their parent/carer and teacher. 

Student- Led Conferences are an important and valuable part of the rich student-led learning that occurs at South Melbourne Park.

We are all learning, so next term we'll provide you with more information about “what to expect”. 

We look forward to a most rewarding and positive exchange about your child’s learning journey. 

YEAR 3 - 6

PASSIONS:

As we get close to the end of the term and semester 1, grade 3-6 students have been working hard following the LAUNCH cycle in Passions. They have been busily ‘creating prototypes’ and ‘highlighting and fixing’ their prototypes. Lots of students are getting ready to, and will ‘launch to their audience’ over the final week.

MATHS AND WRITERS WORKSHOP:

In math's students have been exploring the world of measurement and geometry, and in particular length. Students in grade 3-6 enjoyed measuring their shoe size using informal and formal units. Some chose to measure using counters, blocks, rulers and even their fingers.

In Writers Workshop students have been revising, editing and publishing pieces of work they have been writing this term. They have also enjoyed time with their writers notebooks as they have been generating ideas for new pieces of writing.