A warm welcome to our 2023 students and staff. This year we welcome 60 new Preps and their families. They have made a wonderful transition to Primary School and their first few days have been very calm and positive. We have also enrolled new students from Years 1 to 6 giving us a total enrolment of about 450 students.

We also welcome our new teaching staff – Michael Herron and Marissa Anetoudis. All our staff have worked hard to be well prepared for the start of the school year. Hardly a day went by in January when there wasn’t at least one staff member and often a teaching team preparing their classroom or units of work. To them I say thank you very much. A particular thank you is extended to Jane McClelland, our Business Manager, and the Administration Team who worked so diligently completing our end of year financial roll over and completing the myriad of administrative tasks necessary for a smooth start to the school year.

Building Reports

For the first time in six years I do not need to report on any building works being undertaken. All our buildings have now been renovated and are fully operational. The Heritage Gates have been restored and look very different – they have become a feature again. We are still awaiting the installation of the outdoor seating.

Our local member, Steve Dimopoulos and the Minster for Education, Natalie Hutchins, will be visiting us on Monday February 13th to visit the Heritage Building and officially open it. They will have a tour of the school, attend an assembly and officiate the cutting of the ribbon.

Thank You

A very special thank you again to Alec’s Grandmother, Gill Reid and Mick who spent many hours over the holidays caring for the new garden beds, vegetable garden and tidying up the school grounds. Special thanks also to Michael Herron and Sam Wood who spent the day before school started cleaning up the back of the school – removing weeds, clearing leaf litter and trimming trees. We are planning to organise a working bee later this term to ensure that the garden beds and surrounds continue to look as good as they do now.

COMPASS

Our major form of communication is again COMPASS. This platform is used extensively to communicate important information.

As previously suggested, it is recommended that you have this app downloaded onto your phone. If you are having trouble logging in, e.g. forgotten password, please phone the office for assistance. Allowing push notifications for the COMPASS app enables you to have timely information.

This year we are using COMPASS to:

Monitor your child’s attendance, and enter an explanation for absence or lateness
Communicate with your child’s teachers, and update your family contact details
View your child’s timetable and the school calendar
Download and view your child’s progress and semester reports
Book parent-teacher conferences
Pay and provide consent for events and school contributions
Inform the community about operational matters e.g. COVID notifications.

Parking

The lack of car parking around the school continues to be an issue that require parents to give due consideration to the way they get to and from school. Where possible families are encouraged to walk or ride on scooters or bikes to ease congestion.

The two drop off lanes in Logie Street is monitored by Council Parking Officers. Parents are not able to leave their car unattended and the engine must be running. Parents also need to be aware students can only alight from a vehicle if it is parked within the parking bay. Should students exit a vehicle on the side of the road or they are likely to be fined. It is also illegal to do a U turn and all vehicles who use the drop off zone must turn left into Warrigal Road.

Lunch Orders

A local external provider, AJ Bakery provides lunches to the school each day of the week. Orders are done online through the AJ Bakery App using the online payment system QKr. Instructions on how to download the app and register are available on our webpage or instructions can be collected from the office.

Absences and Late arrivals

It is very important that you let us know if your child is going to be away, via the COMPASS portal. If you have not entered this information on COMPASS before 9.30am you will receive an SMS notifying you that your child has not arrived at school.

A reminder that students who are late to school are required to have their parents escort them to the office and complete a late pass for the class teacher. Being late is a great inconvenience to the class teacher and the rest of the class for whom instruction has begun. Your child will also miss teacher modelling and instructions about how to complete the task.

Annual Privacy Reminder

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a83cda5f09ca4201d89f5d7/t/61f9e59eac6a3625ec41a99b/1643767199402/Privacy_Collection_Notice.pdf

For more information about privacy, see: Schools’ Privacy Policy – information for parents. This information also available in nine community languages. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx

Michele Nolan

Principal

michele.nolan@education.vic.gov.au

Oakleigh PS Newsletter

Issue 1 · 07 Feb 2023

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