School Council Meetings

Our next School Council meeting will be held on Wednesday 17th May @ 7.30pm

The dates of the next Committee meetings are as follows:

Parent Association: Wednesday 29th March @ 7.30pm (Bree Stevens and Cherie Paterson)

Education & Policy: Tuesday 9th May @ 6.30pm (Cadell Duke)

Buildings, Grounds & Sustainability: Wednesday 11th May @ 6.30pm (Robyn James)

Finance: Monday 15th May @ 6.30pm (Vicky Cai)

Grants Working Party: TBA

All committees and School Council meet in the staff room, unless otherwise advised by the convener.

New School Council

Last Wednesday we held the first meeting of our new School Council.

The current School Councilors are:

Parent Representatives

Garrick Atkin (Vice President)

Sally Cash

Felicity Fast

Sarah Meachem (President)

Rubani Paul (Minute Secretary)

Dennis Petri

Melissa Salter

Madeleine Steele (Treasurer)

Community Representatives

Sarah Freeman (PA)

Second PA Rep is TBA

Staff Representatives

Cadell Duke

Robyn James (Principal - Executive Officer))

Ben Parker

Sonia Schinck

Andie Youren

School Council Committees

The work of School Council happens within the committees and are an important aspect of its function and success. Our School Council has the following committees:

Finance - responsibilities include: reviews the monthly finance reports (including income and expenditure), discusses the spending priorities of the school, including liaising with PA on the priorities that may influence fundraising, discusses and recommends the parent voluntary contributions.

Education and Policy - responsibilities include: coordinates the development and updating of school policies (ensuring input from parents, staff and students as required), discusses opportunities and issues that have a direct influence on student learning and wellbeing.

Buildings, Grounds and Sustainability - responsibilities include: identify opportunities for the development of the school's physical environment and assist the school in coordinating the work to be completed, organise working bees as required to assist in the maintenance of the grounds.

We also have a Grants Working Party operating this year. This working party will be responsible for identifying grants that the school could access and assisting in the submission process where appropriate.

Each year we call for members of the school community to join the committees. This is an opportunity for the school community to work on a committee that enables them to use their skills, offer their expertise or work on an area of interest.

By joining a committee there is no obligation to attend School Council, however you would be asked to meet at least twice a term with the committee. If you would like to become a member of a Committee or Working Party please register at the following link: https://forms.gle/pP4Z8h5BMZMV6kic7.

Please submit the form by 4pm Wednesday 29th March 2023.

President's Report

I had the privilege of attending Grade 6 Camp Coolamatong a few weeks back as a volunteer parent. First time and what I saw was incredible. The theme for the week was Leadership and there were many discussions exploring leadership and qualities that underpin great leaders. Words such as influence (good influencers), vision, to serve and respect, to name but a few, were discussed throughout the week and then the children got to practice them through lots of fun activities (donuting, absailing, sailing, canoeing, bike riding and orienteering and the unforgettable Aunty Cass and her wealth of knowledge on country). I saw quiet children gain a voice, I saw the louder children think before they spoke and I saw lots of working together and supporting each other. And new relationships forged. All-in-all impressive!

The new school council has been ratified and over the next little while I’ll be introducing you to each of our council members in the newsletter. So if you see them around, do introduce yourself as they represent your voice in the community. Always great to hear your story, your children’s achievements and share challenges you may be facing.

Teacher Andie Youren is a member of School Council. “I am a lucky staff member who teaches Prep and am Level Leader. I have been on School Council earlier as a Parent Rep and now as a Staff member. School Council is the governing body of our school of which many sub committees branch from. I have enjoyed participating in the Education Sub Committee meetings, updating policies and discussing issues that arise with new curriculum and educational development opportunities. As I live locally I am able to inform school council of incentives around us that we could be involved with and also be a part of dynamic committees such as “The Spring Fair” which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a great way to share ideas with enthusiastic and passionate parents.”

Parent School Council member, Melissa Salter has a Bachelor of Business and a Bachelor's in Early Childhood.

‘I’ve worked with the Parents’ Association, Mothers’ Day sub-committee and more recently Traffic Safety Committee. I’ve enjoyed being a class representative both at School and kindergarten. Being my first term as a School Councillor and sub-committee of Education and Policy, my objective is to support, guide and be an advocate for the school and the community. I have previously received the Business Young Achievers Award and recently the Inspirational Teachers Award in Early Childhood. My career passions are teaching young children self-efficacy, growth mindset and being respectful individuals. We live in Malvern and have a daughter Ella in Year 4 and another child starting next year. My interests are listening to books while walking, skiing, acting in theatre shows and ensuring plenty of downtime with my family on weekends.’

What have we been working on? To name a few things; ‘we are going solar’ which is important for saving the planet and the school’s pocket. This initiative aligns with one of our key 4 values ‘respect the environment’. So keep an eye on the roof for solar panels! The tennis courts are being resurfaced, a once in 2 decade make over, increased security fencing around the grade 3-4 facilities to reduce vandalism and keep the area safe, a new adventure playground is planned and will be paid for in part by the proceeds of the Spring Fair (meaning You, our fantastic community that made that happen), and action plan for a whole of school leadership training, a long term commitment, which is an important initiative to improve student voice agency, to attract and retain girls throughout the MPS journey and create opportunities and an environment for all students to excel equally. That’s a taste, and I’ll continue to drip feed what we are developing and implementing, each newsletter. We have plenty to share!

Heads up on our ‘pasties’ (aka MPS Alumni graduates). I unashamedly will brag about your children here (send to sarah.meachem@education.vic.gov.au). Here is something we can celebrate about. Ex-Malvern Primary students Annabelle Embelton and Emily Gough were recently named part of the Sandringham Dragons Football Club. Annabelle was named co-captain of the squad and Emily is an integral contributor to the team. (see attached photo). Apologies I went to my own modest pool of networks for this first one but let’s open it up to our school community and cheer with your MPS graduate successes.

Parent payment contributions explained, briefly! I get lots of questions around parent payment contributions. If you missed the information nights, here is the snap shot. The parent payment contributions are an important source of funds to support your child’s education. These payments fund a broad range of items and programs including classroom materials for performing and visual arts, ICT equipment, as well as and importantly the school nurse. Whilst these contributions are voluntary, when they are not paid the State Government does not fund the shortfall. In this instance, the school has to make difficult decisions on what programs and classroom materials are to be cut. If you require more information, please refer to the Parent Contribution Policies on the school website or contact the school.

Parent Payment 2023 - Prep to Year 3

Parent Payment 2023 - Year 4 to 6

Sarah Meachem

School Council President

PREP NEWS