From the Principal

WELCOME TO THE 2023 SCHOOL YEAR

What an incredibly positive start we’ve already had to the school year: teachers and students diving into the ‘Learning To Learn’ program and our new prep students and families are settling quickly into their new ‘big’ school. 

Learning to Learn is a three week program designed to build teacher and student relationships, the connections between students and to establish the classroom and school routines for a productive, happy and stimulating learning environment. It’s also an opportunity for students to build new friendships, especially if they have been placed in a different class to their best friend. 

We’d like to extend a special welcome to our new 2023 students and their families and to our new staff members. We love our school, because together we’ve made it a place where we all feel a strong sense of belonging and we know our new members will also thrive. 

ANNUAL SCHOOL PICNIC – save the date: Thursday 23 February (5:30 – 7:30pm)

Our annual school picnic is a fabulous opportunity for families to catch up with old friends and expand friendship groups as you mingle with other members of the school community. The picnic is held on the oval (5:30 – 7:30pm) with families bringing along a picnic rug or chairs and a picnic dinner. We’ve also booked an ice cream van which always proves popular. 

Following the magnificent performance from the year 6’s last year, we now have other enthusiastic performers jumping at the opportunity to work with Miss Nugent to provide some entertainment to kick off the evening.

OPEN AFTERNOON- save the date: Friday 17 February (2:30 – 3:30pm)

The ‘open afternoon’ is replacing the parent information nights we’ve held in the past where teachers speak about the year ahead. Instead, the open afternoon will be where students take the lead and speak about and show parents their new classroom, discuss the learning environment they are creating and introduce their teacher. 

SCHOOL FRIDGE CALENDAR

All class and school events are posted on compass, however busy families often need quick access to important dates so we send home a paper copy of the calendar for the term ahead to pop on your fridge! The Term calendar will only contain the core ‘whole school’ events and when it comes to specific year level activities (incursions and excursions), teachers will provide you with more information as those bookings are made. 

THE SCHOOL’S PRIVACY POLICY

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 our school’s collection notice, found on our website (https://murrumbeenaps.vic.edu.au/about-us/#reports) 

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. 

This information is also available in nine community languages (please ask):

* Amharic * Arabic * Dari * Gujarati * Mandarin * Somali * Sudanese * Turkish * Urdu * Vietnamese.

STAFF

This year we welcome the following new staff members.:

Miss Kelly Goodwin (Prep G)

Mrs Megan Mallen (Prep M)

Mrs Paula Bain (Prep B)

Miss Elle Avery (1A)

Miss Candice Nassim (2N)

Miss Georgie Mountford  (2M)

Mr Elijah Roberts  (2R)

Mr Ethan Mountney  (3M)

Miss Natasha Williams (4W)

Mr Andy McKibbon (Learning Specialist)

Ms Maureen Delane (Leading Teacher)

Welcome to all and thank you for the contributions you have already made. 

STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING- Pupil Free Days

There are two key areas our staff will be learning more about in order to implement evidenced and effective instructional practices. One area is to engage students in ‘visible learning’ where teachers support them to have ownership and agency over their learning through personalised goal setting and feedback. The other area is in the science of reading. 

The new Industrial Agreement allows teachers to undertake two professional practice days and four whole school curriculum days throughout the year to extend professional knowledge and practice. We have already had one of our pupil free days (last Friday) so the remaining ‘pupil free’ days are as follows:

1. Term 1- Monday 27 February – staff will be engaged in the science of reading. We will send more information about this soon.
2. Term 1 – Friday 10 March – a focus on ‘Visible Learning: Evidence into Action – Day 1’
3. Term 3 – Monday 10 July – ‘Visible Learning: Evidence into Action – Day 2’
4. Term 4 – Monday 6 November –Assessment and Reporting
5. Professional Practice Day – Teachers will choose an area for further learning specific to their year level, however this day will NOT be pupil free. 

SUPERVISION FOR STUDENTS ON PUPIL FREE DAYS 

Parents can book their child into ‘Theircare’ if supervision is required on pupil free days. A compass post will be sent next week to provide parents with further information about the program along with booking information. 

COMPASS CONSENT FOR EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Events have already been posted on Compass that require parent consent. The Year 3 – 6 Swimming Carnival is being held next week and interschool sport commences for our year 5 and 6 students. 

It is helpful for parents to download the compass App on your mobile phone and turn on notifications so you are informed of school activities in a timely way and can provide consent for your child’s participation. 

COMMUNICATION WITH TEACHERS

From time to time, parents and teachers need to communicate with each other and we do this by sending an email through Compass. If you are new to compass, please collect a mini user guide from the office. 

Chellee Plumb