A Focus Upon Connection

As we enter the final week of Term Three, it's safe to say "Wow- what a term!".

This comment can be interpreted in a number of ways, and your interpretation will depend upon the mindset with which you reflect upon the "corona-coaster". As a school staff, we have seen so many positive learning opportunities arise, and we can't wait to build upon these experiences as we come together again in Term Four.

We can certainly say that the last six months have brought experiences in education, and across our community, that have enabled our students to shine, and once again show us how amazing they are.

As we enter the next phase of schooling across metropolitan Melbourne, our focus as a school staff is upon supporting the transition back to on-site schooling, and building a sense of 'connection' across our school community.

With the above in mind, we are encouraging our students and families to actively participate in the following opportunities:

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Spoonville @ USPS

You might have seen some local Spoonvilles popping up near your house?

We love the idea, and have created a Spoonville in the front garden of our school; opposite the pedestrian crossing on Morris Road.

Many of our families have already made a contribution, and we would love your family to make the effort to visit and leave a 'spoony'.

Please remember the following rules:

Place your spoony person/animal during your daily exercise
Make sure no bits will fly off your spoon – we don’t want to litter
Make sure your spoon can withstand the rain – you can use clear nail polish to protect the colours
Come and visit our Spoonville- but please don’t touch or disturb
Try to reduce, reuse and recycle- sticks from the garden make good arms and legs
Have fun and be creative- you can as many as you wish

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Publish Your Poetry on Your Bin!

You may have noticed rubbish trucks bearing 'haikus' have been rolling out around the Yarra Ranges as part of the next exciting chapter of the Yarra Ranges Council Still Life Project, '#putoutyourpoetry'.

How cool would it be to have your poetry published, and placed on a bin which goes out in your street for the whole neighbourhood to see!

There are some guidelines, and ideas, about the focus of your poetry which is available on the link below.

For community members who submit a poem, Yarra Ranges Council will print your poem on a bright pink sticker for you to stick onto your rubbish bin, matching the rubbish trucks that service the municipality. When you put your bins out, you’ll be putting out your poetry too. Imagine a whole street of rubbish bins with bright pink poems on their sides!

This is a safe and creative way for community members to share their unique experience of COVID. Learn more and find out how to get your sticker by clicking on the link below:

PutYourPoetryOut Link

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Decorate a Bollard for Main Street, Upwey

Upwey Township Group is holding a "Bollard Beautifying" Project, which involves an opportunity for students from Year Five and Year Six to design an art piece to be displayed on a bollard in Main Street, Upwey. Submitted pieces will be judged by a panel of members from Upwey Township Group, with selected junior artists being invited to an official opening ceremony. Art pieces should select the environment of the Upwey area, and should include bright and eye-catching colours.

Mrs White will be posting information and guidelines through Google Classrooms for our Year Five/Year Six students. Entries will be due to Mrs White by October 12th.

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Groove Foundations ZOOM Instrumental Concert

Throughout Term Three, many of our students have continued with instrumental music tuition. As we cannot hold an in-person concert this year, Groove Foundations have arranged for a ZOOM Concert to be held on Thursday 17/09/2020 @ 5:30pm.

Registration details have been emailed to all families enrolled with Groove Foundations.

If you do not have the details, please contact Jordan Scotney via groovefoundations@gmail.com

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Student Leaders Video Contributions

Over the last month we have published an array of videos from our Student Leaders via Google Classrooms. Many people have asked to view them again, so we have placed them all in this newsletter. Check out the 'Curriculum' page to view them.

Term Four is a Sunsmart Term

Remember from 1st September you need a Sunsmart Hat to be able to play outside!

Term Four Operational Guidelines

In recent days, Victorian schools have been provided with some clarity as to what Term Four will look like for our students and families.

Before providing extracts of relevant directives (Transitions to Return to On-site Schooling, and Reporting Guidelines; Semester Two 2020) from the Department for Education and Training (DET), it is important that we share with you the core priorities of DET for Term Four, 2020:

The three DET core priorities for Term Four are:

1. Mental health and wellbeing

DET's highest priority will be the wellbeing, particularly the mental health, of every student and member of staff. This means effectively mobilising all available resources to support our most vulnerable students, and enabling staff to access the relevant support services.

2. Learning

Some of our students have thrived in the remote and flexible learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some have fallen behind, despite their best efforts, and those of their families and teachers. Our priority will be supporting both those who need it to catch up, and those who have progressed to continue to extend their learning.

3. Transitions

DET will make every effort to ensure successful transitions for children moving from kindergarten into Foundation, and Year Six students moving into Year Seven.

This means the priorities of every Victorian government school in Term Four will be to:

begin the process of catch-up learning and continue to extend those who progressed well during remote and flexible learning

support students to re-establish friendships and class groups when back on site, and provide additional support where needed

help every student prepare for 2021 with a sense of purpose and optimism

ensure students continue to develop their literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills, build their personal and social capability and are physically active.

The DET Priorities further state:

In considering these priorities, schools may need to adjust what they normally do in Term Four – after all, this is no ordinary year. Schools will have the flexibility to determine other areas of focus in their teaching and learning program in Term Four.

All DET primary schools will also:

ensure children starting in Foundation in 2021 can meet their new classmates and teacher, and familiarise themselves with the school setting
enable Year Six students to mark the milestone of completing primary school; within the guidelines of DHHS
work with secondary schools to support the transition process for Year Six students.

Transitions to Return to On-Site Learning

Week One: Monday 5th- Friday 9th October

Remote and flexible learning will continue for all students, except for those children of permitted workers. Additional details and guidelines will follow, should there be any changes to criteria.
During this period, students in Foundation- Year Two students will be mainly set 'materials' through Google Classrooms; this will allow for teachers to prepare for the return to on-site learning.
During this period, students in Year Three- Year Six will continue to engage with Google Classrooms as they have throughout Term Three.
During this period, Year Three- Year Six students will be provided with an opportunity to collect hard-copy learning materials for the following weeks. Dates will be communicated by Level Leaders, via Compass.
During this period, parents/carers who require on-site supervision will be required to continue to fulfill permitted worker obligations.

Week Two: Monday 12th October- onwards

Students in Foundation- Year Two return to full-time on-site schooling. The existing remote learning program will cease for these year levels, and be replaced by face-to-face teaching. Students in these year levels will also partake in face-to-face specialist classes.
Upon the return to on-site schooling, parents/carers of Foundation- Year Two students will be able to drop-off and collect their child from the classroom doors/line-up areas as per previous normal practice. However, parents/carers are asked not to congregate within the school grounds.
During this period, Year Three-Year Six students will continue to engage in Remote Learning.
During this period, parents/carers who require on-site supervision will be required to continue to fulfill permitted worker obligations.

Further dates subject to health advice – students in Year Three- Year Ten in metropolitan Melbourne

All students from Year Three- Year Ten in metropolitan Melbourne will continue with remote and flexible learning until further notice. A date for the return of these year levels to on-site learning will be subject to further health advice.

DET Reporting Guidelines- Semester Two, 2020

The following extract is taken from the DET Reporting Guidelines Semester Two, 2020.

" As was the case in Semester One, 2020, student reporting in Semester Two, 2020 will look a little different to previous years. Reports will reflect adjustments that schools have made to their local curriculum programs in response to the needs and aspirations of their school communities, and the disruption caused by COVID-19.

In many cases, this will mean that less curriculum content was covered than was planned. Student reporting in Semester 2, 2020 should focus on what progress has been made and what has been achieved by each child. Schools are encouraged to keep reports simple but make them meaningful."

DET primary schools must:

provide a written report (print or digital) in an accessible form and easy for parents/carers to understand for Semester Two, 2020;
provide the opportunity for parents/carers and students to discuss the school report with teachers, consistent with each school’s usual end of year approach but subject to any relevant health advice.

For English and Mathematics, schools must:

provide a short description of what was taught; and
report achievement by making a teacher judgement against the Victorian Curriculum F-10 achievement standards; and
report progress from the last time that curriculum area was reported on (this should be automatically generated by your reporting software); and
include an age-related five-point scale (this should also be automatically generated by your reporting software).

Reporting progress in other curriculum areas, schools must:

provide a short description of what was taught. In addition, schools should provide a short comment on progress and achievement in their learning across the Semester.

Reporting student participation and engagement, schools must:

provide a comment on student participation and engagement in the learning program offered in Semester Two 2020, with reference to the Personal and Social Capability in the curriculum.

Semester Two, 2020 Student Reports will be distributed via Compass. The publishing date of reports will be advised in early Term Four; with the publishing date being at some stage in late December, 2020.

Cancellation of School Camps/ Excursions/ Incursions

Due to the ongoing restrictions across Metropolitan Melbourne, all camps/ excursions/ incursions are to be cancelled.

Unfortunately, for our school community this means that the Year Five-Six camp, and the Year Three-Four camp will no longer occur.

The format of other community events, such as our annual Christmas Concert will be communicated to families in early Term Four.

Transition Programs for Foundation- Year Six Students

Due to the ongoing restrictions across Metropolitan Melbourne, there are currently some uncertainties as to what format transition programs will occur within.

We can however, make reference to the following:

Kindergarten- Foundation Transition Programs

All enrolled families have been previously sent details for a Webex information session to occur this week, during which they will receive information such as teachers, format of transition program, supporting your child's readiness for school, and a date for a one-one Webex meeting with the classroom teachers in the first week of Term Four.

Year Six- Year Seven Transition Programs

In early Term Four, DET will be providing schools with further advice based upon DHHS restrictions. However, the current date of Tuesday December 8th 2020 is tentatively booked for statewide government school transition.

Foundation- Year Six Transition Programs

The Leadership Team of Upwey South Primary School are currently working hard to secure staffing arrangements for 2021. This will allow the school to:

consider and implement best-practice ways of promoting positive transition sessions within the school
inform parents/carers, and students of their 2021 classroom teacher in early December
commence internal transition programs in early December.

Vacation Care Program- Monday 21/09/2020- Friday 02/10/2020

Unfortunately, due to low numbers of bookings the Vacation Care Program will not be offered by Extend during this term break. This has been communicated in an email from Extend OSHC to families who access the service.

Before-school care and after-school care will resume normal hours of operation from Monday October 5th 2020.

Withdrawal of BYOD iPad Program from 2021

As previously communicated to families in mid-late 2019, this year the school began the phased withdrawal of the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) iPad Program across Year Three- Year Six.

From the commencement of the 2021 school year, students will no longer be permitted to bring their own iPad to school.

To continue the support of digital learning across the curriculum, the school has recently purchased 70 iPads at a heavily discounted rate which will be rolled out as class-sets across the middle and senior school.

More information regarding the above will be provided to families during Term Four, 2020.

Providing Support to our Families

Within the context of Remote Learning, and extended restrictions upon Metropolitan Melbourne, there are a number of online workshops which are being offered to support parents/carers with the challenges that families may be facing in juggling competing commitments.

The below workshops are optional, and are being facilitated by ParentZone (Anglicare). These workshops are being offered to all schools across the Eastern Region of Melbourne.

All programs are free to attend, however bookings are essential as spaces are limited.

Calm Parents Happy Kids – 6 week program Thursdays Oct 15th to Nov 19th from 7:00pm- 8:30pm.

Emotion Focused Parenting – 6 week program Mondays Oct 21st to Nov 25th from 7:00pm- 9:00pm.

Dads Matter – 6 week program Tuesdays Oct 27th to Dec 1st from 7:00pm- 9:00pm.

Talking Teens – 6 week program Tuesdays Oct 13th to Nov 24th from 7:00pm- 8:30pm.

Keeping Aware of Information Relating to School

As a school we work hard to keep our families informed of happenings across the school. We acknowledge that receiving information in a timely and consistent manner can help to alleviate the pressures which come from managing a busy family calendar.

Communicating via Compass

All of our school notifications are sent via the Newsfeed within the Compass app. There is also a calendar of events within the app, which sends push notifications to users to remind them of school events.

In 2020, we are also utilising Compass for families to consent and pay in order for their children to take part in school events. The uptake and comments from families thus far is that it is so easy to do, and helpful to be able to consent at the push of a button.

In order to filter notifications which are received, you will notice that we send out notifications which are year level specific. This means that sometimes not all notifications are sent to all year levels.

Communicating with the School Administration Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2020, and welcome your input:

USPS Inbox:

upwey.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Damien Kitch (Principal)

Damien.Kitch@education.vic.gov.au

Janet Young (Business Manager)

Janet.Young@education.vic.gov.au

Janette Clarke (Office Manager)

Janette.Clarke@education.vic.gov.au

Calendar of Events

Helping our School Community to be Engaged