Welcome back

It has been a very smooth start to the school year and the students have quickly settled in a positive and productive learning environment. A special acknowledgement goes out to our Prep students and their families as they begin their primary school journey. This is a big milestone for the whole family, and we are very proud of our prep students for their positivity, resilience and independence.

The beginning of the school year provides a great opportunity for staff, students and families to begin to build positive relationships and get to know each other well. This is a major focus across the school in the first few weeks, as it builds a strong foundation for learning, personal and social growth and achievement.

I’d like to take an opportunity to welcome the new staff who have started at NMPS this year. Along with all staff at NMPS, these staff have hit the ground running in their first week. If you get a chance, please make sure you say hello and make them feel welcome. A full class list is shared in this newsletter for your reference.

COVIDSafe Update

I would like to thank families for their support and implementation of our COVIDSafe routines (outlined later in this newsletter). As guidelines often change, we ask that all parents read the regular Compass emails outlining our COVIDSafe practices aligned with DET regulations.

Families will also receive regular Compass alerts updating the community on positive COVID-19 cases in year levels and classes. These will be sent to the whole school community for transparency and to ensure those in affected classes and/or siblings are monitored closely for symptoms. We thank you in advance for your cooperation with this process.

Parent Communication & Open Classroom Event

NMPS recognises the importance of communications and continues to strive to refine our delivery of excellence in communication. We would like all families to know we are available to discuss your child’s learning journey. If you have any concerns or questions about your child’s schooling – academic or wellbeing, please do not hesitate to get in touch with their classroom teacher via email or Compass. If there is an urgent matter, we advise that you phone the school.

Our main portal of whole-school communication is through Compass. Important updates will be sent via Compass so please ensure you have access to this portal. If you do not yet have access to Compass, please speak to our office staff who will be able to help you. It is also advisable to please check to ensure your email address and contact details recorded in Compass are current.

Year Level and Specialist teams may also use other platforms to enhance and share your child’s learning journey, such as SeeSaw or Google Classroom. Teaching teams will share this information with the community initially through Compass and/or their Year Level Overview. Year Level and Specialist Overviews will be published on our website in the upcoming weeks so please keep your eyes open for this information.

We look forward to working together with our community to ensure all students have a positive, successful school year.

Calendar Dates & Term Dates for 2022

If you haven’t already received your 2022 NMPS School Calendar, please visit our front office to collect one. This has pre-planned important school dates that you need to be aware of, including School Council meetings, camps, Open Classrooms events and 3 Way Conferences. It is also available on our website. This calendar also outlines the term and semester dates. Please note our Pupil Free Days (Curriculum Days) fall on the first day of each term. Student instruction does not occur on these days. We also recommend you check this newsletter in the 'Important Dates' section for a fortnightly listing of school events.

Year 6 Canberra Camp Update

As you may be aware, given the current climate we have made the decision to reschedule the Year 6 Canberra Camp in the interest of the health and safety of our students and staff. Upon contacting the company who facilitate the camp, we were advised the only alternative dates that were available in 2022 were the 2nd May to the 6th May, inclusive.

We understand that this date coincides with Ramadan and the Holy Eid Festival. At NMPS, we recognise the importance of this religious event and would like to offer our sincere apologies to the school community for the clash of dates. However, given our Year 6 children missed out on their Year 5 camp last year, we felt it was important to offer these as the alternative dates rather than having to cancel the camp altogether.

Our NMPS staff attending camp, does and will acknowledge the significance of the Holy Eid Festival with students. We wish the Muslim community a blessed month.

School Review & Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) Priorities

This term North Melbourne Primary School will be undertaking our School Review. A school review helps a school community by identifying goals and targets to improve student outcomes in the school’s next four-year School Strategic Plan. More information on our School Review will be shared as the term progresses.

While we are undertaking our School Review, we are still required to have an Annual Implementation Plan (AIP). The Annual Implementation Plan outlines the 12-month targets and Key Improvement Strategies selected for focus in the coming year. 12-month targets are selected which will support the school to progress towards the four-year targets of the School Strategic Plan. Please refer to our AIP Overview later in the newsletter which outlines our goals and targets for the year and the actions we will be taking to support implementation. Please note, this AIP may be modified after the completion of our School Review and the development of our new School Strategic Plan.

School Council Elections

The North Melbourne Primary school council election process has now started. Please see the information posted to Compass for more information. Nomination forms can also be accessed via Compass. For an overview of out School Council please go to our website: About Us

SunSmart

Term 1 is a SunSmart term, so we ask that all children have a broad-brimmed hat for recess, lunch and physical education classes. Students are also encouraged to bring their own named water bottle to school each day.

Assembly

Given the current COVIDSafe measures in place in schools, we have made the decision to delay our school assemblies for the first 4 weeks of term. This is to limit mixing between cohorts and limit activities to the smallest possible cohort sizes. We will keep families informed about when we will commence assemblies and look forward to inviting parents to these celebrations.