Principal's Report

Through School Transitions

I have sent out via Compass the dates and times of our Through School Transition program for this year. These sessions provide students with the opportunity to meet new people and mix and mingle with all of the students in their Unit. The first two sessions will be casual in nature with students undertaking open tasks supported by the 2020 teaching teams. Our third session they will be working with the 2021 teaching teams with the final session, on December 9th, being in their 2021 classroom with their teacher for next year. Class lists will be sent home on December 8th. 

Naturally, some students are daunted by change and the prospect of being in a new room, with a new teacher and new students. It can be a lot to take on board. Focusing on what they can control can at times provide a basic level of comfort. One of the main areas for students is friendships. We always place students with at least one close friend, and reminding them that they will be able to play with all of their friends in the playground is one thing they are able to control. 

In 2021 we will be having 10 classes at Marlborough:

• 2 x Foundation
• 3 x 1/2
• 3 x 3/4
• 2 x 5/6

Our Specialist Program will include:

• Visual Arts
• Physical Education (P.E.)
• Indonesian
• Science

We are very excited about having science as a specialist program as it will provide a new opportunity for our students. Performing Arts will move back into the classroom and be taught by the classroom teachers throughout the year. 

There are not too many changes to where Year Levels will be located in 2021. Our Foundation students will remain where they currently are, in the building next to the carpark and have the 5/6 students in the two rooms opposite. Our 1/2 classes are in the same as they are currently, next to Administration, with our 3/4 classes being in the middle unit, next to the Specialist/OSHC rooms.  

Tutoring Program

As you will no doubt heard, the Victorian Government is funding additional teaching staff in schools in 2021 to work as tutors. The role of this initiative is for schools to provide additional support to students in view of the impact that Remote Learning may have had. We are currently working to identify students who will participate in this program with current teaching staff reviewing each student individually and looking at where they would have predicted that student to be in Literacy and Numeracy by the end of this year should Covid not have happened. 

It has been identified that roughly 20% of students would benefit from participating in the program to redress the unusual situations 2020  has presented.  In an ideal world, we would be funded to enable all of our students to gain access to this style of support, however, this is not the reality. At the beginning of 2021, once our program is finalised we will notify families if their child is part of the tutoring program. This program will run parallel to classroom learning, not at break times, before or after school. 

Building Works

One of the issues that we have faced at school has been the impact Covid-19 has had on our building projects. Both the Toilet Upgrade and Sensory Play Space have been impacted however, both should be completed in the first half of next year. We are also working towards the next phase of our playground upgrade, again slightly delayed, in early 2021.