PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers,

The last two weeks have continued to be a busy time around the school. The Preps have continued playing wonderful hosts to the visiting kinder students, our Year 1/2 students have finished off their swimming program, the Year 3/4 students have been putting their writing skills to the test by sending letters to our Olympians and our Year 5/6 students have begun their electives program.

The Olympics have given us lots of positive and uplifting news to focus on over the past fortnight which has been a nice relief from the normal news cycle which dominates the airways. It has been fabulous to see a number of local athletes excel on the world stage and really provide role models for our students to look up to. I am sure they inspired our basketball teams who represented the school last week at the Division competition.

Maintaining School Safety Procedures

Recent events have prompted us to review our safety procedures to ensure we continue to maintain the highest level of safety for our students while they are at school. Although we are confident in our current safety measures, we identified one area for potential improvement: keeping gates locked during school hours.

Our school has two main entry points, both on O’Shannassy Pde, and starting this Thursday, we will be locking these gates between 9:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Signs will be posted on the gates to inform visitors that they must enter through the school administration building during these hours.

We believe that this change will create a safer environment by preventing students leaving school grounds and any unauthorised access ensuring that all visitors register at the school office.

We thank everyone in advance for taking on board these new changes.

Parent/Carer/Guardian Opinion Survey

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents / caregivers / guardians think of our school. The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

One member from all families are invited to complete the survey with details being outlined in a Compass post sent out on Monday.  Your feedback is greatly appreciated. The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open until Friday August 30, 2024.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and many other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. If you require further assistance to complete the survey, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.

Book Week

Next week we celebrate 2024 Book Week with the theme ‘Reading is Magic’. We have lots of celebrations planned throughout the week with the highlight definitely being the dress up day on Wednesday August 21. 

Students are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite book or character.

The day will start with a dress up parade in the gym which everyone is welcome to attend. 

We will also be celebrating the winning books for the Australian Book of the Year Award.

As a hook for Book Week, please see the staff video trailer below.

Individual Education Plans

Over the past few months, we have been working on a new model of Individual Education Plans for identified students across the school. This change has been necessary to support the disability inclusion reform that has taken place across the entire state.

Our new IEP structure identifies students on 3 tiers:

Tier 1: Students who have been identified as requiring differentiated support in literacy, numeracy or social emotional learning.

Tier 2: Students who have been identified as requiring support in two or more areas of literacy, numeracy or social and emotional learning.

Tier 3: Departmental requirements of students who are funded under disability inclusion, Koorie, out of home care and those flagged for future disability inclusion applications. 

Each of these IEPs include student goals and strategies which will be reviewed each term.

IEPs will be made available on Compass once they have been finalised later this week. All parents of students who meet any of the criteria above will be notified by classroom teachers. 

Curriculum Day - August 29

Coming up on Thursday August 29 is a curriculum day for Lucas Primary School. On this day the school will be closed, however Lucas Leap will be open for those requiring supervision for their child/children. Please note, bookings are essential for Curriculum Day care at Lucas LEAP.

Kinder Visits and Prep Enrolments

As we are currently beginning our planning for 2025, there is a call out for all Prep enrolments for next year. The following support is provided to siblings of current students and prospective students living within the Lucas Primary School zone:

• Enrolment packs are available from the school office.
• School tours are being conducted every Wednesday at 9:30am for those wishing to find out a little more about the school. (Bookings are essential)
• Our supportive office staff are available to answer all your questions.
• Our website has important information relating to school zones and beginning school.

If you, or someone you know is yet to submit enrolment forms for 2025, please contact the school office for support. 

Energy Breakthrough 2024

Over the past four weeks our Energy Breakthrough team has begun their preparations for this event that occurs later in the year. Students have had a chance to learn more about the experience and begin their fitness campaign.

This year we have entered two teams and over the coming months each team will be understanding how the mechanics of a bike work, designing team shirts, writing persuasive letters to gain sponsorship, designing the logos for the carts and working on a presentation to make as part of the event. There is a lot to do, but I am confident that the students will do their best and represent the school to the highest of levels.

We are currently looking for sponsors to support this program, so if you belong to a company that would like to get behind the students, please get in touch with Nick Compston by email for more details. nicholas.compston@education.vic.gov.au