Principal Report

Auburn South PS 

I want to thank you all for your support and sensitivity as our wider local community comes to terms with what can only be described as a complete tragedy. 

The devastating death of grade 5 student Jack Davey is being felt deeply, not just by the Auburn South Primary School community, but by our own school community. Our heartfelt sympathy remains with everyone at Auburn South and with Jack’s family and friends at this very sad time. 

Our focus is always the welfare of our students, staff and broader school community, so I just want to remind you that support is available at school for anyone who needs it. Our Wellbeing team is available to all students. If you or your child would like to arrange a time to speak to a member of this team, please contact Shannon Reeve or myself at school on 9857 5157.

If you are concerned your child is not coping with this tragedy, please let us know. We will make every effort to support students who are distressed. 

Auburn South Primary School principal Marcus Wicher has extended his heartfelt thanks to everyone in our local community for their generous offers of support and their sensitivity, as their school navigates the ongoing impacts of this tragedy. 

As a school we have offered support and delivered some fruit baskets. We will continue offering support in the coming weeks, including teachers to assist if needed. They have been overwhelmed with support and have many people around them at this time. 

If you have any questions, particularly about the supports available to you and your family, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Professional learning 

Professional learning is key to school staff building their skills and knowledge, each year we have focus on staff learning to better provide for the learning and wellbeing of all of our students. 

This year our staff have worked together to build their knowledge and skills with a focus on neurodiversity. Our learning has supported us to reinforce universal strategies, which support all students. 

At the end of last term, we had a power packed day with Sue Larkey. We identified current practices and new strategies we can implement school wide and for individual students.  We explored essential tips for understanding neurodiversity, that strategies wear out and we need a bag full of them to try. We explored policy, levels of adjustment and emotional regulation. We explored the difference between girls with autism and boys with autism. 

She was able to provide us with tips sheets to support our learning on:

• De-escalation and the phases of a meltdown - also the difference between sensory meltdowns and behaviour meltdowns. 
• Easy social emotional learning activities for the whole class in five minutes or less (the importance of universal strategies that support all learners) 
• Sensory tools - how taking these away can then lead to body behaviour 

We explored books and resources, including timers which support break time (there are now some of these around the school). 

We have continued our learning around neurodiversity this term by spending time learning with the ICAN network, who supported us to gain an understanding of the lived experience and practical strategies to support Autistic learners. Autism is a dynamic disability and getting to know each individual is essential, working out their strengths and areas they need extra support is key to them having a school experience which caters for their needs. 

Key takeaways included: 

• the importance of a safe person - someone students can trust, and they can go to
• processing time and knowing who needs extra time 
• eye contact because it is not going to always happen and shouldn't be forced
• de-escalation techniques for defusing meltdowns 
• stimming and its role for an autistic person

Determining why a student is not engaging in work and socially at school is detective work - looking for patterns, working out if there is a specific time/place/lesson and what sort of demands cause resistance are just a start to the detective work. 

Spending time as a staff after these learning experiences we have identified key things we have in place or will be adding to our practice: 

• Differentiation is part of all learning programs - reviewing how we cater to individual needs is part of each planning session in teaching teams 
• Brain Breaks - the best sort to use
• Relationship building is key, and our Start Up Program and Restorative Practice supports this
• Adaptive classrooms (physically and academically) 
• Working alongside allied health workers
• Individual Education Plans 
• Catering to all students can mean adjusting for specific needs and adding universal strategies
• Noticing the complexity of each student is core to our role, gaining an understanding of a student is supported by developing strong relationships with their parents and carers
• Trialling strategies and having many to try is essential
• Good communication between staff and parents is a starting point, at times what is seen at home will not be what is seen at school, and it is vital to give value to what the parents share 
• Finding and fostering student strengths and interests is a starting point
• Offering alternatives at lunch time is an ongoing school wide support.

Reconciliation Action Plan 

Our school has commenced working on the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan. All schools in the Northeast Victorian Region will be developing an individual school plan. 

A Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is a formal commitment to reconciliation. It documents how our school will strengthen relationships, respect and opportunities in the classroom, around the school/service and with the community. 

Reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the benefit of all Australians. 

Lisa Trevorrow and I have started to working group to put this plan together. Are you interested in being involved or finding out more about what an Action Plan involves? Please contact me on 98575157 for a chat.

Phonics teaching 

In 2025 schools will focus on the teaching of phonics, for many of us this is already a part of our regular teaching program. 

Presently, the staff at BPPS are engaged in ongoing learning about the updated English 2.0 Curriculum and its impact on our teaching and learning programs. We are still awaiting information from the Government and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority about the structured phonic program that we will be required to implement in 2025. We are, however, confident that we are very well placed to seamlessly implement the new curriculum, particularly as we already have a structured synthetic phonics program running across the school.  

Please find attached - Understanding Phonics: a helpful guide for families, parents, and carers. This is a helpful document put together by the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Learning. We hope it provides you with information about what phonics is, why it is important in learning to read, and how you can support your children at home to develop their awareness of sounds, and the relationship between sounds and letters. 

We will provide further information to our parent community as it is made available to us. 

Protecting against mosquito-borne diseases

Warm and wet weather can result in greater numbers of mosquitoes and increased risk of illnesses from mosquito bites. While the overall risk is low, some mosquitoes carry diseases that make people sick. 

The best protection against mosquito-borne illness is to avoid mosquito bites.

Families can protect against mosquito bites by:

· Covering up as much as possible with long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing

· Applying insect repellent that contains picaridin or DEET on exposed skin when leaving home

· Limiting outdoor activity if lots of mosquitoes are active. 

Families with any health concerns should see their doctor or phone NURSE-ON-CALL: 1300 606 024 (available 24 hours). 

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines

Japanese encephalitis virus is spread to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes and can cause a rare but potentially serious infection of the brain.

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines are available to protect Victorians at higher risk of the virus.

The Victorian Department of Health encourages eligible people who live or work in high-risk local government areas to get vaccinated.

For more information, including what is considered a high-risk area and eligibility for a free vaccine, refer to the Department of Health’s Japanese encephalitis webpage.

Find out more

For more information on protecting against mosquito-borne diseases, families can refer to the following Better Health Channel pages: 

· Mosquitoes can carry diseases 

· Protect yourself from mosquito-borne disease, including a handy checklist to help reduce mosquito breeding sites at home 

2025 plans - is your child leaving Boroondara Park PS? 

For many reasons students arrive or leave Boroondara Park PS at the end of each school year. This term we have had seven new students join our community. Families often experience change for one reason or another. 

If you know your child is moving to another school, or you are moving suburbs, cities or countries please fill in this form to let us know. 

When students start to put together the people they work well with for class creation it assists if we know a child is leaving. 

We are offering the opportunity for exit interviews before you leave, please tick this box if you would like to participate in a conversation before you leave. 

Leaving Boroondara Park PS in 2025 

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