Principal's Report

Foundation Social Night

One of the annual community events on our school calendar is the Foundation Social Night. We recognise that starting school is not only an important milestone for the students, but for families as well.

It was great to hear how well the evening went, with many new faces, as well as a number of existing families, taking the time to get to know each other and share their children’s starting school adventures.

Thank you to the parents who volunteered their time and effort – Kelly Heywood, Madeleine Critchtley, Sarah Craven, Belinda Hillard and Michael Gill. A special mention to Patricia Stanton for her overall coordination.

Parent Teacher Interviews – Bookings Open Next Week

As referenced in the last newsletter, we will offer both in-person and online formats for Parent Teacher Interviews – 12th, 13th and 14th March. We have scheduled one afternoon of online interviews which caters for the convenience of talking to your child’s teacher from home or work. We have also scheduled two afternoons of in-person interviews, so that parents get an opportunity to visit their child’s classroom in the process.

The purpose of these interviews is for parents to receive information about how their child has transitioned socially and emotionally, teacher observations of their work habits, and sharing of the learning focus. 10 minutes is a short amount of time in the scheme of things, however we hope that you leave the interview with a snapshot of how your child has started the year.

TeamKids – Director of Service Appointed

I am pleased to inform everyone that TeamKids new Director of Service has started at FPS this week. Welcome Roula! I am sure that her experience, energy, care and attention will be a great asset to the program.

If you have any questions for Roula, she can be found in the gym building from 7 – 9am, and 3pm – 6pm. See the attachment below to find out more about Roula.

School Council Nominations

Later this week, you will receive a Compass communication with details regarding School Council Nominations. We have two Parent School Council vacancies this year. If you are interested in nominating (yourself or someone else) please keep an eye out in Compass for details.

Therapists in School

I sometimes receive parent queries about whether their child is able to have a therapist work alongside them. There are Department of Education guidelines that we need to adhere to before providing approval for external providers to deliver their service at the school.

In line with the Department’s commitment to supporting participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the school, in most cases, will approve requests for NDIS funded therapy.

A summary of the Department’s Policy is below:

• Schools are encouraged to support students and their parents in exercising a level of choice and control with their National Disability Insurance Scheme at school where it is safe and practical to do so.
• The therapies funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme are related to the student’s functional whole-of-life support needs, and not for educational purposes. The responsibility for therapy for educational attainment remains with the education system. 
• Ultimately, the decision to allow funded therapists to conduct therapy on school grounds rests with the principal.

If your child is NDIS funded and you would like the school to consider therapy related to the student’s functional whole-of-life support needs, please contact the school office with the request. I will then work through the approval process, including the exchange of paperwork before approving any request.

Fiji – Update on Donated Books

Last year, the FPS community donated books to Lautoka Primary School in Fiji. This was organised by parent Nick Critchley. Nick recently visited the Lautoka School and provided the following update.

I thought I’d provide a quick update on the books donated by your respective school communities (FPS and Alphington PS) to Lautoka Primary School in Fiji. 

 

I dropped into the school last week and pleasingly I was shown the books that we donated and noted that they have been lovingly registered, organised and are now well stored in the school’s library. They will be put into use next week – each class is loaned approximately 50 books which will allow the students in that class to borrow a book, read it, and return it to the class library. 

 

As you will note from the photos below the staff at the school were very proud to show off their new library and once again very thankful of the donation. 

Thank you to Nick and all of our community for helping make this positive difference.

Save the Date – School Concerts

Add the following dates to your calendar – these are the dates for our year level concerts.

• Years 1&2: Thursday 29 August at Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar (week 7 of term three)
• Years 3&4: Thursday 13 June at Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar (week 9 of term two)
• Years 5&6: Date and location to be confirmed.

School Welcome Picnic – Friday 23 February 

What better way to welcome the weekend than to join us for our welcome picnic this Friday, starting at 5.30pm. 

Bring a blanket, something to eat and to drink, and take the time to wind down with friends and neighbours.

A friendly reminder that parents are responsible for supervising their children during this event. We also request that alcohol be consumed responsibly.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

~ Paul Wallace, Principal