Principal's Message
Please take the time to read each page of our newsletter, as we provide you with information updates across our school.
TERM FOUR EVENTS:
Please be aware that all upcoming Term Four events are now viewable within our Compass Calendar. We advise all families to add these events to your schedules.
Colour Run Wrap-Up
What an amazing community we have at Upwey South Primary School!!!
The joy and fun that came from our Colour Run last Friday 14/11/2025 is still being talked about in the schoolyard. The comments coming from our students and staff reflect a high level of gratitude for the efforts of those involved in helping to lead and coordinate the event. We’ve even heard several students say things such as “I want to do a colour run for my birthday!” “The slip ‘n’ slide was better than Christmas Day” “I loved seeing the little brothers and sisters joining in” “I laughed when my teacher got squirted with colour” and “I can’t believe my parents went on the slide”.
It was such a wonderful experience to have so many family members joining in our Colour Run, and we are grateful for the support of so many from across our community.
Our Parent Association have put together a short video, including some brilliant drone footage of the afternoon.
As a school community we raised $32,295.11 through student and community donations. Add to this, another $2047.40 donated by Mama Yama- Sushi Express to match the sushi lunch orders on the day of the Colour Run, and the grand total of funds donated was $34,342.51
As an extension of our gratitude to all volunteers who have supported our school throughout 2025, we are hosting a Parent/Carer Helper’s Afternoon Tea in the OSHC Building 2:00pm-2:30pm Thursday 27/11/2025, followed by our school-wide assembly at 2:45pm, followed by our after-school Groove Foundations Instrumental Concert. For those parents/carers who wish to attend the afternoon tea, please refer to previous Compass posts and action an RSVP as directed.
Upwey South Primary School truly is a great place to belong.
2026 Staffing Structure and Transition Information
As occurs each year, schools across Victoria and Australia have spent the past few months considering staffing budgets, planning for recruitment drives, and placing careful consideration into class placements for the upcoming school year.
As a school, we are now in the position to announce our staffing structure for 2026.
Please note that in 2026, Upwey South Primary School will be operating under a 15-class model, consisting of approximately 350 students.
Prior to viewing the attachments below (which detail our 2026 staffing model), it is important to note that Upwey South Primary School continues to face a strong demand for enrolments, with our 2026 Foundation cohort almost 40% over-subscribed.
This demand is reflective across all year levels, and we are proud that our School Council is working closely with the Department of Education to continue to balance the needs of the community, whilst being cognisant of the unique environment we offer our students under the current structure.
You can view our 2026 staffing structure, and classroom locations, by opening the below attachments:
When viewing the above attachments, please be aware of the following movements across our 2026 staffing structure:
- Ms Melissa Woollard- Ms Woollard will be taking approved leave for the 2026 school year.
- Ms Nikki Perfect- Ms Perfect will be joining our school in 2026, coming to us from Berwick Lodge Primary School.
- Ms Sian Buddy- Ms Buddy will be joining our school in 2026, coming to us from The Basin Primary School.
Ms Perfect and Ms Buddy will be in our school on several occasions between now and the end of the year. For details, please view their introductory letters below:
2026 Transition Information
The following timeline is in place to support students and staff as we transition into 2026:
- Tuesday 2nd December 2025- 2026 classroom allocations are emailed directly to parents, detailing your child's 2026 classroom teacher and classroom location
- Tuesday 9th December 2025- Step-Up Day for all students. This is an opportunity for students to spend a part of the day with their 2026 classroom teacher and classmates.
- Tuesday 16th December- Step-Up Day for all students. This is an opportunity for students to spend a part of the day with their 2026 classroom teacher and classmates.
Solar energy is now helping to power our school
Upwey South Primary School is excited to announce a significant and sustainable upgrade to our infrastructure.
Under the Greener Government School Buildings (GGSB) Program, our school was selected for the installation of a solar power energy system. The installation of solar panels is now complete, and is housed on the roof of the main classroom building, extending from the library to the meeting room.
On behalf of our school community, we express our thanks to our School Council who continue to engage in works to improve the learning environment for our students.
Digital Technologies for students at our school
As we get closer to December 10th 2025 (the date that the Australian Government's initiative to ban social media for under-16 year olds comes into action), many national media agencies have been increasing their coverage of issues related to primary-aged students access to digital technologies and the online use of social media. In the Principal's Piece of the previous newsletter, we provided our community with the details of this initiative.
In addition to the above federal government initiative, on 16/10/2025 the Victorian Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll announced that parents at Victorian Government primary schools will no longer need to buy a device for their children. Whilst this announcement does not impact Upwey South Primary School (as we do not engage in a bring your own device-BYOD- program) it will have a significant impact upon some schools across our local area. You can read about this announcement here.
Therefore, in this edition of the newsletter it is timely to bring to the attention of our school community the expectations which we have for the use of digital technology at our school. Our expectations align with current Department of Education Policy, and reflect our school's commitment to enabling our students to be responsible users of digital learning technologies.
At Upwey South Primary School, we are committed to building a culture of respect and responsibility. We show this in the way we use technology and interact online. We teach our students about responsible digital behaviours, including how to recognise and respond to online dangers and threats. We support students to develop the digital skills they need to make a positive impact in the world. We are intentional and discerning about our integration of digital tools into the curriculum, providing rich, interactive and personalised experiences, while ensuring a balance with offline learning opportunities.
You can view our Acceptable Use Agreement in the attachment below:
Contaminated Sand Products
Within national media, there has been recent coverage regarding the recall of craft sand products that may contain asbestos.
Upwey South Primary School does not have any of these products, and therefore we are not impacted by the recall.
National and Victorian health authorities have advised that the possible risk to human health from these products has been downgraded from low to very low.
If you have the product at home, please follow advice from the health authorities.
Stop using the craft sand and follow these steps for safe clean-up and disposal:
Child Safe Policies and Practices
In the September 15th 2025 edition of our school newsletter we brought to the attention of our community the actions we were taking to further promote child safety across our school.
To further enhance our commitment to building a school culture focussed upon Child Safe practices, in 2026, the role of Child Safe Champion will be diversified away from the principal-class.
This alteration to our future structure will present a unique opportunity to build the capacity of our staff, future-proof our school culture, and enhance opportunities for middle leaders to provide advice to staff, monitor implementation, and to raise awareness of child safe practices and policies that the school has in place.
As a parent/carer, if you would like to be involved in supporting our future Child Safe Champion in creating greater voice and awareness for our school community, please email:
damien.kitch@education.vic.gov.au
In 2026, the Child Safe Champion will work alongside executive leadership and School Council to:
- facilitate a series of community and staff education sessions
- capture parent/carer voice, community sentiments and knowledge
- align practice improvement alongside our Marrung Leader
- work with the Marrung Leader and parent/carers to develop our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to further support indigenous and first nations students and families.
To view our current Child Safe policies, please visit this link.
To view the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) resources visit https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/
To provide any comments or feedback regarding our current policies or practices, please email:
upwey.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Vision, Values, and School Identity... there is still time to have your say
Our School Council extend their thanks and gratitude to the parents/carers who recently attended our in-person workshops which were held on 12th November 2025. The discussions from these workshops were rich, insightful, and will help School Council to shape the future directions of our school. We also extend our thanks and gratitude to those parents/carers who have committed the time to undertake our online surveys.
As referenced in our previous newsletter (dated: 27/10/2025) our online survey remains open for parents/carers until midnight, Sunday 30th November 2025.
Participation in this survey is voluntary, and can be actioned without the need to register an email address- therefore offering anonymity to respondents.
Participation rates as at 24/11/2025 are detailed in the below image:
To complete an online version of the survey, visit Online Survey Link
Reverse Advent Calendar to Support our Wider Community
In the lead-up to Christmas 2025, we are once again partnering Foothills Community Care to support those less fortunate across our wider community.
This event is being managed by our amazing Performing Arts Leader, Ms Penelope Lang with the support of our School Leaders. We will be collecting donations throughout the month of November. Please refer to the Performing Arts page of this newsletter for more detailed information.
Be Prepared for the Upcoming Bushfire Season
As we near the end of Term Three each year, we continue to prepare our school to be 'Bushfire Aware'. Given the beautiful natural surroundings of the Dandenong Ranges, we encourage all members of our community to commit the time to plan and prepare for the Summer months ahead.
Ongoing works around our school include vegetation clearance, gutter cleaning, quality and pressure checks of hydrants, drill practice with students, and updating of our Emergency Management Plan.
Once again, we direct families to information which is publicly available on our website.
Emergency Management Planning FAQs
At Upwey South Primary School, we review and update our Emergency Management Plan (EMP) annually.
The management of EMP actions is highly detailed, and can alter dependent upon environmental changes which may impact upon schools (e.g. geographical location, changes to surrounding bushland/vegetation, changes to community access/buildings, etc).
In order to simplify the complexities of an EMP, we provide families with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) reference.
These FAQs provides you with:
- possible emergency scenarios which may require a school to enact its Emergency Management Plan
- actions specific to our school, when enacting our Emergency Management Plan
- information about the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS)
Please familiarise yourself with the actions we are taking to provide a safe learning environment for our students.
Should you require further information, please speak with the Principal, or visit the Department of Education (DE) Reference Guide online:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/emergency-critical-incident-management-planning/policy
Bushfire Information
Upwey South Primary School is in the picturesque Dandenong Ranges region of Victoria, which is one of the most fire-prone areas within Australia. Due to our geographical location, our school is listed on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR).
What is the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR)?
The BARR is a list of sites across Victoria, which have been identified as at an increased risk of exposure to bushfires.
Schools, kindergartens, and childcare facilities at the highest risk of fire danger are placed on the Department's BARR. Inclusion on this register requires listed facilities to communicate information to their communities.
For more information and an alphabetical listing of BARR sites, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/bushfire-risk-register-barr
Upwey South Primary School BARR information:
BARR Category: CAT 3 (as pictured above)
Local Government Area: Yarra Ranges
Fire Weather District: Central
What happens to Upwey South Primary School during a Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating (previously Code Red)?
All schools and early childhood services that have been listed on the Department’s BARR will close on days determined
'Catastrophic' by the Emergency Management Commissioner.
The distribution of communications is managed at a regional level. Schools are not to circulate their own communications without regional authority.
When a school or early childhood service is closed due to a Code Red determination, no staff will remain on site, and all out-of-school care programs (including vacation, before, and after-school programs) will not operate.
Where can I find out more information about the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS)?
For a summary of the national rating system, please refer to the information below:
The Australian Fire Danger Rating System
In September 2022, Australia implemented the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS). This is a nationally consistent system for fire danger ratings based on the latest scientific research. This will result in more accurate predictions for fire danger. It has fewer levels (from 6 to 4). It also has clearer, simplified messaging for all communities.
The department worked with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to update our bushfire risk methodology in line with the changes. There were minimal changes to the methodology and department policy because of the AFDRS.
The key changes outlined in the below graphic were implemented from the start of the 2023/2024 bushfire season:
- Extreme fire danger rating (FDR) under the AFDRS covers what used to be known as Severe and Extreme.
- Catastrophic fire danger represents the worst conditions (previously Code Red).
As a result, the triggers for pre-emptive relocation and closure on elevated fire danger days were adjusted slightly to reflect this new system.
- Category 1 and Category 2 schools will relocate, or close, in accordance with their pre-approved plan on a day forecast Extreme FDR for their LGA.
- Like before, all schools on the BARR (Category 1-3) and Category 4 list must close on a forecast Catastrophic FDR day in their weather district. Their buses will be cancelled. All other buses that travel through the Catastrophic FDR area will also be cancelled.
To find out more information visit: https://afdrs.com.au/
Communicating with the Principal
We look forward to partnering with you in 2025, and welcome your input:
Damien Kitch
Principal
m: 0459 864 712