Principal's Report

Celebrating ‘Diwali’ 

Last Thursday the whole school enjoyed a variety of activities to acknowledge ‘Diwali’. They included Yoga, Rangoli, Henna and Diya making plus an in-depth opportunity to learn about some special Indian musical instruments, with the Bollywood dancing being a huge hit with the students and the teachers. On behalf of the students and the staff I would like to thank Amber Panagopoulos for organising the whole day, it was amazing. I would also like to thank the parents who came and helped with some of the activities with a special mention to Nayanka’s dad, Sridhar who shared his musical instrument expertise.

2025 Parent Contributions

Last week information was forwarded to all families regarding next year’s Parent Contributions. The contributions are described in several categories in line with the guidelines from the Department of Education (DoE). The curriculum contributions section covers all materials provided to each child throughout the year, including their book packs which will be waiting for every student in their classroom on the first day of school next January.

We look forward to your support with these contributions so that we may continue to ensure an outstanding level of provision and support for every student. If you have any queries regarding these contributions or would like to organise a personalised payment plan, please do not hesitate to contact Katie Forbes, Business Manager, on 9802 5277.

Transition

Last Wednesday we welcomed back our 2025 Foundation students for their second transition session. The theme of the session was the book ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.’ The skills practiced throughout the session included listening to instructions, fine motor skills and the important ones of becoming familiar with the Foundation classroom environment and of course having fun.

Class Structure at SSPS

Towards the end of every school year, we organise learning environments and class structures for the following school year. The configuration of these is governed by:

• Department funding, which is based on student enrolments and therefore determines the number of classes allowed.
• The number of students in each class based on The Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2021.

For 2025 the following structure will be in place:

• Foundation - 2 classes
• Year 1 - 2 classes
• Year 2 - 2 classes
• Year 3 – 3 classes
• Year 4 – 2 classes
• Year 5 - 2 classes
• Year 6 - 2 classes

Class Planning for 2025

It is rapidly approaching the time of year when teachers start the formal process of student placement for the following year. However, student placement decisions are shaped during the entire year as teachers observe and listen to students and parents/carers in relation to their wellbeing and learning needs.

Student placement decisions are not made lightly, as we recognise the importance of creating an optimum learning environment for all our students.  It is an extremely complex process to ensure that we have a balance and appropriate spread of ability, gender, and social dynamics to promote learning and support all our students. 

Classroom teachers and specialist teachers are very well-aware of friendship groups and the dynamics within the classes which either enhance or impede the classroom climate. Teachers will use their extensive knowledge of how students interact and relate to each other when placing students.

We want to reassure all families that the teachers will be ensuring each student is placed in a class with other students with whom they are familiar (but perhaps not best friends with) and are able to build positive relationships to assist with their continued learning. All students next week will be given the opportunity to nominate five friends that they would be happy to be with next year (the nominations are not viewed in any order). You might like to discuss this with your child over the weekend. This process reinforces our values of building relationships and resilience in our students and promoting students’ voice.

We will be retaining our practice of accepting written information from parents regarding any specific learning needs which need to be taken into consideration when placing their child. However, we are not able to take requests for children to be placed together based on friendships or requests for teachers. Please note that teacher allocation has not been finalised for 2025 and this will not happen until later in the year. We do not always refer back to requests from previous years as the relationships between children change over time, so I do ask that you re-submit previous requests made if they are still applicable.

Some issues for parents to consider when thinking about making a request include:

• Younger children have fluctuating friendship groups. This is a perfectly normal developmental stage so a request for a particular ‘friend’ may become less important over time - especially over the Christmas holidays.
• How will a request support our shared work on building resilience in our students?

Teachers are sensitive to students with friendship concerns, and we ask that you trust your child’s teacher along with past teachers and specialists to make the correct decision on their behalf.

Should you wish to alert us to other learning related concerns, please put this in an email to myself helen.freeman@education.vic.gov.au by Friday 15th November 2024. Emails received after this date cannot be accepted due to the commencement of our process. Please remember and accept that, whilst parent concerns are noted, there is no guarantee that these concerns can be accommodated through the class placement process.

The SSPS staff would like to thank you in advance for your trust in our professionalism and our ability to create the best learning environment for your child and all our students. 

Family Safety

Again, to ensure the safety of our families we are reminding you that access to the school through the staff carpark is not safe. There are a number of gates around the school that ensure safe access, one being adjacent to the staff car park. The other safety concern are the roundabouts, the school crossing is now back in use and Dina is there to safely see children across the road. Unfortunately, the low numbers using the crossing may result in the Council removing the crossing, which we do not want, so please utilise the crossing.

Have a great fortnight.

Helen