Principal's Report 

Dear families and friends of MPW,

Welcome back to Term 2, I hope you had an enjoyable school holiday period. 

Thank you to those who have welcomed me back from my Long Service Leave yesterday and today. I was able to spend time in Italy with my family, which was an amazing experience. My personal highlight was Venice. The end of the trip was a bit chaotic with the flooding in Dubai, but we managed to get home on the weekend.  I would like to thank and acknowledge the work of the staff in my absence, in particular Elisha who was in charge for the 3 weeks supported by the PLT leaders. It has been great to come back to Term 2 running smoothly.

Big Adventure is open

Last week we officially opened the new Big Adventure and Jack’s Paddock area. The opening was officiated by our JSC representatives and the local member Danny Pearson. Thank you to those families who were able to attend the opening. Whilst I am sad to have missed the launch myself, I was able to get outside yesterday at the lunch break to see and talk to students enjoying the space. The new play space looks amazing, and the students are loving the new equipment.

ANZAC DAY Thursday 25th April

A reminder that Thursday is the ANZAC Day public holiday. We are currently working with some of our senior JSC students for a school based ceremony and observation that will occur on Friday morning in the gym prior to the lunch break. 

2025 Foundation Enrolments

Applications for Foundation enrolments for 2025 are now open. The new State Wide process continues this year, with specific timelines where application close on 29th July. 

For families at MPW that will be having siblings join the school in 2025, please ensure that you complete your application for enrolments at this time. 

You can find information and resources about the new timeline, including factsheets, at: Enrolling in Foundation (Prep). 

Student Attendance

Prior to my leave, I attended the Western Region Principal’s Forum. One of the foci was student attendance. Attendance will be a continual focus for our network and region. Our aspirational goal is 95% attendance as a whole school, last year we had an average attendance of 91%.  Whilst most of our student absences are for illness or family holidays, we will be tracking attendance more closely this year.

Over the coming weeks, we will be following up with families who have large numbers of non-attendance for the beginning of the year. 

As per the Department of Education Attendance Guidelines (and our school policy) if your child/ren is absent it is the parent/carer responsibility to provide a reason for each occasion. You can do this by adding an ‘attendance note’ via Compass or contacting the school office.

Our office staff continue to regularly contact and remind parents regarding unexplained absences to ensure a reason is provided. If you notice any challenges with absences on Compass please contact the school office for support. 

Below is a table displaying the impact that large absences can have on students’ progress.

Hats outside

Our SunSmart policy requires students to wear hats outside between mid-August and end of April. As of Wednesday 1st May, next week, students are no longer required to wear their hat outside, but we do encourage hats to continue to be worn on hot and sunny days.

Year 6 to 7 Transition

Recently the application forms and information from the Department of Education was sent home to our year 6 families regarding the year 6 to 7 transition process. This booklet contains a lot of information regarding the process, deadlines and school zoning requirements.

We will be holding a parent information session next week on Wednesday 1st of May at 6.30pm via Webex to support families with information about the process. A Compass push with the details will be sent in the coming days.

Onsite Emergency Drill

Next week we will hold our second emergency practice drill, this will be an onsite evacuation. This requires us to evacuate to the Soccer Pitch in the event of an emergency. As always, we will send a push via Compass to families at the conclusion of the drill.

Finally, it has been great to see many parents volunteering to help in classrooms. A reminder that if you would like to help in your child’s classroom to contact your child’s teacher to organise how and when you might be able to support.

Regards,

Jarrod Sutton

Principal