Principal's Message 

The 2024 news from TCPS....

Gratitude

Start Right Interviews

Teachers were again absolutely glowing after meeting with parents this week, with so many staff passing on to me the positive and supportive comments of parents. Gratitude again was in abundant supply! These interviews have historically been an appreciative affirmation of the caring and nuturing nature of our staff. They are truly amazing humans!

Thank you to all the parents who have been able to attend these sharing sessions this week. TCPS provides an opportunity for parents to share information about their child in order to further enhance the relationship between teacher/student/parent. The building of this relationship has been shown in research to be of significant importance in the improving of student learning outcomes. More importantly it provides our staff a deeper insight into the children they teach. 

I know it is quite a long and tiring week for staff so my personal thank you and gratitude to our amazing staff also! They will all enjoy the weekend I'm sure.

Employing a Tutor

It is timely to provide TCPS feedback and guidance on the possible engagement of an independent tutor to support your child’s learning.  Please know that we respect a parent’s choice in engaging the services of an external tutor to work with your child outside of school, however, please know that this is a parental decision and responsibility. In making the decision to employ a tutor, we know that parents will be understanding of the potential short and long term cognitive and physical impacts increased academic workloads can have on their particular child. There is also the potential of possible disruption to school programs, including social connections, particularly if tutoring occurs during school time.

When selecting and engaging the services of a tutor it is recommended that the standard considerations be given to:

• The educational background of the tutor
• The tutor’s ability to plan and set a learning program through knowledge of the Victorian Curriculum
• The tutor’s ability to plan and implement academic assessments and implement a learning program reflective of these assessments.

Our teachers are committed to support our students to the best of their abilities and time, within the confines of their roles as employees of the Department of Education. As such they are happy to converse with parents regarding student academic progress as part of our assessment and reporting program, and on request sharing an overview of the curriculum areas to be covered for the term. All educational programs at TCPS are reflective of both the Victorian Curriculum and the individual needs of their students. 

Please understand that it is not the professional responsibility of teaching staff to plan teaching programs for tutors. For professional reasons including the protection of student privacy, teachers are unable to converse with tutors directly about their students, share school documentation, nor meet with tutors personally. 

Thank you

I would like to publicly thank our local Bunnings  who have fully donated an unlimited amount of plants to help set up my STEM indoor garden space. Their personal support and assistance was also greatly appreciated and greatly valued, as well as their financial generosity. 

Early Pick Up of Students

As we avoid disrupting learning through unnecessary PA announcements please know:

• You are able to email the teacher the day prior with a pickup time so that they can arrange for your child to be at the office waiting for you at the desired time.

• We are able to call your student over the PA during the times below as students are on recess and lunch.

11am – 11:20am

1:20pm – 2:10pm

Our teaching and learning hours are 9am – 3:10pm

• Recess: 11am – 11:20am
• Lunchtime: 1:20pm – 2:10pm
• Dismissal time: 3:10pm

We have noted a significant increase in early student departures, particularly on a Friday afternoon, and particularly with our growing size. Without notice, despite the best efforts of our available office staff, there still could be a delay in locating and coordinating your child to come to the office.

We know that sometimes these early departures are unavoidable and necessary. However early departures do have the potential ability to cause disruption to not only your child's learning, but the learning of others. 

If the early departure from school does meet the necessary requirement, please make every possible effort inform your child's teacher prior so that we can aim for your child can be prepared accordingly, minimising any possible disruption to the learning of other students, and possible time delays. It will certainly make it easier on office staff.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

TCPS COUNCIL

We had 3 Parent Vacancies for 2024 on our TCPS Council. Each position has a 2 year tenure. Prior to 4 o'clock we had received at least 4 nominations so it would therefore we are now required to have a ballot. TCPS families will have the opportunity to vote

School Council Election Timeline

Friday 16th February:  Notification of election. Call for Nominations: 

Friday 23rd February 4.00pm: Nominations closed 

Monday 26th February:  Ballot Announced and prepared (if required) 

One week post implementation:  Council election ballot closes 

A Victorian government school council is comprised of parents, the principal, staff and sometimes community members. The school council assists in setting the educational policy of a school. TCPS Council is comprised of a minimum of 9 members. 6 parents, 2 staff members, and the Principal.

To be a part of the council you don’t need any particular qualifications or experience – schools look for enthusiastic parents who want to help improve the learning outcomes for all students.

Each year schools are required to hold School Council elections. School Council provides an excellent opportunity for input into the decision making process of our school and in setting and monitoring the strategic direction of the school.

Torquay Coast Primary School Council meets on week 3 and week 8 of each term at 5.30pm.  Meeting focus is about sharing information and ideas, problem solving, and seeking ways to improve our school where relevant and possible.

I now invite parents to nominate for selection. Please note you can self-nominate. Nomination forms can be emailed to you on request, or collected from the office.

 Current School Council Members:

• Kelsey Jamieson – President (End of Current 2 Year Tenure)
• Cat McConkey - Vice President (End of Current 2 Year Tenure)
• Hutch Hussein – Parent Rep (End of Current 2 Year Tenure)
• Belinda Vaughan - Parent Rep
• Brad Millar – Parent Rep 
• Jessica Maxsted - Parent Rep
• Darren Roskosch (Principal - Executive Officer of SC)
• Jo Loader (Assistant Principal – TCPS rep)
• Bianca McSparron (Business Manager- Finance/Minute Secretary

Announcement of election results

Thursday 21st March: First Meeting for newly elected School Council

Road Safety

This was also covered at our assembly as there have been a number of reported incidents where children are not using the designated crossing points. This is often done to avoid a very short detour in the aim of convenience but I cannot stress how potentially dangerous the roads can be at these times of the days - particularly with much increased road traffic around school times. 

Please help by reminding your children to cross at the designated crossing points for their safety and the safety of others.

Staff News

Mrs Raynor (4A) makes a very welcome return to Grade 4 next week. A big TCPS thank you to Mrs Wood who has very capably filled in during Mrs Raynor's absence. We look forward to seeing Mrs Wood back at TCPS in the near future.

Media Agreement - Parent Permission

Parents are provided the opportunity to have their children excluded from all media inclusions external to our school - eg. Newspaper articles. This is a respected parent choice. Unfortunately there is no allowance to be able to pick and choose participation after this decision has been made. Primarily this is due to our school being unable to resource the management required to allow for selective alterations. We will however be as sensitive as we possible can to children feeling left out of these opportunities. 

Our Start Right meetings are now able to be booked via COMPASS. These teacher meetings occur from Monday, 19th February - Friday 24th February. They are an opportunity for teachers to find out more about your child . The guiding questions for parents are as follows:

1. Are there any health or wellbeing issues your child has that should be known by us?
2. What are your child’s strengths and interests both inside and outside of school?
3. What area of learning has your child struggled with in the past?
4. Is there anything else you would like the teacher to know about your family/child that will be helpful to support him/her this year?

This also helps to build further the positive educational and professional relationship our teachers have with their students.

Darren Roskosch

TCPS Principal

Lunchtime Clubs: 

General Information for Reference

Current TCPS Enrolment - 664

Whilst there has been some change since the start of the year, and it is difficult to predict further change, below are the current ratios for grades across the school. 

It is mandated that grades from Prep - 2 do not exceed the teacher/student ratio of 1:21.

TCPS P-2 ratio is 1:19

TCPS P-6 ratio is 1:21.3

It will always be my aim to keep ratios as low as possible whilst still meeting the ration mandates. Staffing is influenced by two key factors: Staffing availability, and school funding. TCPS fortunately is able to provide extremely low ratios despite the potential impact of those factors.Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our policy - Please refer to our Media Agreement and Permission document on our COMPASS Portal. It describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. 

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education] safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education], please contact the school.

TCPS ASSEMBLY

Our TCPS Assembly is a very important part of our week. It is an opportunity to proactively reinforce our school culture and expectations through the acknowledgement and celebration of our students and school. Love of Learning is a key Character Strength of focus, as is Gratitude.

The inclusion of photos and emails celebrating our school and students in and around our community is a key part of our assembly. Due to the substantial amount of time required to process all inclusions, internal and external, and then to build into our assembly's visual format, can I please request that all items are sent to me by Thursday prior to assembly. If these emails/photos are sent to the school office or your child's teacher - they will be forwarded to me accordingly.

Ideally, they can be sent directly to me via email darren.roskosch@education.vic.gov.au

Elements that TCPS families can contribute to our TCPS Assembly

TCPS Goes Global: Take a school flag (we have 10) or a TCPS polo on your journeys around the globe and send us a photo (3 maximum). I will then feature this at our assembly and have a photo added to our display wall at the front office.

TCPS Super Stars: If you know a TCPS child/teacher/family member who has achieved something amazing in any field (not just sporting) please send me the details and a possible photo or 2 so that we can all celebrate and acknowledge the achievement.

TCPS: Shout Outs: If you have a special family member visiting for the first time who are in the audience - please let me know and I will give them a special TCPS 'Shout Out.'

Parking at Front of School

It has again been brought to the school's attention, the frustration being experienced by parents caused by drivers who are breaching the parking sign regulations and exiting their parked car in the 2 minute 'Drop and Go' standing zone. Whilst the shire does manage parking zones and all external road issues, we do feel obliged to pass on the impact and frustrations being experienced by parents in the hope of it being a friendly reminder.

School Grounds Maintenance

Due to the gradual and progressive deterioration of the school fencing, the fencing panels will need to be replaced. Key panels will be progressively replaced by temporary fencing until such time a contractor can be engaged to replace the existing fence with something more sustainable.

Whilst the company responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of our school grounds and facilities were very apologetic, they were reassured that although there would be an aesthetic impact on the façade, it was what lay within our boundaries that was most important.

Early Pick up of Children from School

Can I please request that parents contact individual staff members as early as possible if you are collecting your child/ren prior to the end of the school day. This will help in organising for children to be sent to the office ready for collection. Based on the increasing frequency of these occurrences we are unable to use the PA system due to the distraction and disruption it causes to teaching and learning across the school. 

PA announcements occur in recess and lunch breaks.

As teachers do not have constant access to emails during the day, I encourage as much advanced notice as possible so we can do our best to have your child/ren ready and waiting for collection. Office staff will do their best to support you where possible, however with our increasing size there may be unfortunate delays especially if no advanced notice is provided.