Dear families and friends of MPW,

It has been wonderful to see our 2024 classes establishing themselves as communities of learners through our Learning to Learn program over the first couple of weeks of the year. Learning to Learn establishes the classroom structures, routines and Rights and Responsibilities of the class to ensure a successful year of learning ahead. It has been a calm and engaging start to the year!

Congratulations to students for their efforts and teamwork who attended swimming trials last week. We had 59 students attend, with 28 of those going on to represent the school at District Swimming on Friday 23rd. That is almost half of our students who made it through, which is a fantastic effort. There will be a swimming report and presentation at Monday’s assembly from some of our swimmers.

Thank you to those parents who attended and provided feedback regarding last week’s Year Level Parent Information Sessions. Feedback from parents has been positive, that the sessions were very informative and gain greater insight into the way the classroom works and how learning is delivered in the classroom. We are working on documenting this information on the school website now as well.

Thank you to those parents and staff who have indicated their interest in being part of School Council. Nominations need to be lodged by 4pm Thursday 22nd February.

Thank you to those School Councillors who are coming to the end of their terms, and may not re-nominate, for their contributions and participation.

Parent Information Booklet

We have been working on updating our Parent Information Booklet for the new year. The document is attached for your reference and includes information regarding opportunities, processes and reminders about operational aspects of the school. It is worth looking over when you have time.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews are running this week after school. This is time to meet and share information between parents and teachers about your child to ensure the best outcomes for the year. Please ensure you have booked a time with your child’s teacher. If you would like to meet with any of our specialist teachers, they can be contacted directly through Compass and a meeting can be organised.

Mobile Phones & Smart Watches

In line with the Department of Education policy and guidelines, all mobile devices need to be handed into the office at the beginning of the school day. All devices are stored in the office throughout the day and returned at the end of the day to students. The scope of our Mobile Phone Policy extends to Smart Watches. The expectation is that communication features are disabled during school hours from 8:50am-3:30pm.

It is difficult for teachers to check these features are disabled, therefore will use their discretion if Smart Watch devices are not being used appropriately or prove to be a distraction to student’s learning, the student will be asked to store their device at the office.

If students decide not to hand in their devices to the office as per the school’s policy, the phone will be collected and stored in the office. For ongoing issues, phones will be collected, parents will be notified and required to collect devices.

We strongly encourage that parents ensure student’s mobile devices are left at home, unless absolutely necessary and there is a compelling reason.

Any communication between parents and students during school hours should be done by contacting the school office.

The Mobile Phone policy can be found here:

https://www.mooneewestps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/1678339486mpw_mobile_phone_policy_updated_november_2021.pdf

Early Arrival at school

We have noticed several students arriving as early as 8:20am to school. A reminder that students should not be arriving at school by themselves prior to 8:40am. The school gates open at 8:40am-8:45am, this is when staff members are out on duty and the yard is supervised.

Camp Australia (OSHC) is available for parents to access supervision of students before school between 7:15am and 8:45am, and after school from 3:30pm-6:15pm.

Students cannot be left on the school grounds unsupervised before or after school. Our Child Safety obligations require staff to send students to the office, where parents will be contacted to ensure student supervision is arranged.

NAPLAN

This year the NAPLAN will again be online and will be conducted in March. To support the transition and help students become familiar with the online environment and format, students will be participating in a coordinated practice test this term prior to the official NAPLAN testing period.

The NAPLAN Literacy and Numeracy tests for students in Years 3 and 5 are scheduled at MPW between Wednesday 13 – Wednesday 20 March 2024. We have scheduled our NAPLAN activities considering the 5/6 camp next week. All NAPLAN testing will occur in the mornings of the testing days listed below.

Year 3 & 5 Writing- Wednesday 13th (must be completed this day)
Year 3 Reading- Thursday 14th March
Year 3 Conventions of Language – Friday 15th March
Year 5 Reading- Monday 18th March
Year 5 Conventions of Language- Tuesday 19th March
Year 3 and 5 Numeracy – Wednesday 20th March

Students in year 3 will complete the Writing test on paper, otherwise all other assessments will be completed online using the NAPLAN application. The school will be supporting students to familiarise themselves with the type of questions and related functionalities of NAPLAN Online. There is also a coordinated practice day scheduled for Wednesday 6th March where students will have an opportunity to experience a “Practice Omnibus”. This single test includes questions from reading, conventions of language and numeracy. It will help students to become familiar with the platform and test structure.

Students will also have an opportunity to complete a writing practice test. Year 3 will complete a practice written test and Year 5's will practice the online Writing platform on their device.

NAPLAN is a great tool for Schools to reflect on their strengths and challenges in teaching and learning across the whole school. It is data that can help measure the impact of our work and identify goals for the future. It is important that when talking to students about NAPLAN we reinforce it is just another type of activity or assessment, like others done throughout the year where we ask them to have a go, try their best and show what they know.

Please find attached the 2024 NAPLAN parent brochure.

More information about the NAPLAN will be shared with families of students in Year 3 & 5 via the Compass Newsfeed.

Basket Tea

Finally, the Basket Tea is on this Friday from 5pm. The Basket Tea is our first community event for parents to get to know each other across this year’s classes, and especially to welcome our new families to the school.

The Basket Tea will be held on the Tiger Turf, access for families through the Community gate on Athol Street. Areas will be set up for each classroom (room numbers on display) to allow families to start together as a class grouping.

The Basket Tea is BYO everything, food, drinks, picnic blanket and chairs.

Access to toilet facilities in the BER building will be accessible until staff have left the grounds. At this time the buildings are required to be locked and alarmed. After this time the toilets will not be accessible. We are aiming for around 6.30pm

With the Big Adventure out of action, we will ensure there are sections of the space available for student to play, in particular the Soccer Pitch, Cricket nets and asphalt area next to the Jacaranda trees. You may wish to bring a ball or game along to play with.

Regards,

Jarrod Sutton

Principal

Fundraising Events

Community Basket Tea - Friday 23rd February 2024

2024 Community events - please save the date