From the Principal

Dear LPS Families and Friends,

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable last couple of weeks. The weather has certainly started to turn and I am very grateful. Playing tennis, in Emerald on a cold, dark winter's night is not easy!

Values

Over the past 8 years, our school values have become engrained in our minds and practices to the point that our students and staff use them regularly to understand how they should behave or think in certain situations. They are fundamental in guiding our practice.

When developing our Annual Implementation Plan at the end of 2023, it was apparent that whilst our current values are still relevant, it was time for us to review them. 

We have already started the values review with staff and students and it is now time to engage our parent community. On the evening of Wednesday 4th September from 6.45pm-8.15pm, we would like to invite all parents to participate in this review. If you have a passion for this work please click here to confirm your attendance. We will provide further information closer to the date.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System highlighted that primary schools provide opportunities to identify children with mental health and wellbeing challenges, who can then be referred for treatment, care, and support. The department has expanded the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) Program in recognition of the important role schools play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

The Mental Health in Primary Schools Program provides funding to employ a mental health and wellbeing leader (MHWL) in every government and low-fee non-government primary school in Victoria. The program will be implemented across Victoria over a staged rollout between 2023 to 2026.

As a part of this initiative, in 2025 Lysterfied Primary School will have a staff member in a new role as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader (MHWL).

MHWLs are qualified teachers who work across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff, and families based on a broad knowledge of the needs of the school community. This includes:

• building the capacity of school staff, in particular classroom teachers, to identify and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom
• supporting the school to create clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention
• coordinating targeted mental health support for students by working with regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers, and external agencies.

I am pleased to announce that Kayla Pepper will be the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader for Lysterfield Primary School. Kayla is currently teaching grade 1 and will begin her new role at the start of the new school year.

 SunSmart - Hats

The Lysterfield Primary School SunSmart policy states that students must wear a sun protective hat from mid-August until April. Next week will be a transition week, with all students expected to have their hats by Monday 26th of August.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone.

Adam Wight | Principal