Assistant Principal's Report

Welcome to Week Seven of Term Four. We have had a wonderful week at DPS, with lots of special events and a whole heap of learning opportunities for each and every student.

Welcome to DPS

In the past fortnight, we have had some new students start at DPS. Welcome Ravshika in 1G, Hannah in 6M, Elijah in 1G and Alicia in 2Q. We are sure you will love being members of our DPS community and warmly welcome you to our school. 

Prep Transition

Our Prep Transition program is almost over. Our 2024 Preps have now had FIVE opportunities to come to DPS and be part of the school community. Next Tuesday 21st November, we are excited for our Prep – Meet the Teacher Day. 2024 Prep students will work in their new classrooms with their new teacher, which will be a lot of fun. Please call the school on 9848 1122 for more information about Transition. Alternatively you can check Compass. 

Attendance

This term, as you will have noticed we have been reinforcing the importance of attending school every day. The School Captains Jenna, Adrina, Jude and Isaac have teamed up with Mx Dutlow and have made an attendance video highlighting the importance of attending school each and every day. Please see compass or our website to watch the video, it’s a great message.   

Remember: it is not ok to be away!

SWPBS - School Wide positive behaviour

We now have many stars in our jar and so many students have come to the office and had the experience of adding their star to the jar, which has been very exciting. I hope you’ve enjoyed the Compass feeds sharing these students achievements with our whole school community. 

Congratulations to these students who have earned a yellow – BE YOUR BEST star since our last newsletter: Bella 2M, Vriddha 2M, Eesa 2Q, Ruwen 1L, Makayla 1L, Mia 2Q, James 2Q, Damien 2M, Dustin 2M, Euha 2M, Ryan 2M, Varvara 2M, Austin 2M, Miya PW, Noah PW, Nicolas 2S, Valerie 2S, Cooper 2S, Svetha 2S, James 2Q, Reon 2Q, Roham 3Q, Julia 2M, Clara 2M, Bruce 2M, Eshan 2S, Aadhavan 2S, Elijah PM, Evelyn PM, Yanis PM, Akam PM, Sharleez 2M, Thomas 2M, Joly 2M, Melody 2M, Jenna 6C, Nilou 6C, Phoenix 2Q, Giselle 3Q, Keilen 3Q, Liana PW and Nik PW.

Congratulations to these students who have earned a blue – BE RESPECTFUL star since our last newsletter: Giselle 3Q, Noah PW, Ethan 5E and Anja 3B

Congratulations to these students who have earned a blue – BE SAFE star since our last newsletter: Jasmine 2Q, Chloe 2S, Eesa 2Q and Alfred 2S

We are constantly rewarding students who are displaying the behaviours from the matrix. The SWPBS framework is definitely having a positive impact at DPS. 

Respectful Relationships

We continue our whole school approach of Respectful Relationships. In Respectful Relationships there are 8 topics that we focus on across the year. This term, year levels are focusing on Topic 7: Gender and Identity and Topic 8: Positive Gender Relations. 

Mrs Gale reports that Level Three have been discovering, exploring, and celebrating the diverse identities and interests of the students in our grades. By completing an individual Identity Wheel, students identified their goals, likes and preferences across a range of categories such as Friendship, Strengths, Play, Relaxation and Future. This activity led to discussions about taking pride in our individual identities and our commonalities with others, but also taking pride in the differences between ourselves and others. Students recognised that preferences are not limited by gender and that likes and dislikes can be fluid, changing and evolving over time. Respect for the differences between people was a value that was reinforced through this activity and the discussions that followed.

Students in Level Three then played a game of Human Bingo where they found others in their class who had a range of different skills or preferences, or who had something in common with themselves eg. “Someone who has the same favourite colour as you”. It was fun and enlightening to discover new information about classmates, and to find interests that were shared with several different students. The activity reinforced the value of asking questions and discovering new things about people that we thought we already knew well.

School Captains for 2024

Today we spent part of the day interviewing potential School Captains for 2024. There were 9 students shortlisted and they all did an amazing job. We were very impressed!  The School Values featured heavily in discussions and we discussed different ways of upholding these values in leadership positions. Weare confident we will select four wonderful role models for our younger students who are also respected by their peers. We will announce our 2024 School Captains on Thursday 7th December.

Swimming Program: Prep, Year Three, Four, Five and Six Students

Next week, many of our students will be participating in the DPS swimming program. The dates for the swimming program is as follows: 

Monday 20th November – Level Six @ Aquarena. One day program.

Tuesday 21st November – Level Four @ Aquarena. One day program.

Wednesday 22nd November – Level Five @ Aquarena. One day program.

The week after, our Prep and Level Three students will have their swimming program. The dates for those are as follows:

Monday 27th November – Friday 1st December – Prep @ Aqualink. One week program. 

Wednesday 29th November – Level Three @ Port Melbourne Life Saving Club. One day program.

If you would like to assist with the swimming program and be a parent volunteer, please contact your child’s teacher. Please see Compass or come to the front office for more information about swimming. 

Prep - Two Athletics Day

Today we had the Prep – Year Two Athletics Day and it was so much fun!!!! The students practised for the events throughout their PE classes and were able to show off their skills in all of the events. I was impressed by the determination that was shown by many students who have never competed in an Athletics Day before. Well done DPS students. A huge thank you to all of the parents who attended to cheer and support our Junior School students.  

Life Education Visits 

Harold the giraffe and the Life Education program have visited every class at DPS over the last week. Students enjoyed the wellbeing workshops and seemed to learn some valuable life lessons. You can read some student feedback on our Student Voice page of this Newsletter.  

Parent Volunteers

Earlier this week, we had 18 parents online who were participating in the Parent Volunteers Induction Course. This enables attendees to be able to assist us inside our classrooms and on excursions. If you wish to become a parent volunteer, please contact the office on 9848 1122. We’d love to have as many parent volunteers as possible in and around our school, we love having you here!   

Fundraiser - Billy Bonkers

Billy Bonkers Ice Cream Day is on Friday 1st December. Order forms have been sent home with all students. Please fill in the form and send it back to school with correct money, name & grade in an envelope. Orders need to be placed by Monday 20th November 2023 and no late orders will be accepted. If you have any questions about Billy Bonkers, please call the office on 9848 1122.

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS 

Kids Help - kidshelpline.com.au phone 1800 55 1800 

Parent Line - betterhealth.vic.gov.au phone 13 22 89 

Headspace - headspace.org.au phone 1800 650 890 

eSafety Commissioner - esafety.gov.au - Advice for parents and carers to help children have safe experiences online 

Have a great week ahead DPS families,

Carly Epskamp