Dear Parents & Carers,

Welcome to Week 3. It was lovely to catch up with many of you at the Meet the Teacher afternoon on Monday. I hope you enjoyed sharing some information about your child and getting to know their teacher a little better.

BUILDINGS & GROUNDS

It has been wonderful literally watching the grass grow over the past two weeks. The hot days and new watering system appear to be perfect conditions for the new turf. Our lawn contractor has brought the date forward and would like us to start playing on it during the final week of term. They want to check for wear and tear before letting it rest during the holidays. The beautiful green brings a welcome lift to the back of the school. We are currently seeking quotes to repair the sandpit near the back gate and to install some new pathways. We won’t know ourselves next term!

SEPS ACADEMY

Today saw the beginning of our new Buddies program. We have named it Creative Communities and you can find more information in this newsletter. We will also be introducing our new program SEPS ACADEMY later this term. SEPS ACADEMY is based on the concept of genius hour and supports the same philosophy that underpins the Walker Learning Inquiry model, whereby, by providing our students with agency and choice in their learning, we can foster high levels of engagement to foster the learner capabilities and skills required for life long learning.

We are currently finalising a variety of electives/activities that will be available for student selection however we would love to have parents involved too. If you have a passion or skill that you would be willing to lead or support OR you would simply like to be a parent helper in one of our groups, please do not hesitate to contact the office. You just need to be free for an hour a fortnight, on a Friday afternoon at 2:30pm. We look forward to sharing the available options at assembly in coming weeks.

PARENTS & FRIENDS

A huge thank you to Georgie for organising our coffee mornings for each year level. It was lovely to see so many Prep parents catching up over coffee this morning. A reminder that next week’s Friday coffee morning will be for the Prep C parents and carers.

We held our first P&F information session last week. It was great to see new faces with the Prep parents being well represented. Parents, carers and grandparents are all welcome to get involved. We will be streamlining planning and processes to ensure that we can provide great events for the community that are not too onerous on individual P&F members. We want to ensure that many hands make light work. We would love to have some more members on the committee. We invite you to come along to our next coffee catch up. Danielle, our P&F President, will be providing more information in upcoming newsletters. Please contact the office if you require additional information.

Hunger Busters will commence in Term 2, beginning with 6A on Friday 19th April. We will send out reminders in the newsletter and in your Connect.

CLASSROOM REPS

We would like to have the Class Rep positions filled in the next week or so however we need to have all of the parent consent forms back before we can make arrangements for each class and year level. Please ensure that you have returned your parent consent forms ASAP. Parent reps will oversee that WhatsApp communication, arrange community gatherings and be the key contact for any questions relating to events or daily activities eg. Do the children wear house colours at the swimming carnival. The Class Rep system supports a strong sense of community and belonging. I remember when I first moved to Melbourne, my daughter’s Class Rep arranged a dinner for me to meet other parents in my first week here and I still have friends from the group 15 years later. It is such a wonderful initiative. I strongly encourage you to consider becoming a class rep for your child’s class. Please look out for communication from your teachers once we have all of he parent consent forms returned.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

We are now calling for nominations for School Council. Our next school council meeting in March will be the Annual General Meeting where school council elections take place. We will have vacancies for new parent members to join the council. Every parent at the school is eligible to nominate. The term of office for elected members is not more than two years. School Council meets approximately 8 times, currently on a Tuesday evening at 7pm.

Nominations will open on Monday 19 February and must be lodged by 4pm on Monday 26 February.
Please contact the office if you would like a nomination form.
We have 6 parent positions available for 2024.
A ballot will only be held if more people nominate than there are positions vacant.

Parents members on school council must make up at least one third of the council. They are critical in providing important viewpoints and valuable skill sets that help inform and shape the direction of the school. Having said this, parents do not need special qualifications or skills to join. Having an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others is perfect. If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me via the office.

COVID

This is something I was hoping I would never have to mention again. Unfortunately, there has been an increase in community transmission on Victoria due to a new variant. The 3 key steps that schools have been asked to undertake include:

Encourage all school community members to ensure COVID-19 vaccinations are up to date. Information on how and where to get vaccinated is available on the Get vaccinated webpage.
Ensure good ventilation through the use of the supplied air purifiers and opening doors and windows.
Encourage staff and students to stay home if they have any symptoms, and to get tested and isolate for at least 5 days and until they no longer have symptoms. If your child has symptoms but tests negative, please ensure they stay home until they no longer have symptoms.

Wishing you all a wonderful fortnight ahead!

Jane Briffa

Their Care - Week Two