Principal's Report

Principal’s Message

Art Show

The 35th Annual Mount View Art Show is soon to open.

The Art Show is an institution within the Glen Waverley community and has been a source of ongoing pride. This year we are pleased to announce that we have well over five hundred entries comprising paintings, sketches, sculpture and jewellery. There is certainly a full range of art available for purchase. The Art Show will open with the Gala on Wednesday, 21st of August and run for the next four days. This year we have expanded the Art Show over three galleries and are proud to announce the Emerging Artist category as well as the Mount View Student Art category. Make sure to set aside some time to come along and admire, and purchase, any of the works on display. Of course, none of this could happen if it wasn’t for the concerted work of the Art Show Committee throughout the year. This committee, led by our Visual Arts teachers, Angela Pulbrook and Christabelle Toohey, have been inspirational and innovative, working to ensure a very successful Art Show.

Ski Camps

This week Mount View has been conducting the two Ski Camps at Mt Buller. Forty-three Year 5 students skied on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while the forty-two Year 6 students skied on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Great weather has allowed for great skiing and there have been some fantastic improvements in skiing performance by the students. Thank you to all parents and staff who have worked for the benefit of the students on the Ski Camps

Home Learning

Following the Home Learning Parent Forum conducted a week or so ago the teachers will be working on the development of a new Home Learning Policy and the associated procedures at the Staff Meeting on next Tuesday. Changes to the Home Learning Policy will not be immediate as it is vital that the diverse views within the Mount View community are fully considered before changes are implemented. I will be keeping the community informed as we develop the new Home Learning Policy for full implementation in 2020. However, please be assured that I will be working with the teachers to ensure that we have a consistent approach to Homework at each year level now.

Continuous School Improvement 

At the Prep Transition Parent Meeting held last Friday afternoon I spoke about the sense of celebration that parents should all feel as their young children move from Pre-school to Primary School at Mount View. I stressed to the parents present that I was committed to the continuous improvement in every aspect of education at Mount View. 

I believe that, as Principal, I have been given the responsibility to ensure that the very best contemporary education is provided to all students enrolled at our school. As Principal, selected on merit in an open statewide process, I have the authority to ensure that old ways that fail to meet current educational requirements must be replaced with professional practices that put the learning needs of students at the centre of everything we do. 

Schools are not about teachers or parents- Schools are about students. 

We, therefore, must do everything that is required to do away with outdated practices and instead focus on High Impact Teaching Strategies that do consistently make a positive difference to students’ learning. 

A key aspect of great schools is that students’ academic performances are accurately measured by teachers in order to plan a nuanced approach to the teaching program. Accurate student performance data is vital for this to happen. I am committed to ensuring that all teachers adhere to this requirement. 

Over the course of this year I will be focusing on sharing my ideas for our school into the future. While many people consider Mount View to be a good school I would rather see it as a great school. I require all teachers and the community to support me in this quest. Only with the full support of teachers and the community will I be able to achieve this goal.

Glenn Butler

Principal