Melton West Primary School

Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, 

 

We have had a great week with our staggered return for Preps, Year 1 and 2s so far this week. We are looking forward to welcoming our 5/6s tomorrow and our 3/4s next week.

 

Next week will have a mix of on-site learning and remote learning.

  • On Monday 25th October our Year Preps are on-site and Years 1 – 6 are learning remotely.
  • On Tuesday 26th October and Wednesday 27th October our Year Preps and Year 3/4s are onsite and Years 1/2s and 5/6s are learning remotely.
  • On Thursday 28th October and Friday 27th October our Year 1/2s and Year 5/6s are learning on-site, while the Year Prep and Year 3/4s are learning remotely.

Exiting the School: Yesterday we communicated where children will be dismissed from at the end of the school day, starting today. We have made these arrangements to support social distancing measures between adults as parents and carers wait for their child to be dismissed. Please follow the signage and meet your child at the designated gate if you usually pick them up. If they are independent enough and your arrangement is to meet them at the wave Pool or elsewhere that is great as it will avoid congestion at the busy time of day and supports social distancing.

The following are the Gates each class is asked to leave through (unless they have a younger sibling):

  • Gate A - Carpark Gate - 5/6D, 5/6N, 5/6G, 5/6W, 3D and 3C
  • Gate B - West Melton Dr - 1A, 1V, 1M and 1D
  • Gate C - Front of School - Prep B, Prep D, Prep R and Prep S
  • Gate D - Bike Shed - 2C, 2G, 2W, 3M and 3A
  • Gate E – Portables - 5/6B, 5/6F, 4M, 4L, and 4S

Children can enter the school via any gate in the morning.

 

Hats in Term 4: Please ensure your child has a hat to wear during recess and lunch, and for when they have their classes outside. I have included a copy of our SunSmart Policy that comes into effect Term 4 each year. 

 

Canteen Closed: Unfortunately the canteen will be closed until further notice. Mary, the owner of the canteen business, has decided to no longer work at Melton West and Marg the canteen lady, has found employment elsewhere. We are currently working with the company that supports the Canteen business owners to find a replacement. We hope to have it up and running by the time all children are back on-site fulltime on Monday 8th November.

 

Mental Health in Primary Schools Pilot 2022: We are very excited to announce that our school will be involved in the Mental Health in Primary Schools Pilot in 2022. The MHiPS Pilot is a Department of Education and Training initiative, designed to promote a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. The Pilot is being delivered in partnership with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. The Pilot provides our school with funding during 2022 to employ a teacher-qualified professional as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator who will lead a whole-school approach to mental health prevention and early intervention approaches that are embedded in the classroom. This will enable us to further deepen our current practices to support our students’ wellbeing. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator will complement the school’s existing wellbeing team, and strengthen our connections with Department of Education and Training regional staff, local community services and other health professionals to engage and build relationships with appropriate mental health and wellbeing supports. 

 

Before School Care: Our After School Care provider, Extend, are investigating whether we have enough people who would use the Before School Care program on our site if it was re-instated. Please consider completing this short survey, even if you would not consider it or if you currently use alternate arrangements for Before School Care.

 

Supervision Arrangements Before and After School: Student safety at Melton West PS is our highest priority and the safe and appropriate supervision of students is an important element of our duty of care to students. Part of this duty is ensuring parents and students are aware of our student supervision arrangements before and after school. 

Before school: School grounds are supervised when the gates are opened at 8.45 

After school: School grounds are supervised until 3.15pm, where children who are not collected gather under the pergola.

Students on school grounds outside these times will not be supervised (unless they are attending the after school care program or supervised extracurricular activity). 

Parents/carers are requested to ensure that students do not attend school outside of these supervised times unless they are attending after school care, or a pre-arranged supervised activity (i.e. sports practice). 

Families are encouraged to contact the Extend OSHC Program on 1300 366 437, or email enquiries@extend.com.au or visit their website at https://www.extend.com.au/ for more information about the before and after school care facilities available to our school community or if you would like any further information about our student supervision arrangements.

For a copy of our school’s Yard Duty and Supervision Policy please visit our website. This policy includes Example School’s student supervision arrangements across the school day, including before and after school.

 

High Levels of Learning for All

 

 

 

 

Michelle Costa