Mitchat - Term 1 Week 2 Friday 10th February

Congratulations to Tara Verma, 2022 Grade 6 Graduate of Mitcham Primary School

Tara received the Whitehorse Council ‘Young Citizen of the Year’ Award at the Whitehorse Australia Day Concert in January. Tara was an incredibly involved and active student at Mitcham Primary School, she was one of our 2022 Performing Arts Captains, a member of our Media Team, Young Authors Club and Choir. Outside of school Tara was and continues to be a Community Radio Host on 94.1FM, has performed in the Australian Poetry Slam and placed 2nd, is a member of the Monash Library Young Writers Group, Sleeping Stars Production and Super Speak. We could not be prouder for Tara.

2023 Parent Information Afternoon

In the first few weeks of each school year, we always run Parent Information Sessions. This year we have decided to do things a little differently. On Monday next week all grade levels 1-6 will be sending out an information video specific to the level. We would then like to invite parents to come and visit your child in their classroom from 3 - 3.15pm on Wednesday 15th February, this is an opportunity to see share with your child how their learning environment looks and feels and to get a sense of how they have been connecting as a learning community in these first two weeks of the school year. Following the visit to classrooms, students will be encouraged to go outside and play, they will be supervised by our specialist teachers, in the same way they would be supervised during recess and lunch play times. At 3.15pm parents will be encouraged to move to the level leader’s classroom to meet with all the teachers from the level and ask any questions they have regarding the year ahead. The afternoon will conclude at 3:45pm. We really hope that you are able to attend, and in the event that you are unable, we hope that the information videos will provide you with an overview of what to expect throughout the year. If you are unable to attend and have any questions, please remember classroom teachers bring your children out to the basketball courts each afternoon and can be emailed directly via the Compass App.

For our Prep families, we will be hosting a separate parent information session and we will communicate these details with you shortly.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to read our school’s collection notice, found on our website and available by clicking here.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:

· Amharic

· Arabic

· Dari

· Gujarati

· Mandarin

· Somali

· Sudanese

· Turkish

· Urdu

· Vietnamese

Wishing all of our families a lovely weekend.

Notice of Election and Call for Nominations for Mitcham Primary School Council in 2023

The School Council is composed of parents, teachers and the Principal. All school councils in Victoria operate under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. Each school council is established by an Order of the Minister for Education, which specifies the council’s membership, size and configuration, its objectives, powers, functions and accountabilities and the role of its executive officer who is the principal.

School councils have three main responsibilities:

Finance – overseeing the development of the school’s annual budget and ensuring proper records are kept of the school’s financial operation.
Strategic Planning – participating in the development and monitoring of the school strategic plan.
Policy Development and Review – developing, reviewing and updating policies that reflect a school’s values and support the school’s broad direction outlined in its strategic plan.

The MPS School Council Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of the month, the final meeting of the 2022 Council will be held at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, February 14th February.

All School Council members are appointed for two years and then the positions become vacant at the conclusion of each member's two-year appointment. This year there are three elected parent member vacancies and one DET (staff) position open for election.

I would like to take this opportunity to also acknowledge the 2022 School Council members for their contribution to the School Council and sincerely thank them for their time, effort and dedication to Mitcham PS. The school is noted for its community feel and the work by this group of people has ensured that this reputation continues. We are extremely grateful to them. The timeline for the school council election is printed below. Nomination forms will be available from the office from, Tuesday 8th February.

All government schools in Victoria have a School Council. They have legally formed bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of the school within centrally provided guidelines.

Functions of a school council

The functions of a school council are outlined in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 and include:

establishing the broad direction and vision of the school within the school's community
participating in the development and monitoring of the school strategic plan
approving the annual budget and monitoring expenditure
developing, reviewing and updating school policies
raising funds for school-related purposes
maintaining the school’s grounds and facilities
entering into contracts (such as for cleaning or construction work)
reporting annually to the school community and to the Department
creating interest in the school in the wider community
informing itself of and taking into account the views of the community
regulating and facilitating the after-hours use of school premises and grounds
operating a children’s service at the school or other premises controlled by the Minister.

One of the reasons for our school’s success is that we have enjoyed great support from elected parents who offer their assistance in the areas listed above to the school administration and staff. We want this to continue and are looking for supportive parents to nominate for School Council.

Please note that nominations close Friday 24th February at 4.00 p.m.

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTION PROCESS AND TIMETABLE
Mitcham Primary School
	Event	Date
a)	Notice of election and call for nominations	Friday 10th February 2023
b)	Closing date for nominations	4pm Friday 24th February 2023
c)	Date by which the list of candidates and nominators will be posted	Wednesday 1st March
d)	Date by which ballot papers will be prepared and distributed (if required)	On or before Monday 6th March
e)	Close of ballot (if required)	4pm Monday 13th March
f)	Vote Count (if required)	Tuesday 14th March
g)	Declaration of poll	Tuesday 14th March
h)	First council meeting to elect office bearers (the principal will preside)	Tuesday 21st March 2023

Parent Helpers 2023