Principal's Message

Principal's Message

I hope you all had a wonderful week and that the people you love and care for are happy and healthy. If they aren't, I extend good wishes to them and a hope for improvement. As always, I am grateful for the very positive energy that I feel from parents as they greet me at the front gate and enter the school on our Family Fridays. You are such wonderful role models for your children. It is great to see a mix of mums and dads, along with grandparents and family members attend Family Fridays. In many schools, the male presence is much lower in a child's life - at SMPS there is a very healthy mix which helps makes the children's life balanced.

I am grateful for the empathy I received after my message last week about my daughter's dog that passed away. You are all very kind and considerate. On the good news front, my daughter is foster caring for a dog soon so that will hopefully take her mind off her grief for a while. The foster care dog has three legs and needs some love and care. 

I wanted to acknowledge how much the staff appreciate parents reaching out whenever they have a query or concern. The sensible use of email really helps keep parents and staff connected. We are also happy about how well parents in Grades Prep-3 use Seesaw as a main portal to support and celebrate student learning. Staff work really hard to use Seesaw effectively and parents are wonderful users as well. Student learning is enhanced as a result - everyone is a winner!

I want to again plug the whole school Bush Dance on Monday, September 4. The event runs for an hour between 5:30pm-6:30pm so will be short and sharp. We will obviously need you to turn up before 5:30pm (about 5pm) to enter and get organised, but things will get running really quickly and conclude at about 6:30pm so you can be home for dinner. Tickets will be available soon via Compass and we need to charge $20 per family to cover the costs of the venue and hire of the band running the show. It should be a brilliant way to bring the school together and have some fun. Please support this event. We need everyone getting behind it.

Remember that this coming Friday morning we have the annual Book Parade. Details are on the next page, so please follow the instructions to ensure a successful day.

OSHClub Achievement

Find below a message from our friends at OSHClub who achieved an excellent rating in their latest evaluation. We are proud of our link with OSHClub as they share the same values of Character, Community and Learning as well as continually striving for excellence at every turn. Enjoy the report below from Gabriel Yau, the OSHClub Regional Director, on behalf of the local team.

I am super proud and excited to share with you the incredible news that South Melbourne OSHClub has received a rating of EXCEEDING from the Department of Education and Training. Please see below some of the Authorised Officers comments in her official report: 

A supportive, positive and passionate culture amongst the educators was demonstrated. Relationships between educators contributed to an engaging environment that was guided by service philosophy and a commitment to providing children with a high-quality curriculum.

High quality practice was demonstrated consistently across the service. The long-term leadership teams approach to practice across the service created a strong sense of continuity, predictability and security for each child. The educators demonstrated a practice that was thoughtful, intentional and responsive to the everyday events and the ongoing needs of the children.

Educators evidently valued children as active participants in their learning and included them in decision making, respecting each child’s strengths, interests and skills. This was evident through the regular mini meetings that invited input from all children.

The effective leadership of the service built and maintained a positive work culture that was focussed on quality. This encouraged management and educators to continuously improve the service for the benefit of the children and the families. The leadership team demonstrated an in-depth knowledge, skill set and deep understanding of outside school hours education and care. This provided children with opportunities to maximise their potential and develop a foundation for future success in life.

Achieving this result is a testament to the dedication of your OSHClub team lead by Cintya and Parul with the support of Bianca, Kaitlyn and our regular casual team members. We are very proud of this achievement and I know the team are already working on how they can continue improving. 

I must take this opportunity to thank Noel, the team at SMPS and the whole community, including you – our families. Without your support and engagement with the program, and without the incredible partnership with have with the school – this would not be possible.