Principal's Report
We are already almost half way through Term 2 already, can you believe it?
Last week, the NAPLAN testing began and we were lucky enough to get through the first two assessments without any technical issues, which is fantastic. Students have so far completed the Writing and Reading assessments, and during these sessions students have continued to show their readiness to have a go and do their best. NAPLAN concludes this week, with Language Conventions and Numeracy assessments. We have provided the opportunity for students to catch up on missed assessments. I would like to recognise the staff and students across 3-6 who are demonstrating flexibility and support for each other during the scheduled sessions to show encouragement and minimise disruption to learning over the testing period. We have had a successful implementation for the move to NAPLAN online this year.
Dress Code Review Update
The Dress Code review that began in Term 4 2020 is due to conclude this term, with School Council finalising aspects of the Dress Code Policy at the scheduled May meeting. The Education Committee has been using the feedback collected in 2021 to update the school’s SunSmart policy and begin updating the Dress Code policy. School Council will be deciding on the compulsory vs non-compulsory aspect based on the findings of last years feedback. Once this aspect is decided, the policy will be finalised and an implementation timeline developed. As part of the review, it has been recommended that a review of the current uniform items be conducted for an update to modernise, with the inclusion of a sports uniform. JSC have been involved in the process for the updated designs of the uniform for student feedback. A Dress Code Review booklet has been created for School Council to support the finalisation of the review for the May meeting. This booklet will also be available to the community on the school’s website next week. The booklet will include an overview of the review process, the summary of findings from first round of feedback, the second survey results and updated uniform designs. It is expected that the updated Dress Code Policy and implementation timeline will be communicated to the community at the beginning of Term 3.
COVID update- RATs and Reporting Positive Cases of COVID
RATs will continue to be distributed to you as they have been throughout this school year for the remainder of this term. The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers will have them should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms. From Monday 23 May 2022, students will no longer be recommended to undertake twice weekly RATs in mainstream schools. RATs will continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (5 negative tests over a 7 day period) or who have symptoms.
Families must continue to notify the Department of Health and the school if their child returns a positive RAT result. Additionally, you should inform us if any of your children are household contacts.
If your child has tested positive to COVID on either a RAT test or PCR test, you are required to notify the school of your child’s positive result. This process allows the school to keep the community informed of confirmed cases to support monitoring of symptoms and the potential spread over COVID at school. When informing the school of your child’s positive result, please include Sandra (OHS manager) in the correspondence sandra.monaghan@education.vic.gov.au
Also, when adding your child’s absence into Compass, please code as a ‘Medical/Illness’ reason. In the commentary section when reporting the absence, provide a comment indicating the positive result to COVID and test date. E.g. Tested positive on a RAT test 16/5/22.
Thank you again for your ongoing cooperation and support during this time.
Whole School Assembly
As we move into the colder and wetter time of the year, we will be looking into returning to the gym in the near future for our assemblies. We will send out a Compass push informing parents when this will begin. As we move indoors for the assembly it will be important to ensure we are mindful of social distancing requirements.
Pupil Free Day Wednesday June 8th
A reminder that we have the upcoming pupil free day on Wednesday 8th June for a common teacher professional practice day. Camp Australia will be available for those requiring their service on the day.
Election Day
We will be holding our Democracy Sausage and Cake stall on Saturday from 9am. Please see the Fundraising section within the newsletter for more information.
Capital Works Grant
Finally, as previously communicated the school has received a Capital Works grant of $7.627 million for works upgrading the library, infant area and playgrounds. We will be sending a brief survey to the community, students and staff seeking input into this opportunity. It is an exciting time to be able to upgrade our facilities to further enhance the learning environment and opportunities offered at Moonee Ponds West.
Regards,
Jarrod Sutton
Acting Principal