Moonee Ponds West Primary School

Principal's report

Dear Parents, Carers, Students and MPWPS Community members,

A short week this week and a short contribution for the newsletter.  I trust you have had a wonderful long weekend with family and friends.

Curriculum Day

Last Friday we had a very successful Curriculum Day focused on improving writing instruction for our students.  Our day was led by our Learning Specialist Ms Kim Simmons.  We discussed and clarified our whole school processes so that we now have the foundations for some future agreements around writing instruction that can be expected across all classes.  We all agreed that in the future we need more time together to ‘chew the fat’ around our improved practice leading to some common agreements.  When schools have common agreements consistency improves and so does achievement for our students.  My thanks to Kim who stepped in to run the session when other plans changed, and to the willingness of all staff to be open and committed to common agreements.

Parent Forum

The next Parent Forum will be held on Friday 22nd March, 9.00-10.00 in the Community Room.  Young children welcome. The topic for the next Forum is literacy.  We will welcome Kim Simmons to speak to parents/carers on supporting student learning in this area.

The Parent Forums give parents/carers a chance to deepen their understanding of the ‘what and how’ of learning instruction at our school.  At the inaugural Parent Forum (last month) we developed a list of possible topics. In the coming Forums we will be offering a guest speaker on developing resilience and reducing anxiety in ourselves and our children.  Please check the Term 2 Parent Calendar to see when the Forums will be on.  Put these dates in your diary.

The Building Fund

I am pleased to inform you that the School Council has approved the use of the 2018 Building Fund to refurbish the Junior School toilets in the Hall Building.  The Library and Building Fund are voluntary contributions to our school and support targeted projects approved by the school council.  In 2019 we are discussing the use of this year’s fund.  Some of the possibilities at present could be:

  • Redesigning the garden areas around the new toilets
  • Providing a garden/science area around the Hall Building on the corner of Lennox and Athol Streets
  • Adding school funds (Building Fund) to the Inclusion/Sensory Garden Grant that will redevelop Jack’s paddock into a sensory garden for all students.

In the next weeks you will receive an opportunity to add your comments to the plans being drawn up to redevelop Jack’s paddock. These ideas will be considered and where possible fed into the redesign.  Look out for your opportunity. However the Department of Education has provided the grant (100k) and commissioned an architect to commence the drawings for this site. We have this site in mind as we will probably get the best outcome for the dollars as there is already some structure in this area.  Please provide your feedback through the survey link below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5VDZRQT

Movie Night

The annual Movie Night is fast approaching. If you and your family are wanting to come along please ensure you book ASAP so as to avoid disappointment.  A great show and a fundraiser for your school.

Please pre-purchase your tickets via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/mpw-movie-night-2019-tickets-57051459451 or from the office on the night.

We are looking for volunteers to assist on the night, if you can lend a hand on the night please use the link below to register your interest.

https://signup.zone/FPK4Z9CX9YPArWAyR

MPWPS’s Transition Meeting Tomorrow night (March 13th at 6.30pm).

Interested parents/carers are welcome to this special Year 6-7 Transition meeting.  The purpose is to give parents/carers a chance to hear about the process and how the applications work. It is envisaged that the meeting will go for about an hour.  The Regional Transition paperwork for 2019 will arrive in the school on Friday March 15.  The Network Transition Expo (March 20th) provides an opportunity to speak to the neighbouring government schools that are in our Network.  These schools are: Essendon Keilor College, Mt Alexander College, Buckley Park Secondary College and Rosehill Secondary College.

Finally some Community News

We are crossing our fingers and sending positive wishes to the family and friends of our past community members Cindy Bohan and Trevor Salvado. We hope that they are soon found and are safe and well after spending nights in the bush at Mt Buffalo.   Cindy and Trevor were parents of students who attended Moonee Ponds West PS in the past.

 

Breaking news: Cindy and Trevor have been safely located.  Great news for all.

 

Sincerely

Kerri Simpson

Principal (Acting at Moonee Ponds West PS)