Assistant Principal's Report

Year 5/6 Concert – Space Pirates!

Thursday 16 June was a special day in the FPS calendar as we held our first school concert in over two-and-a-half years. The FPS community filled the Kew High Renaissance Theatre to capacity and the audience was treated to festival of music, singing and dancing!

The concert preparations were not straight forward – there were staff and student absence to navigate – however that was not going to stop our celebration of the performing arts. I am sure the concert will live long in the memory of the audience and performers

Congratulations to our Year 5 & 6 cohort – your efforts are recognised. Thank you to all the staff and parents who supported the event and a special mention to Olivia – for her energy, passion and commitment. 

Curriculum Day Professional Learning

Term three began with staff participating in professional learning about Restorative Practices. We learnt about the neuroscience behind emotions, feelings and behaviours, and how this links to our students at school. Staff reflected on how we currently support students’ social and emotional wellbeing and discussed new ideas. At Fairfield Primary School, we understand that all behaviour is communication, and unless a child is feeling safe and secure, they are unable to take in new information. This professional learning taught us the science behind why understanding behaviour is so important, and gave us a much deeper awareness into how to support students (and adults!) who may be experiencing feelings of overwhelm and anxiety. 

Term Three Begins

I have been so impressed with how students have settled back into routine after the school holidays. As I walked through the Foundation classrooms yesterday, I observed the start of a writing lesson. Students were being given explicit instruction on spelling and I watched as they said the word together, tapped the sounds out and had a go at spelling the sounds they heard. Once the teacher had explained why the word was spelt the way it was, they added it to their word wall.

In another Foundation room last week, students were exploring the science area during Exploration. They were using scientific vocabulary, lists, science equipment, and explained to me all about the chemical reactions they were creating – luckily the explosive liquid they showed me was imaginary!

Last week I walked into the Art Studio and saw a class exploring different fabrics as they began their textiles unit of work. In pairs, students chose from a variety of fabric off-cuts to create an outfit suited to a particular environment they were given. 

There are a lot of events to look forward to this term, already our Year 6 students have visited the Immigration Museum, Foundation – Year 2 students begin their Learn to Swim program, we have a variety of incursions including writing workshops, learning about climate change, as well as excursions to the Melbourne Zoo (Year 6), IMAX (Year 3) and Year 1 are off to Coopers Settlement! 

Child Safety Standards

The Child Safety Standards are a set of standards which must be followed by organisations to ensure children are always safe and protected. Schools must follow these standards and as of July, an updated set of standards were introduced. All staff members and School Council members are required to undertake specific training so they are aware of the school’s responsibilities around child safety. This will be occurring over the next few weeks. Our staff, School Council members and relevant School Council sub-committee members will also be involved in reviewing and updating our policies and documentation. Relevant child safety information will be discussed with the Student Voice Team, who will then share with their classes. 

I will keep you informed on changes to our child safety policies and procedures via the newsletter. We will direct you to the new policies on the FPS website when they have been updated.

~ Sarah Abbott Assistant Principal