Principal's Report 

Greetings to students, families and the community of MPWPS,

Week 2 of our new term.  The year seems to be going very quickly.  As of Thursday, I will be back onsite at Moonee Ponds West PS.  I have been very fortunate to have the experience of two different educational settlings, and really have found both educationally satisfying.  

I would like to publicly acknowledge and thank Jarrod Sutton who has been the Principal (acting) in my absence.  Whilst this role was new to Jarrod, he has had a wealth of experience (leadership and other) from past positions to draw on to successfully fill this position.  You know as with teaching, you learn the work by doing the work. Jarrod’s willingness to fill this role also demonstrates his commitment to our government system.  I believe this is equally important in strengthening the system for the benefit of all students and families.

As with any change the team strength is also crucial.  Jarrod was ably supported by the Learning Specialists (Kim and Jess), the teachers who committed to consistently teaching their classes, the Professional Team Leaders and the wider staff team who also played an important role in making sure the learning was uninterrupted.  A school environment isn’t just the one leader, it is the entire staff and community who are all leaders in differing ways.  In the staff survey they call this collective responsibility. In the Parent survey this is expressed in trust in the school. My personal thanks to all for enabling my participation elsewhere.

Year 6-7 Transition Information

Last week the information from the Department of Education regarding year 6-7 transition was circulated to our families of current Year 6 students.  The Information Booklet in this package is very informative and I direct you to this for any questions you may have regarding schools, zones and your completion of the process.  We are planning a Year 6-7 Transition WebEx opportunity should you wish to discuss particular points or gain other information. The date and link will be communicated by COMPASS so please ensure you have your logon details so that you are receiving all information

Bike Ed at MPWPS

The Ride2School program has been in contact with me to offer some Bike Ed instruction for our students. Bike Ed provides students (usually years 3-6) with opportunities to learn to ride in a safe way, understand the workings of their bike and the road rules. I am speaking with Bree to put these lessons into the PE program as this is the usual link.  The proposed dates are Wed May 12, Thursday May 13 and Fri May 14.  I will confirm this opportunity via COMPASS early next week.  Stay tuned.

NAPLAN 2021

The national testing schedule is nearly upon us.  NAPLAN is another piece of information that enables us, as a school to see how we are going.  It is important that all students in Year 3 and 5 participate.  There are some exceptions and your class teacher would be the one to speak with if you are thinking of your child not participating. When we last had this opportunity (2019) our students completed this task just like any other assessment task given by the teacher; they tried hard, and were positive about the experience.  The class teachers showed the children how to complete the test as this is a genre in itself. Teachers can now view the results of the tests and see how the students have performed and add some relevant information to their planning so it is useful for teaching and learning. 

Lunchtime

The longer break for lunch at 11.10 seems to be working really well.  I am hoping that the lunch boxes are coming home empty rather than full!  We continue to monitor, informally seeking student opinion and monitoring outside playing patterns.  Happy to hear from you re what you are experiencing at home. 

Playing Outside

I would like you to prompt a discussion with your child/ren re playing outside and keeping their hands, feet and objects to themselves.  Generally, we have witnessed (and our observations are not any different to other schools) that children seem more impatient with their peers, less willing to share, and overall not as resilient as in the past. Bouncing back after an adversity is a skill that we are to teach.  We learnt from Maria Ruberto that if we can teach our students (whilst at primary school) skills for self-care by the age of 10 years, then we enhance their future mental health into their adulthood.  Maybe, we should reduce our willingness to do FOR and more of doing WITH perhaps!  Here at Moonee Ponds West the staff have undertaken training in the Zones of Regulation and have continued to speak about strategies to move children through the zones. We are skilling them with strategies to manage their emotions.  In the coming weeks I will be discussing with the staff ways to refocus on the Zones across the schools in every class, so that the strategy becomes more consistent.  Look for information that we will forward so you can be part of this whole school focus. 

Well that’s about it from me.  I look forward to welcoming you on Thursday.

Sincerely

Kerri Simpson

Principal