Staffing news

Last newsletter we shared the news of some staffing changes for next year. In addition to Rosie's retirement and Tom McKenzie taking 12 months of leave, we have a couple of other departures to announce.

Jess Allender, Our Foundation Team Leader has secured a posiiton at Hamlyn Banks Primary School in Geelong. Whilst we are sad to see Jess leave after her wonderful contribution to our school over the last 6 years, we understand her desire to work closer to her home on the Surf Coast.

We are also saying goodbye to two of our wonderful Intergation Aides. Jess Lengyel has secured a position at Eastbourne Primary School on the Mornington Peninsula which is near to her new home. Jess has been such a wonderful member of our staff for eight years and has worked closely with a large number of children in this time. The whole staff will miss her enthusiasm and sense of humur. Seda Moss is also moving on having recently completed her teacher training and having been on leave this term to teach a Year 2 class at Port Melbourne Primary School. Seda intends to continue teaching in 2021 and we will miss her passion for sustainability and strong relationships with students and staff at SKiPPS.

We wish Jess, Jess and Seda all the best in their new challanges.

2022 Parent Payments

At School Council last week we confirmed the Parent payment contributions for families for 2022.

All government schools require and request an annual contribution to cover the cost of essential learning items and we appreciate the ongoing support of our families in making this payment to ensure that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students.

The payment is to provide class requisites (stationery, texts books, equipment etc) for your child to use daily in the classroom alongside all excursions, incursions and materials to participate in other programs (such as our Kitchen Garden program). We request that all families make this payment. Rather than provide a booklist (like many schools) and ask you to go and purchase materials yourself, we have always bought in bulk to save families time and money.

Our Parent Payments for 2022 will be;

Foundation $680
Year 1/2 $680
Year 3/4 $735
Year 5/6 $695

Whilst these totals represent an increase on 2021 (when many families paid no fees due to a credit applied from 2020), they have been kept as low as possible. Further details and family statements will be sent home to families in February.

Walkathon

Since our last newsletter we have completed our 2021 Walkathon which was a wonderful success. As well as our students completing thousands of laps of the oval to raise money for the school, we also loved coming together in the school yard to enjoy a cake stall, a sausage sizzle, some icy poles and to sell our wonderful SKiPPS merchandise.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Susan Bishop for co-ordinating the Walkathon, the members of the fundraising sub committee for their work in organising the stalls after the event and to the large group of parents who got involved to help with marshalling, selling sausages or carrying tables on a hot afternoon.

We thank those students and families who have already done such a great job in collecting sponsorship money from our recent Walkathons and paying this to the school via Compass. If you have not yet got around to doing this, we would really appreciate your support for this great fundraising event.

We are asking families to make their payment via Compass School Manager.

When parents login to Compass https://skipps-vic.compass.education under the ‘my news’ feed on the home page you will see an option for ‘Course Confirmation/School payments’. Clicking on this allows you to see ‘Walk-a-thon (optional item)’. Clicking on this allows you to enter any amount raised through sponsorship and then make a secure payment by credit card. Online payments are open and ready to go.

All of the money raised will be used next year to buy more rich, engaging books for us to continue to build classroom libraries across the school to help develop our students' love of literature.

End of Year Student Reports

For the last few weeks, our teachers have been very busy writing your child’s end of year student report—an update on their academic, personal and social achievements and a record of the growth they have made during this disrupted year.

It also includes their class teacher’s assessment of their learning against the achievement standards of the Victorian Curriculum in English and Mathematics – the core curriculum areas that have formed our major focus since the return to face to face teaching.

Whilst we should all be proud of the ways we have navigated this year's challenges and students should be congratulated for the resilience they have shown (for the second year running) to keep learning and engaging throughout remote learning, it is entirely understandable that, for some, their learning this year has been negatively affected by the disruptions to routines and regular lockdowns and periods of remote learning.

When you read your child's report, you may notice that they have not made the expected 12 months growth in their learning since December 2020 (as indicated by the dots and dotted lines on the second page of the report).

Just like in 2021, next year we will work hard to help these students 'catch-up' on any missed learning. This extra support may come in many different forms - working in small groups with tutors at school, spending additional time with their teachers or the provision of targeted learning to complete at home. Once again, we have been provided with additional funding to provide small-group tutoring for targeted students in 2022.

We do however, seek your support to help your child 'catch-up' on any missed learning. We encourage you to carefully read the 'next steps' section of this report to understand what your child's individual learning goals are. If you are concerned or have any questions, please get in touch with your child’s class teacher to discuss these in greater detail.

Early in 2022, we will run parent-teacher interviews and information evenings to discuss these learning goals in more depth and provide ways that you can support learning at home. We encourage you to participate in these important events.

Next Wednesday afternoon, parents will receive an email notification that semester reports are now available to view on Compass. Please access https://skipps-vic.compass.education/ and use your personalised login details to access reports.

Further details will be sent home with your child on Wednesday.

Transition and class lists

On Thursday of next week students will go to their new Learning Area for 2021 and meet their teacher(s) for next year.

They will also be given a contact class list with their teacher’s name and photo. A great deal of time and consideration has gone in the selection of classes next year and, whilst there are always some children disappointed to be away from particular friends, we have aimed for well-balanced groupings and ensured that each child has at least one friend they have chosen.

If your child is slightly disappointed with their class grouping, we seek your support to help them look on the bright side and see 2022 as a chance to build new friendships and demonstrate resilience.

End of year arrangements

As next Friday (17th December) is the final day of the school year, the school day will be finishing at 1:30pm.

Parents will need to arrange for pick-ups or alternative arrangements from this time. Their Care will be running an After School Care program starting at 1:30pm

TeamKids Holiday Program