School Council Update

SKiPPS School Council Report - July 2021

Unfortunately, term 3 didn’t get off to the start we had hoped, but it is great to now be out of lockdown and properly back into the school routine.  In the background the SKIPPS School Council continues to be very busy across a number of fronts.

The contract for Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) is up for renewal at the end of 2021 and Council has formed a sub-committee to look at alternative providers of care for the next two years.  The Canterbury Road pedestrian crossing continues to be a concern for the school community.  We recently met with City of Port Phillip councillors as well as a representative from Martin Foley’s office at the crossing so they could see the issue first hand and all agreed to help push our case to have a school speed zone instated. Council has also been corresponding with Parks Victoria regarding the lack of bins around the school grounds including the playground and are hopefully this will be addressed shortly. Given the success of the sex education initiative, Council is now looking to arrange a similar parent information session on cyber safety. 

Following completion of the new school carpark, our Building & Grounds Subcommittee are actively involved in a number of initiatives.  The Staffroom upgrade will be a big focus this term and the main works are scheduled to take place during the next school holidays.  This project will provide much needed improvements including a much more versatile main space as well as dedicated meeting rooms. Other works include finishing the painting of the Sports Shed, external works to the Heritage Shed to replace rotten weatherboards and purposing the Blue Shed to create a separate space for drumming.  There is also a list of smaller tasks which will be prioritised for upcoming working bees we hope to hold during term 3 and term 4.

With 2021 being a non-fete year, fundraising is even more important and our Fundraising Subcommittee has been very active planning a number of events.  These include traditional activities like the Parents Trivia Night and the Walkathon as well as new initiatives such as the Personalised Pavers and SKIPPS Merchandise.

The Education and Policy Subcommittee has been focused on student wellbeing which, given the ongoing need for home learning, is more important than ever.  The team has been discussing the importance for consistent messaging given to students and parents / carers who are concerned they are not completing all assigned tasks – to do what is manageable.  In addition, feedback from teachers and parents are that students are more engaged if we continue with consistency of classroom activities in home learning should we experience lockdown again in 2021.  The Subcommittee is also responsible for reviewing our school policies under a 2-3 year cycle as mandated by the Department of Education.  The policy reviewed this month was Complaints and suggested changes have been incorporated into the new policy which will then be circulated to all staff for comment.

Finally, the process to develop SKIPP’s Strategic Plan has commenced.  This is an incredibly important activity as it sets the strategy and focal points for the school over the next four years.  This requires input from across the school community including students, parents and staff and so Council will be reaching out shortly to ask for volunteers to involved in focus group sessions.

On behalf of Council, all the best for the remainder of term 3.

Mathew Saliba 

SKIPPS Council Treasurer