Principals' message
AAFEBS conference
On Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th October, Andrea and I attended the annual AAFEBS conference at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. We had the privilege of networking with Principals and teachers from French bilingual schools around Australia and gained fantastic insights into other school contexts, common challenges and success stories. A delegation of teachers from AAFEBS schools and staff from New Calendonia visited Fitzroy PS to observe French classes in action. There was a huge buzz in the air when the group returned to their Principals and it was delightful to hear how impressed they were after observing our teachers and students. On Tuesday afternoon, we were joined by a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris and the French embassy in Canberra to tour our classrooms and learn about how our program works. Opportunities like this help to strengthen the school's profile and build partnerships locally, nationally and internationally. We look forward to what's ahead for Fitzroy's French bilingual program!
You can find us on the Association of Australian English French Bilingual School's website here https://www.aafebs.com/
Minister visit and funding announcement
On Monday 24th October local candidate Lauren O'Dwyer and Richard Wynne MP came to Fitzroy to make a very exciting announcement to staff and students that is explained in the caption below.
Kitchen garden classroom upgrade project on Napier St
Last week we met with the architects from ROAM to discuss a future project that aims to upgrade the kitchen garden area on Napier St to enhance food production, build an outdoor classroom area, include sensory play spaces and incorporate sustainable technologies for the future. Next year we will create opportunities to consult with staff, students and parents regarding the design and then actively seek grants to fund the project. This will be separate to the capital works that are taking place inside the Napier and George St buildings. We thank the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee for their support.
Staffing update
We extend a very warm welcome to Danielle Cardas who joins our French team. She has been team-teaching and planning with Elodie in preparation for her departure on maternity leave at the end of next week. Danielle will take over the grade 1/2 and grade 3 class for French until the end of the year. Danielle is originally from Canada and comes to us from Caulfield Junior College with extensive experience in French-English bilingual schools.
We have also welcomed Mohamed Bakit into a temporary Education Support role while Maria is doing her teaching placement as part of her university course. Mohamed has been actively (and bravely!) umpiring on the soccer field at lunchtimes and has a keen interest in supporting our students' with their maths.
World Teacher's Day celebration
On Friday 28th October we celebrated World Teacher's Day with a special morning tea for staff. We take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of our teaching staff who provide our students with a rich learning experience at Fitzroy PS. Whether our staff teach in the classroom or run a specialist program, we are continually impressed by their dedication, passion, enthusiasm and commitment to school improvement and achieving the best outcomes for our students. Great work team!
Student free day
A huge thank you to our Education support team and parents who came along to help us pack up boxes on Monday. We've made huge progress in preparation for our moving day on 10th December. If you would like to volunteer your time to pack up boxes during class time, please contact your classroom teacher.
2023 planning
Planning is underway for staff recruitment, class structures, teacher allocations and student class lists. As you can imagine, this is quite a complex process with many moving parts. Whilst we aim to accommodate parent requests for teachers and classes, this is not always possible. In the coming weeks, your child will be asked to name up to four other friends that they would like to be in a class with in 2023. Teachers will then work in teams to generate class lists. You can help your child by having a discussion about who they would like to nominate.
Foundation transition program
We're very excited about the upcoming Foundation transition program in the coming weeks! If you are interested in attending one of the parent information sessions to answer questions about the school and make new connections, please let us know.
Each session is held on Thursday at 9:30am - 17th & 24th November, 1st December.
Swimming reminder
With our swimming program just around the corner, parents are reminded that consent is essential for your child to attend. In the next few weeks, you can help your child by developing their independence to dress/undress and change into bathers. Please make sure all clothing items are clearly labelled with your child's name so we can return these to you if lost. We are also seeking an army of volunteers to help us with the walk to/from the the pool. Please let us know if you have a valid Working With Children's Check (WWCC) and can help.
- Angela Richmond, Andrea Hennessey and Sormeh Afkari