Principal's Message

Upwey South Primary School- a Learning Community full of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience... and this week there was a lot of crazy hair!

As a teaching team, we absolutely love the meaningful connections which are being fostered across our community. The recent challenges which we have faced together, and overcome, such as power outages and Remote Learning have once again provided us with the opportunity to truly live our school values. 

No doubt you've heard similar comments from our staff in recent weeks, however it was truly the best thing in the world to have our students back on-site for face-to-face learning! To be able to welcome everyone back with a fun community event such as Crazy Hair Day certainly lends to the notion that Upwey South Primary School is the happiest place on earth. 

As the Principal of the school I have the fortunate experience of being able to speak with families on a regular basis; about all sorts of things! The most dominant conversations of the last two days have been about how proud our parents/carers are of the high quality learning which is evident through our recent Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences. 

We have also once again received glowing levels of support for the high calibre Remote Learning Program through which we engaged our students; with members of our School Leadership Team being asked to provide support to local schools, and demonstrate what a well-balanced learning program should look like. 

Below are just a small selection (extracts) of some emails we have recently received. These extracts are on top of the verbal comments and cards which have been received by our staff: 

" No matter what time of day or night the staff have been responsive to the needs of our family over the past few weeks- and it's been a blessing to have someone to lean on."

"Love the team work at USPS. Sharing the load is caring for each other. XX"

"Thank you again for handling this difficult situation so efficiently! Brilliant communications being sent out!"

"This is the first time we have had to do online learning from home with USPS, couldn’t be happier with the organization and simplicity of the instructions for each task."

"I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you both (and all the teachers at USPS) for everything you are doing at the moment. You guys are amazing and we really appreciate all of your hard work."

"Firstly to say, loving your work!! With such a short amount of time to get remote learning organised you've all done an incredible job!!"

"Thank you for taking the time to extend [name's] learning. We are blown away by what they have been able to achieve, and the extent to which you have challenged them in a safe and supportive manner."

In return, and on behalf of our staff, I would like to say thank you to each and every one of our students, their families, and the wider community for your ongoing support. 

Your spirit helps to keep us focussed on what matters, your feed-forward energises us, and we have a deep desire to take the next steps for our school to be an even more amazing place of learning. 

Gifted Insights- Mentoring Gifted Kids Program

We recently asked our school community to complete an online survey telling us about your experiences and thoughts of the Gifted Insights Program. The feedback received via the survey was presented to School Council at our May meeting, and we are pleased to say that Gifted Insights will again be available to selected students from the commencement of Term Three. 

For families who have previously taken part in the program, Jennifer will be making direct contact with parents/carers to provide additional details for Term Three. 

Term Three Gifted Insight Focus: Amazing Sounds!

Explore the science of sound and the impact of sound in our lives.

Experiment and investigate vibrations, how sound travels, waves, pitch and volume. Use everyday items, tuning forks, slinkies, electronics kits with speakers. We might even build a radio.

The impact of sound and noise in our everyday lives, life without sound, hearing impairment, and overcoming obstacles will be discussed and considered.  Learn the structure and function of ears in humans and other animals. 

Some questions we’ll explore may include: 

What sounds fill our life? What would life be like without sound? Who was Helen Keller? What is sound? How do we hear? How do ears work? Noise or music – what's the difference? How do musical instruments make sound? What about the human voice? How are waves at the beach and sound alike? How do hearing aids and cochlear implants work to help the hearing impaired?

For those families who may be interested in learning more about the program please email jennifer@giftedinsights.com.au 

Storm Relief and Community Support

We know that our school community are absolutely amazing at pulling together in times of need, and that many of our community members have recently been involved in volunteering with storm relief assistance; from serving and preparing meals, to providing hot showers, to excavation works, and even just being there as support person for those in need. 

In addition to the current help which is available, we bring your attention to the following: 

“Reach Out for Help” Yarra Ranges Council Edition 4 Newsletter

Yarra Ranges Council have provided community members with key contacts and information on who to turn to for support with storm damage and clean-ups.

Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Service

DRERS are offering funding support and assistance for families who are experiencing financial hardship. This funding is available until November 2021, and is targeting families who would benefit from having bills paid to improve the wellbeing of their family. These bills can include school, medical, housing, and transport costs. 

The DRERS service is completely confidential.

If you would like to know more about accessing DRERS support, please speak with Tania Bevan or Susan Wise via 03 9754 7777 or visit www.drers.org.au

Upwey Community Relief Centre

The Upwey Community Relief Centre will operate out of the Upwey Township Hall from Monday 21st June from 9:00am-12:00pm for as long as required. The Township Hall is located behind the Upwey Shops adjacent to the Skate Park. The Relief Centre has adjusted hours of service based upon demand, and is currently open three days per week from Monday to Wednesdays.

Residents and Volunteers can call in to charge up their phones and computers, have a cuppa' and a chat. Members of the Upwey Men’s Shed will be providing breakfast from 9:00am each day, and Soupee will also be available on occasions to provide hot food. 

As an initiative of the Upwey Men’s Shed and Upwey Township Group, residents who need a bit of support or volunteers involved in the massive clean-up, are encouraged to come to the relief centre.Further information contact Gerran Wright, President, Upwey Men’s Shed mobile 0419 560 051, or Andrew Fullagar Upwey Township Group 0427 306 723.

2022 Foundation Enrolments

In-person school tours are back from the commencement of Term Three, with bookings filling fast. 

Since the commencement of Term Two, we have been inundated with requests for families from the surrounding area to attend school tours. As a school with an extremely strong reputation across the community we want to hear from any of our existing families who have younger siblings due to start Foundation in 2022. 

By securing 2022 enrolments for existing families, we will then be in a strong position to determine how many positions exist for students who live within our designated school zone, and then determine how many vacancies may remain for students who live beyond our school zone. 

For information regarding enrolments, please contact the school office. 

Smile Squad School Dental Program

The below is a copy of the information contained within our last newsletter, and remains here as a reminder for parents/carers to action. 

You may have recently heard that the Victorian Government has announced that the Smile Squad- School Dental Program- will continue to be rolled out across more schools and Local Government Areas (LGAs) from mid-Term Two, 2021. 

As a school within the Yarra Ranges Council, we are pleased to say that we have secured the Smile Squad School Dental Program for our student community, with dental health sessions for students commencing on-site from Week One, Term Three, 2021. 

This week each student brought home a dental health information pack, provided by the Victorian Government. Inside this pack will be a consent form which parents/carers are required to complete in order to access this free dental service. 

More details regarding the program, arrangements for our school, and timelines will be published via Compass when dental health information packs are distributed in approximately a fortnight from now. 

What is Smile Squad? 

Smile Squad is a Victorian Government dental program offered for students. Smile Squad will provide free oral health examinations and follow up treatment to all Victorian government primary, secondary and specialist school students.

Smile Squad is committed to the same high standards of safety and quality required of all public dental services, and must be accredited to all relevant National Safety and Quality Health Service standards. These standards provide a nationally consistent statement of the level of care consumers can expect from health service organisations.

For more information about Smile Squad, please refer to the attached .pdf below:

Yarra Valley Psychology is partnering with our school!

We are pleased to share with you that our school has secured a partnership with Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services (https://yvp.com.au/), with the aim of providing in-school counselling services to students. 

Throughout schools across Victoria, student counselling is a much needed (and under resourced) service. Many of our families are currently experiencing first-hand the difficulties associated with trying to gain access to support services for their children. Therefore, we must be grateful that we have been presented with the opportunity to enter a partnership with YVP, as the resources do not exist for this partnership to occur across schools within our region. 

Please be aware of the information below:

Is there a cost involved to access the service, and does my child require a Mental Health Plan?

There is no cost involved for the family. 

Your child does not require a Mental Health Plan to access the service. This is due to the fact that the counselling sessions will be delivered by a Masters of Counselling practitioner, who is under the direct supervision of Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services. 

There is also no limit on the number of sessions a child may access. Access to sessions, and duration (in weeks) will be determined between YVP, the school, and the parent/carer. 

When do sessions commence, and how will they be structured?

Sessions will commence from the beginning of Term Two, with student-needs being prioritized in partnership with the school and YVP. Prior to any child commencing, a confidential discussion will take place between the YVP counsellor and the parent/carer. 

Our school has been allocated a male counsellor (name TBC) who will conduct sessions each Wednesday for the entire duration of Term Two and Term Three. 

The counsellor will have the time allocation to see up to five students per day, with each session being allocated 50 minutes. At this stage sessions will be occurring each Wednesday. 

Will each child who is referred be able to access the service?

Unfortunately, this is not achievable within the current mental health environment. Referrals will be prioritized on a needs basis from within our own school cohort. 

If I wish for my child to access the service, what do I need to do?

Please complete the referral form below and return it via the instructions on the form. 

Keeping Aware of Information Relating to School

As a school we work hard to keep our families informed of happenings across the school. We acknowledge that receiving information in a timely and consistent manner can help to alleviate the pressures which come from managing a busy family calendar. 

Communicating via Compass

All of our school notifications are sent via the Newsfeed within the Compass app. There is also a calendar of events within the app, which sends push notifications to users to remind them of school events. 

In 2021, we will continue to utilise Compass for families to consent and pay in order for their children to take part in school events. 

In order to filter notifications which are received, you will notice that we send out notifications which are year level specific. This means that sometimes not all notifications are sent to all year levels. 

Administration Reminder

Please be reminded that if you need to collect your child/ren early, please contact the office  when you are five to ten minutes away so we can have them at the office for collection.

Communicating with the School Administration Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2021, and welcome your input: 

Damien Kitch (Principal)  damien.kitch@education.vic.gov.au 

Paula Lee (Business Manager) upwey.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Janette Clarke (Office Manager) upwey.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au