Principal's Message

Welcome back to our newsletter. I hope you had a great long weekend and that you were able to enjoy the time with your family. Term 4 continues to be busy for us all. We have Kinder students transitioning into Foundation to prepare them for their first year in 2025 and at the other end of our school we have our Year 6 students planning and preparing for their Graduation as they begin the process of moving to year 7. These are very exciting times ahead.

Our  Learning and Wellbeing summary:

• Many staff used their Professional Practice Day over the Cup weekend to work on their end of year reports and to review semester 2 student data. A huge amount of time and energy goes into the reports to ensure they are differentiated and specific to your individual child. Our Education Support staff were also able to participate in their own professional learning onsite to ensure they have the opportunity to build capacity in their area of expertise.
• We have begun to develop our 2025 staffing profile and are in the process of discussing workplace options. Staffing is always balanced against student numbers, so it is very important that families keep us up to date with any plans to relocate.
• Mel Lloyd and myself represented our school community as part of a local discussion with Minister Lily D’Ambrosio on the topic of social media and the impact of cyber behaviours on our students, families and community. As many of you have witnessed firsthand, the challenges of social media are becoming more difficult and impactful on families and schools. The concerns and examples shared across our local primary and secondary schools were incredibly similar. It was terrific to have been part of this important discussion and hopefully to have provided another voice for consideration at government level. The following questions were considered as part of the group discussion
  
  • What impact does social media have on young people ( under 18 ) today ? 
  • What are your thoughts and feelings about having restrictions or limits in place for social media usage ?
  • How do you think these age limits should work ?
  • What do families, schools, government and social media companies need to do to keep young people safe online ? 

I do remind families that our staff cannot be held responsible for online behaviours that occur outside of school hours. We continue to remind students of cyber awareness and etiquette, and we always hope positive choices are made when accessing online material and communication. We ask you to please monitor your children’s online access and remind  them about safe usage.

Reminders:

• Lately the numbers of late arrivals have noticeably increased. While we understand some emergencies occur, we have some students arriving late every day. Missing the first 15 minutes in the morning means your child is not part of the introductory mini lesson in the class. This definitely impacts their ability to get started on a learning task. I urge families to ensure students are at school and onsite ready to learn at 8.45 am.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge Nat Kennan and the Admin Team at MPHPS for their exemplary preparation for our Department of Education Financial Audit. This audit is similar to a School Review and required the provision of large amounts of evidence and data highlighting our school accountability of processes and procedures. The outcome was outstanding. We are extremely lucky to have such an efficient team. 

Have a fabulous fortnight 😊

Chris