Principal's Report

Foundation 2024 – Orientation & Morning Tea

The busy cycle of the life of a school means that annual events which seem far in the future, very quickly creep up on us. Last week we welcomed our Foundation 2024 students for their first orientation session. 

This is always an exciting day  for the children and for their families. The Fig Tree Courtyard was buzzing as our 95 students waited with anticipation for their first experience of school. Our current Foundation teachers led these sessions, and were very complimentary about how the incoming children adjusted to their new environment. I am sure that they all had lots of exciting stories to share, and we look forward to them visiting FPS over the next four weeks.

Whilst the children were getting to know one another in the classroom, the same could be said for the parents, as we hosted a Morning Tea in the gym building. There was a lovely atmosphere in the room as families got to know one another and look forward to the exciting journey ahead.

Many thanks to parent and school councillor, Emma McDonald, for coordinating the Morning Tea. As a school, we pride ourselves on bringing together our community, and we are grateful to Emma for creating this opportunity. Thank you to the parents who assisted Emma on the day (Scott, Eliza, Veronica and Rachael) , and to the Foundation families who provided baked treats and other yummy offerings to our new families.

Staffing News

Assistant Principal

Further to Sarah Abbott’s departure from Fairfield Primary School, we are currently recruiting for the position of Assistant Principal, commencing term one 2024. We will keep you updated on this process in the newsletter.

Wellbeing & Inclusion Leading Teachers

In earlier newsletters I have mentioned Disability Inclusion and the opportunities and supports that this additional funding will provide to students. FPS will be transitioning to Disability Inclusion next year, recently appointing three Wellbeing Leading Teachers to lead this work.

Congratulations to Grace Clark, Prue Middleton and Cathy Turner, three FPS staff who were successfully appointed as Wellbeing Leading Teachers at our school. Grace, Prue and Cathy will be given dedicated time to lead the implementation of Disability Inclusion, providing greater support to students and staff. There are many roles and responsibilities that can be met through Disability Inclusion, with the overlying aims of this program to:

• Provide more funding to support students to learn at school.
• Provide more access to training and coaching for school staff.
• Change the way students with disabilities are supported in government schools.

With the introduction of these roles, we will use newsletters  and other communications to share the work of our Wellbeing & Inclusion Leading Teachers.

Science Specialist

In some further exciting staffing news, I can announce that Mariah Moshis will be our new Science Learning Specialist next year. Mariah is currently a Year 2 teacher with an interest and passion in the Science/STEM area.

The school has decided to focus on Science for 2024 (rather than STEM), and Mariah has attended a number of meetings with the leadership team and visited other schools that provide a Science specialist, as part of her planning for next year.

This means that next year all students will have five specialist classes: French, Physical Education, Performing Arts, Science, and Visual Arts.

Year 4 Camp

Our Year 4 students returned from their overnight camp with stories of teamwork, adventure and fun. Have a read through the Year 4 Spotlight to find out their highlights. It was a huge success!

As always, we are grateful for the efforts and time that staff (Elise, Chiara, Jade O, Cathy, Jayde B and Caitie) and parent volunteers (Alex McKenzie, Matthew Schwensen, Sarah McNab, and Sharon Winton) took in planning and supporting the camp. 

ART FOR ALL

You can’t help but feel the brewing excitement that is accompanying our ART FOR ALL celebration. There are so many people donating so much time to this wonderful event, which is less than two weeks away. 

Please keep an eye out for ART FOR ALL communications (including in this newsletter), in particular signing up for volunteering – the event can’t happen without your amazing support.

A Message from Anna Moore

Our Year 5 teacher and hockey champion, Anna, was given the opportunity to play premier league hockey in England. Anna keeps in touch with the school and recently sent us the following update on how things are going in Blighty!

A little about what I’ve been up to…

 

After travelling the 25hrs I arrived in East Grinstead, South London. Crazy I know but that night I had training with my new hockey team! I was a bit jet lagged and it was a seriously stormy rainy training night (I assumed this was usual) so I decided I better embrace this new normal.

 

Hockey has been going well, our team sitting in 4th after about a quarter of the season. We have a break mid-season because it gets so cold here that I am told the pitches freeze up! 

 

Although I am playing in defence, last week I scored my first goal for the season on a penalty rebound. The league standard is strong, and my teammates are highly skilful (six of whom are in the Great Britain International squad). I am certainly enjoying playing with and learning from them.

 

My new school and class role is going well. My new class has just started Year 4 and are eight years old. I teach them English and Maths in the morning and then I am teaching ‘games’ which is the school's four main sports programs in the afternoons to Years 3 – 8.

 

Despite having no language barrier, we have had a few laughs with different words for things which have led to funny confusions. Did you know English people call ‘textas’ - ‘felt tip pens’…and they call ‘pants’ – ‘trousers’ and ‘pants’ are ‘underwear’! One of the biggest differences at this school is that it is in the countryside, green fields surrounding us everywhere and the nearest village is about 10 minutes drive away. Pheasants and deer are common animals around. I showed my class a kookaburra laughing and a kangaroo jumping, which they thought was strange! A daily treat is that I get a cooked warm lunch at the school, including a warm ‘pudding’ otherwise known as a ‘dessert’! (It’s like school camp every day).

 

I have visited London a couple of times to see the touristy sites and today I visited Hever Castle, where Anne Boleyn (one of King Henry VIII wives) grew up. It has since been restored to replicate what it looked like in the 15th century!

 

I’m starting to feel more settled into my new life, and excited to maybe see some Winter snow soon!

 

~ Anna Moore

Mini Working Bee: Friday 10 Nov, 3:15 – 4:45pm

Our Buildings & Grounds committee has come up with a new way to hold Working Bees – to have them after school and just for an hour!

Historically we have held working bees at weekends, but with people’s schedules becoming increasingly busier, we recognise how difficult it is for people to make it at this time. Consequently, we are holding our next working bee at the end of the school day.

We know that lots of parents like to hang around on a Friday afternoon, so what better way to chat to friends than with a spade in your hand.

Year 2 Letters

I have used the last three newsletters to share the ideas that Year 2 have written in their persuasive letters to make the school a better place. Today is the turn of 2D, plus a few students from other grades whose hadn’t been included previously:

• Sam and Alfie: Recess to be longer
• Leon: More play equipment
• Charles: A school run in every year
• Penny: A school counsellor
• Iliana: More Nude Food Days
• Remy: A sauna and massage table
• Mia: A bouncy castle
• Harper T: A soccer oval
• Kit: More premium art supplies
• Ava: Take our pets to school
• Winter: A chill space
• Bonnie: Shouldn’t have graffiti
• Athena: Students to choose a subject they do more often
• Sophia: A trampoline
• Hugo, Dan and Hamish: A second oval
• Monte: Have a high school with FPS
• Kai: Invite The Matildas to FPS
• Milo: A bouldering wall
• Alice: More trees

2024 Camp Dates

Save the following camp dates to your calendar:

• Year 4: Tuesday 8 – Wednesday 9 October, Mt Evelyn (first week of term four)
• Year 5: Monday 2 – Wednesday 4 September, Anglesea (week 8 of term three)
• Year 6: Monday 24 – Friday 28 June, Camp Jungai (last week of term two)

~ Paul Wallace, Principal