Assistant Principal's Report

Welcome to Week Three of Term Four. We have had a fantastic week at DPS with dance performances, sporting events and some parent information evenings too.

Prep Transition

Congratulations to our 2024 Prep students who began their transition from Kinder to Primary School last Friday. The morning went very well and all of our little superstars settled into their classrooms beautifully. We have many, many more transition sessions scheduled throughout the term. Please call the school on 9848 1122 for more information about Transition. Alternatively you can check Compass.  

October Attendance

We are over halfway through October and there are many students who have had perfect attendance in Term Four so far. Congratulations to our 334 DPS students who have so far been at school every day in October, you are superstars! In our next newsletter I will be able to inform you of the number of students who attended school EVERYDAY in October. We are hoping to beat the figure of 307 which is the total number of students who had perfect attendance for September. C’mon DPS, we can do it!

Keep up the great attendance DPS students. Remember: it is not ok to be away!

Dance Curriculum

We had the best week with Dean from Dance Curriculum visiting DPS and teaching all of our students a dance which they then performed in front of our live parent audience on Friday afternoon. There were so many families that came to watch and enjoy the performances on Friday. Thank you everyone for your attendance and well done to our students who performed so confidently in front of the large audience. You were AMAZING!      

We now look forward to the Grade Six students practising their dance and performing it at the Grade Six Graduation on Tuesday 5th December.

Division Volleyball Matches

Congratulations to our mixed volleyball team who hosted Warrandyte Primary School for a match last Thursday.  The team included Milica, Georgia, Chara, and Smaragda from 6C and Tanish and Alex from 6J. While the game contained some great rallies and skills from both teams, DPS were unable to progress to the Regional final. There are some skills that we will continue to practise including serving, which Warrandyte were particularly good at. Our girls volleyball team are looking forward to their match which is scheduled for next Wednesday against Serpell Primary. Thank you Mr Spinks for all of your work in this space.

SWPBS - School Wide positive behaviour

All classes have continued learning behaviours off the Matrix this term. Teachers in classrooms and on Yard Duty are looking for students that are displaying behaviours from the 'Be Respectful', 'Be Safe' and ‘Be Your Best’ part of the matrix and giving students coloured wrist bands. While I visited the students at their Dance rehearsal in the gym last Friday, I was on the hunt for students who were showing Dean respect by listening to his instructions and showing safe practises by allowing appropriate spacing between them and their classmates. I also found students that were absolutely doing their best and rewarded them too. We are constantly rewarding students who are displaying these behaviours. The SWPBS framework is definitely having a positive impact at DPS. 

Last week the Wellbeing Team of teachers were lucky enough to visit a school who implemented the SWPBS framework 4 years ago. They developed their own matrix and over the last few years have been modifying and embedding the expected behaviours at their own school. It was a beneficial visit for our team to see the success of a consistent program and provided us with the opportunity to reflect on our current practises.    

Respectful Relationships

We continue our whole school approach of Respectful Relationships. In Respectful Relationships there are 8 topics that we focus on across the year. This term, year levels are focusing on Topic 7: Gender and Identity and Topic 8: Positive Gender Relations. 

This week the Level Five students have been learning about gender stereotypes. Miss Elbay reports that they have explored the types of behaviours considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on their gender and how they are created by society. This has prompted great discussions where students are given the opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions.  The students have watched interviews and discussed real life scenarios where gender stereotyping has occurred. For example, female celebrities being asked about their clothing while the males are asked about their success and achievements. Miss Elbay says it has been great to see the students passion and enthusiasm throughout this unit. Thanks to Miss Elbay for your recap of Respectful Relationships in Levels Five. We look forward to hearing how this unit develops over the coming weeks.

School Captains for 2024

We are currently accepting applications for students in Year Five to apply to be a DPS School Captain in 2024. School captains play an important leadership role in the school community. They help instil a sense of pride and belonging among younger students. They are trusted and familiar and can help bridge gaps between students and staff. Students who are chosen to be school captains are those who stand out as confident, conscientious and compassionate leaders. The process of applying to be a school captain is quite a lengthy one. Firstly, students are asked to write a letter to myself and Mr Hill explaining why they would be a good School Captain. They are then invited to a mini interview where the current school captains, Mr Hill and myself ask the candidates more about themselves and what makes them a good choice for this important leadership position. We then conduct group catch ups with many of the candidates together to see how they gel together as a team and who shows the school values of determination, pride and success in these sessions. Being chosen as a school leader has nothing to do with popularity as some students first imagine. Successful candidates have a reputation for working hard to achieve good results at school; they participate in sport and community activities; they display the school values in all they do; they are a good role model for our younger students and they are respected by their peers.

Jenna, Adrina, Jude and Isaac have been wonderful School Capatins this year and we are happy to have them involved in the process of selecting the new captains for next year. If you are in Level Five and you are thinking about applying for a captaincy role, our current captains can answer any questions you may have!   

Swimming Program

This term, many of our year levels visit the local swimming pools for their annual swimming lessons. The Level Four, Five and Six students will go to Aquarena and have a full day of water safety and instruction. The dates for this programs is as follows: 

Monday 20th November – Level Six

Tuesday 21st November – Level Four

Wednesday 22nd November – Level Five

The Prep students will visit Aqualink everyday for one week commencing Monday 27th November – Friday 1st December. More information about this will be on Compass shortly.

This year we are lucky enough to be trialling an alternative program with our Level Three students. They are participating in a Life Saving Education Program at the Port Melbourne Life Saving Club on Wednesday 29th November. Our Level Three students will learn essential strategies to stay safe in and around water, including identifying dangers like rip currents and reading safety signs. They will also be equipped with the knowledge and skills to respond in emergencies, following an important emergency response sequence. Survival techniques such as wearing a lifejacket and rescue strategies using towels and ropes will be taught. By participating in this event, the students will gain valuable knowledge and skills that can potentially save lives. 

We are looking forward to all DPS students participating in the Swimming Program. In Australia there are so many opportunities for children to enjoy water play, therefore it is so important that all children have swimming and water safety lessons. That way children gain a healthy respect for the dangers of water as well as the skills to be safe in and around water. I look forward to hearing feedback about the Swimming Programs conducted this year. 

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS 

Kids Help - kidshelpline.com.au phone 1800 55 1800 

Parent Line - betterhealth.vic.gov.au phone 13 22 89 

Headspace - headspace.org.au phone 1800 650 890 

eSafety Commissioner - esafety.gov.au - Advice for parents and carers to help children have safe experiences online 

Have a great week ahead DPS families,

Carly Epskamp