PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

The Moorabbin Primary School Community touch the land and think of the Bunurong People and surrounding Clans of the Kulin Nation who cared for the land before us.

We share our gratitude to their Elders past, present and emerging.  As we touch this land, we promise to treasure it, taking care of all its people, animals, plants and waterways. We at Moorabbin Primary School appreciate this land. Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers, 

I’m Back! Thank you for the warm welcome to term 3!

I am glad to be back, and it was wonderful to have been able to support my daughter and her partner as they became best man and matron of honour to their best friend’s wedding in Greece. We had a fabulous time and I have been grateful and blessed to be so warmly welcomed back by the children and our community this week.

I would like to formally thank all the staff and in particular Mr Leeden and Mr Corrigan for Acting and leading the school in my absence, they did a wonderful job and testament to their professionalism and commitment to ensuring everything ran smoothly. Congratulations to them both and THANK YOU!

It has been yet another wonderful week of exciting learning experiences here at Moorabbin Primary School. The First Phase of our build is coming closer to completion and both Mr Corrigan and I have been in the new learning centre everyday as we go through: 

• audits, defect checks, final planning for the phones, alarms, the PA system, the instalment of CCTV security cameras, special audio equipment to support our students and adults with hearing needs
• ensuring the doors and windows are all operational, that the toilets, heating and cooling works, along with the interactive TV’s and everything else that is required for the effective teaching and learning that will take place as of next week

On Saturday we are all set to commence the movement of all year 3-6 classes into the new building. Thank you to everyone that has signed up to come along and help. I reiterate that all children are to please be left at home as the movement of furniture requires many hands and we cannot be spending time supervising young children as we need to transition 12 classrooms and all teacher/student resources to the new building.

We will start at 9.00am sharp and work as hard as we can to hopefully get it all moved across by 1.00pm.

Important information for all year 3-6 classes and the organisation of entering and exiting the new building

On Monday morning BEFORE SCHOOL there will be a series of “Bollards/witches’ hats” with class labels for each class to line up in readiness to enter the building with their class teacher. Each class will spend the first 3 days with a modified timetable to set up their classrooms, arrange tables/chairs/ resources/ decorate their spaces and become acquainted with the new facilities.

We are instigating a “Plan B” in case the building has no internet and no access to the main servers. I know that everyone involved in the project has been working extremely hard to make sure that it is fully operational but there is always the chance of a mild delay in some of the learning tools that we have taken for granted.

The “Bollards/witches’ hats” will stay there until we have permanent markings to indicate where each class will be lining up each day.

There is a lift in the building, but it will NOT be able to be accessed by anyone without a special security “Key/fob”, and children will be using the internal stairs to navigate the ground floor to the first level of the building.

We appreciate that this is an extremely exciting time for the children, staff and parents whose children will be in this new building. Please be patient as we continue to establish ourselves and will drip feed information about minor changes and new routines as we become used to it over the next couple of weeks. We will also have a few days to invite the whole community to come in and visit the learning centre and formally open it when we receive the all clear from the Department of Education.

Can I come into the new building yet?

For all year 3-6 parents who will be doing the drop off this coming week, we encourage you to stay and come into the building to have a look and help your child/ren settle in from Monday-Wednesday from 9-9.30am after that time please make your way out so that teachers can start their programs.

Parking and phase two of the building project

On Saturday the builders will formally move into the staff car park and by Monday morning they will have set up the temporary fencing for the demolition and installation works for our new Gymnasium. 

24 staff will lose the carpark and we will also be parking in and around the school. I appreciate parking is already at a premium so please be patient with us as we also try to navigate around this.

As of Monday 19th August, the school will lose access to Dane Road gate

The main gate near the staff carpark on Dane road will be closed as of Monday. Our community will have to walk a few more steps to the gate where the underpass of the bridge is on the corner of Dane and Whickham roads. The reserve gate will still be open and our community can continue to enter and exit via this gate.

Then more temporary fencing will go up and this will entail the entire section of the current year 3 portables, the canteen, current music room and all the gardens outside of these portables. The Fencing will also go over the driveway along the playground, the soccer pitch and the basketball courts. We will hopefully not lose too much of our play area but there will be fencing there so that the builders will be able to move in trucks, cranes etc… that is required for this stage of the project.

The Portables that sit outside the front of the school (4K and 3T) will be removed in the first week of the September holidays.

Parent Opinion Survey

It’s that time of year again where the Department of Education randomly chooses a cross section of our parents to take time to provide anonymous feedback online. From Monday 5th August, through to Friday 30th August, around 30% of our families will be randomly selected to participate in the 2024 Parent Opinion Survey. 

For those families who are randomly selected, we hope that you take the time to participate so that we are able to gain an understanding of our community’s views and help us shape decisions for the future. The survey does not take too long to complete and we really appreciate you taking a moment to provide us with your feedback. Last year only 30 out of a possible 220 parents completed the survey. 

2025 Prep Enrolments and projected numbers

Term 3 has marked the Department of Education’s closing date for Prep/Foundation 2025 enrolments. Placement offers have been communicated to prospective families throughout the last couple of weeks, and several events are planned for the remainder of the year to support the transition to school process. 

Even though you may currently have a child at our school, we do not know which families have a younger sibling who is ready for school and cannot automatically enrol them. The enrolment forms and processes must be completed individually for each child. 

If you or someone you know are wanting to enrol at MPS for next year, please contact the office for an enrolment pack and ensure you submit your application as soon as possible so that we can ascertain a clear understanding of our numbers for next year as we begin forward planning for 2025.

At this point in time, I can confirm that we will have 4 foundation classes for next year.

Staffing news

Miss Alexandra Smit-Geason 

Due to personal and professional reasons Miss Alexandra Smit-Geason will unfortunately need to relocate to Europe in the near future and has asked for leave of which I have approved for term 4 2024 and 2025 inclusive. Miss Smit’s last day at MPS will be Week 10 of term 3, Friday September 20th. We understand the impact this news may have on both the teacher-student relationships and the classroom dynamics. The school will now conduct and complete a recruitment process to ensure the class is covered and not require an emergency teacher. As soon as the position is filled, I will inform the community of the replacement teacher for FSG. Rest assured, we are actively working on a plan to ensure a smooth transition for the students and will provide updates on the steps being taken to minimize any disruption to your child's learning experience. We look forward to celebrating Miss Smit-Geason’s time at MPS as the term comes to a close

Mrs Feren is PREGNANT!!!

It is with great pleasure that I am writing to tell you that Mrs Feren (as I am sure you may have noticed!) is pregnant and will be starting her maternity leave at the end of term 4, commencing Friday 20th December 2024. We know that Tayla and her husband, are both very much looking forward to the new addition to their growing family, but she will also be very sad to leave MPS for 2025. Tayla has indicated that she will be returning to teaching duties in 2026.  I am sure you will join me and our community in wishing Mrs Feren all the very best of luck on the arrival of their new baby. I will of course keep you updated via the newsletter when we have any news as Tayla is due in February of 2025

Noxia Angelides

Principal