Launching Place Primary School Newsletter

Principal's Message

The start of a new term always brings renewed energy to our school, and it's been wonderful to see everyone settle back into our learning routines so quickly. While holidays provide a welcome break, there's something special about reconnecting with our students and school community.

 

Celebrating Our Students' Voices: 2025 Student Attitudes to School Survey Results

I'm delighted to share some highlights from our recent Student Attitudes to School Survey with a 79% participation rate of our Year 4 – 6 cohort. This annual survey provides valuable insights into how our students experience school life and helps guide our improvement efforts.

 

Top 5 Celebrations from the 2025 Survey

  1. Strong Teacher-Student Relationships: An impressive 91% of students feel their teachers have high expectations for their success. Our students know their teachers believe in them and expect them to do their best, creating a foundation for academic growth.

  2. Supportive School Environment: 90% of students report that there is a teacher or another adult at school who cares about them, and 97% feel there is a teacher who believes they can be successful. This demonstrates our commitment to ensuring every child feels valued.

  3. Inclusive Classroom Culture: 87% of students feel they have opportunities to be part of class activities, with teachers ensuring all students feel included. This inclusive approach helps build our strong school community.

  4. Effective Teaching Practices: 82% of students responded positively about effective teaching time, with 90% noting that teachers check for understanding and ask questions that challenge their thinking.

  5. Strong Peer Connections: 91% of students reported having friends at school, and 87% demonstrated positive peer relationship skills. Our students excel at maintaining friendships and showing care when others are upset.

The survey also highlighted areas where we can continue to grow, particularly around student voice and respect between students.  We're committed to addressing these opportunities for improvement.

Thank you to our students who participated in this survey. Your voices matter and help make Launching Place Primary School a better place for everyone.

 

Garden Bed planting with Bunnings

Today was a wonderful day of environmental action at our school as students from Prep through to Year 6 participated in our Winter Tree Planting Day. Small groups of students took turns throughout the day to help transform the 14-square-metre garden space near our Year 3/4 classrooms.

Thanks to the generous support of Bunnings through their community program, we were able to plant a variety of low-maintenance, native plants that will thrive in our local conditions. The students enthusiastically dug, planted, and watered a selection of beautiful native shrubs, groundcovers, and grasses—all carefully chosen to grow under one metre in height to comply with our bushfire safety requirements.

It was heart-warming to see our students take such pride in improving our school environment. They learned about native plants, proper planting techniques, and the importance of creating sustainable, low-maintenance gardens that support our local ecosystem.

The newly planted garden area, which receives a mix of light shade and afternoon sun, will be a beautiful addition to our school grounds for years to come. The high-quality soil we recently purchased for the beds provides an excellent foundation for our new plants to establish themselves.

Special thanks to Thomas from Bunnings for supporting this project, and to all the staff members who helped coordinate the student groups throughout the day. We look forward to watching our garden grow and flourish in the coming months!

 

School Captain Archie Leads Victoria to National Ice Hockey Championship

We are incredibly proud to share the remarkable achievement of one of our School Captains, Archie, who recently represented Victoria at the Under 13 National Ice Hockey Championships in Perth during the school holidays.

Archie and his Victorian teammates demonstrated exceptional skill, teamwork, and determination throughout the tournament. After arriving in Perth and settling in, the team began their campaign with an impressive 5-1 victory over Queensland, where Archie made a strong contribution to the team's performance.

Despite a narrow 3-5 loss to Western Australia in their second match (where Archie scored the opening goal), the Victorian team showed tremendous resilience, bouncing back with a convincing 4-0 win against NSW.

The tournament continued with Victoria defeating Queensland again by an impressive 8-goal margin (with Archie adding to the scoreboard) and then overcoming WA 4-2 in a crucial rematch. A 4-1 victory against NSW (with another goal from Archie) secured their place in the semi-finals.

In a tense semi-final, Victoria defeated Queensland 5-3, setting up a Grand Final showdown with Western Australia. Showing true championship quality, Archie and his teammates triumphed 5-2 in the final, with Archie contributing another goal to help secure the national title.

The team was awarded medals and the championship trophy at the closing ceremony, capping off what Archie described as "an awesome experience" with his teammates.

Congratulations to Archie on this outstanding achievement! We are delighted to see our students excelling in their pursuits beyond the classroom.

 

Staffing Update: Welcome to Our New Office Administration Assistant

As we conclude our second week back after the holidays, I'd like to share some exciting staffing news with our school community.

I'm delighted to announce that we have appointed Elin Cox as our new Office Administration Assistant. Elin will be working two days per week (Monday and Thursday) alongside Audrey in our front office.

Elin comes to us with valuable experience from previous reception roles, including work with schools through her former position at an asset stocktake company. During the interview process, she impressed our selection panel with her professionalism, warmth, and genuine enthusiasm for working in a school environment.

Some families may already know Elin as Murray's mum from our Prep class. She is excited to be returning to the workforce after dedicating time to raising her young family, and we're thrilled to welcome her to the Launching Place team.

 

Inform us of Family Holidays

As we approach the middle of the year, we understand that some families may be planning holidays during term time to avoid the bleak Melbourne winter! To help us manage student absences effectively, we kindly request that you inform the school in advance of any planned family holidays.

When you notify us about upcoming holiday dates, we can enter this information into Compass as an approved absence. This prevents our automated system from calling you each day regarding unexplained absences, saving both you and our office staff unnecessary follow-up communications.

Additionally, advance notice gives us the opportunity to prepare an Absence Learning Plan for your child with suitable activities they can complete while away. While these learning plans are entirely optional, we are required to offer them for extended absences. You are welcome to decline if you prefer your child to have a complete break from formal learning activities during your holiday.

To notify us about planned absences, simply:

Please include the dates of absence and whether you would like us to prepare an Absence Learning Plan.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping us maintain accurate attendance records.

 

Next Assembly

Aaron Violi (MP), Federal Member for Casey, will be joining us at our next assembly on Friday 8th August.  He will be awarding Luna her writing award from the ANZAC Day competition in April, as well as presenting our Junior School Councillors with their badges.  It is also our Prep’s 100th Day Celebration, so we hope to see our families come along to celebrate.

Laura Caddy

Principal