Acting Principal's Report

Hello DPW Community,

Welcome Foundation Students and Families 

It was wonderful to see how excited — and mostly confident — our 2026 Foundation students were as they began school yesterday. There were a few nerves and unsteady moments, as you would expect, but these quickly settled once students were in their classrooms and engaged in their activities.

Congratulations to all our parents and extended families for bravely walking away yesterday and trusting that your little person would be okay. It’s never easy, but you did it. I’m sure you were all greeted later with stories about the wonderful things they experienced during their first day.

Upcoming School Events

Please take a moment to read the entire newsletter each week so you can stay up to date with important information and upcoming events at the school. Some key dates to note include:

• Parent Information Session (F – 2) – Wednesday, 18 February, 3:30-4:30pm
• Parent Information Session (3 - 6) – Thursday, 19 February, 3:30-4:30pm
• Family Picnic Afternoon – Friday, 27 February, 1:30–3:00pm

We look forward to seeing many of you at these events and strengthening our school community throughout the term.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy (in the policy section on our school website), describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. We sent forms for 2026 home with your child this week and ask that they be signed and returned as soon as possible.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in eleven community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Dari
• Gujarati
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club will continue this year with some minor changes. The days for Breakfast Club this year are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Students wishing to attend Breakfast Club will be let in the front gate on Quinn St at 8:30am. 

Assembly

A reminder that we will be having assembly every two weeks, on the even weeks of each school term. This means that the first assembly for 2026 will be this Friday, 6th February. As always you are welcome to join us for assembly at 2:45pm but please wait until the end of the day to take your children home.

School Council 2026

From 2026, parents, carers and community members who would like to join the school council need a working with children (WWC) clearance to nominate. I

f you are considering nominating for school council, and don’t already have a WWC, I encourage you to apply for a volunteer WWC check as soon as possible. This will allow for processing times, which are estimated to be from 3 to 12 weeks. 

Please note that if you do not hold a WWC clearance, you will not be able to nominate for school council, so it is vital that you prepare in advance. Obtaining a WWC clearance is free for volunteers, and you can apply online at Service Victoria. 

When applying for your volunteer WWC check, please nominate the Department of Education as the organisation you are working for.

If you already hold an employee WWC clearance, you do not need to obtain a volunteer WWC clearance to nominate for school council.

Victorian Institute of Teaching-registered teachers and school students who are interested in joining school council are not required to obtain a WWC clearance. 

Current parents and community members of school council do not need to apply for a WWC check immediately. Current members only need a WWC clearance if their term ends and they wish to nominate or be co-opted again. 

For more information, refer to Ministerial Order 1280 (Constitution of Government School Councils) 2020.

Volunteering at DPW

To be eligible to volunteer at DPW you will need to complete our school volunteer induction session and hold a WWC. Dates for these induction sessions will be in the school newsletter early next year. 

Some ways that you can volunteer with us include assisting with:

• preparation and supervision of our breakfast club program
• supervision of students during excursions or special events
• preparation of whole school events
• listening to students read
• our specialist programs, such as Art, PE and the library
• working with small groups of students e.g. reading a story, playing learning games, publishing writing
• a lunchtime club e.g. gardening, art, sport, etc

• facilitating a lunchtime club around an interest or skill of your own

   

Kindest Regards,

Deanne Scott

Acting Principal