SMPS Family iNewsletter

School Leaders

Messages from the Office, Learning Specialists and School Organisers...

Sick Bay Visits and Going Home

We have noticed a growing number of students arriving at school with instructions from parents to tell staff to call home if they are not feeling well. While we appreciate your concern for your child’s wellbeing, this practice has led to many students presenting to sick bay with the expectation of going home when trained staff at school would normally manage their ailments whilst at school. This leaves us with limited options to manage your child’s needs effectively during the school day.

 

Please consider the following:

  • If your child is genuinely unwell, it is best for them to stay home and rest until they are fully recovered. Sending them to school with the option to call home can create unnecessary disruptions to their learning and to the school’s daily operations.
  • Children who are told they can call home if they feel unwell are more likely to do so, even for minor discomforts that could be managed at school. This often leads to an early departure from school, which may not always be necessary.
  • Our sick bay is intended for students who become unwell unexpectedly during the school day, not for those who are already feeling unwell before coming to school.
  • It is important for children to build resilience and learn to recognize the difference between discomfort, pain, and illness. Understanding this distinction will help them better manage their feelings and develop coping skills that are essential throughout life.

We ask for your support in helping your child build resilience by keeping them at home when they are truly unwell and encouraging them to stay at school when facing minor discomforts.

 

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

2025 Enrolments

As we begin planning for 2025 staff and classes, we kindly remind you to submit any Prep 2025 enrolments as soon as possible. If you intend for your child to start Prep next year at South Melbourne Primary School, please contact the office at 9935 9399 or visit our website for full enrolment details.

2024 Exits

If you anticipate leaving the school this year or early next year, please inform our Office Administration team by emailing south.melbourne.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

 

Having this information in advance will greatly assist with our planning, budgeting, and staffing.

 

Your plans don’t need to be final - just a heads-up is appreciated. Alternatively, you can drop by the office to speak with Ms. Kirsty or Miss Emma about your intentions.

School Saving Bonus - $400 for Families in 2025

In Term 4, 2024, families with a child enrolled in a government school from Prep to Year 12 in 2025 will receive the one-off $400 School Saving Bonus. The $400 School Saving Bonus provides families with support for education-related costs, such as school activities and/or school uniforms and textbooks.

 

The School Saving Bonus is not available for full-fee international students in 2025.   

 

Actions for parents and carers

Before 18 October 2024, the Department of Education is asking parents and carers to:

  • Complete enrolment: If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025. For more information, read about Enrolling in School. 
  • Check your contact information: Ensure your email address and phone number is up to date with us. You can check this information by contacting us directly.

We need to ensure your contact information is up to date as the Department of Education will email you twice:

  • once in October, to verify your email address
  • once in November, with your $400 School Saving Bonus and access to an online system.

Please check your junk mail regularly to make sure you do not miss an important email.

 

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, download the School Saving Bonus Information sheet for government school parents and carers or visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus. 

End of Life Devices - Year 3 and 6 Students

Student devices in Years 3 and 6 will reach the end of their lifecycle at the end of the 2024 school year. The school is currently in the process of negotiating end of life offboarding with our suppliers. As part of this process, families may opt to buyout the device to keep it or they may return it to the school. 

 

To facilitate this process, we need families to indicate their preference on buying or returning their device at the end of the year. Please use the link below to respond to the survey by Wednesday 16th October and identify your preference. Please note that if you do NOT respond to this survey, you will be required to RETURN your student’s device to the school.

 

Survey Link: https://forms.office.com/r/jTDwHiVGcA

Code Camp Scholarship

Win a place at the upcoming holiday program!!

 

We have one scholarship to give away to a lucky SMPS student. The winner will be randomly drawn. Only one entry per child can be accepted.

 

Enter the Draw here for your child's chance to win a free holiday camp

Welcome to New (and New-ish!) Staff

At SMPS we are lucky enough to have the highest quality staff working within our building. Our staff are ambitious, proactive, skilful and most importantly, love working with our kids. 

 

Here are some bios of new staff who have joined since mid-Term 1. If you see them around, reach out and say hello (even if they don't work in your child's year level). Community is very important to us at SMPS - belonging to our community is something special that all people in our building share. 

 

Miss Jemma

 

Hello, South Melbourne Primary School Community!  

  

My name is Miss Jemma, and I am extremely excited to be a part of the wonderful SMPS community. I am one of our Learning Support Officers and have the joy of working with the Prep and Grade 1 teams. A little bit about me is that I was born in Melbourne, however I have family all over Australia, so I am fortunate enough to travel around the country to see them! I have a mini poodle named Lucy, who I adore and love taking on walks and to the beach. I am passionate about being active, sport and music. I love running and swimming. Staying active brings me joy, and I feel so grateful that I can move my body. As an avid Geelong Cats fan, you can usually find me glued to the TV, or sometimes at the games, cheering for them! I am also a massive Taylor Swift fan and will listen to her music on repeat. 

 

Whilst these interests are very important to me, my main passion is education. I have been supporting primary aged students for the last 4 years across different settings, it has shaped me into the person I am today. I love doing what I can to help anyone and everyone, I find so much joy in watching students develop and grow. I feel so grateful that I have found a job I love and can come to school every day with a big smile! I am studying my bachelor’s degree in primary education, and I am inspired everyday by all the wonderful teachers at SMPS. I hope to be as amazing as they are when I have finished my studies.  

  

I look forward to getting to know each of you and becoming part of what has already been such a welcoming and friendly community.  

  

See you around! 

 

Miss Jemma   

Parent Communication

At SMPS we strongly value working directly with families to support student's learning and wellbeing needs. School is a supportive environment for children to develop socially, emotionally and academically. We recognise that as young people, students may occasionally make mistakes and/or need additional support from school and home to learn from their mistakes. We are very fortunate at SMPS to have incredibly supportive families who work in partnership with the school to support their children. 

 

Occasionally, children may go home and report a perceived wrongdoing or behaviour towards them that is upsetting and hard to hear. Each situation is unique and usually layered in context that must be explored to best understand how to support and best respond to your child's needs. Upon knowledge of such matters, our teachers always investigate matters to ensure they have a balanced view of any situation including any evidence to support reports made to and by families. 

 

We would like to support families to know how we respond and what we expect in terms of respectful communication between school and home. 

 

Please note the actions school staff take when they know of an incident and/or receive a query about a matter at school: 

  • Listen to student/parent concerns
  • Follow up by speaking to all children and staff involved to gather all facts and evidence to make an informed and balanced view of what has occurred.
  • Contact families involved and share details of matter/concern (Note: We won't speak about other children to respect privacy)
  • Support students to address any concerns at school, and; 
  • May request a meeting with families to further discuss matters so that the child/ren can be supported at school and home.

Please note the following 'dos' and 'donts' to help support your child in addressing matters of concern at school. By adopting the recommendations below, we should be able to resolve matters whilst maintaining respectful relations and communication between all members of our community. As always, if adults fail to act respectfully it is our children who suffer.

 

DO

  • Listen to your child and support them in that moment in a calm, neutral manner
  • Thank them for telling you and encourage your child to continue to speak to you as well as tell a teacher at school so they can be supported/heard
  • Explain that you may contact the classroom teacher to discuss this further
  • Contact your child's classroom teacher directly e.g. email (via Compass), arrange a meeting or phone call to discuss.
  • Keep an open mind and be ready to learn more about the situation from the staff at the school who may share further details that are contrary to what you have heard.
  • Work with school staff to support your child, and;
  • Understand that the school will communicate directly with others involved; this is not the parents' responsibility.

DON'T

  • Assume you know all the facts about the situation before speaking directly with your child's classroom teacher
  • React in a heightened manner that may exacerbate your child's feelings and emotions in negative way
  • Approach students or parents in the yard to discuss concerns. This may lead to further complications and breakdown in relationships that are otherwise avoidable.
  • Contact families involved directly (e.g. in person or via phone, SMS); the school will speak with all families relevant to their child's involvement. 

It can be extremely upsetting and confronting for students and parents to be approached by parents in the yard at pick-up/drop-off or community events. Please support our children by trusting that school staff will manage and respond to matters occurring at school and not take matters into your own hands.

 

Generally, matters occurring outside of the school (e.g. on weekends, evenings, social media offsite/out of school hours) are personal matters and the school will not become involved. We encourage families to not bring any 'outside school' matters onto the grounds for resolution. We want the school to be a safe, warm and welcoming environment for all members of our community. 

 

Thank you for your support and understanding. Please reach out to your child's teacher should you need further support or clarification regarding this process.