A message from the Principal

As we move towards the end of the term, one of the highlights of our Physical Education program is fast approaching, with students from Foundation to Year 6 set to take part in our annual swimming program at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC).

Swimming is an important part of the Victorian Curriculum and forms a key component of our Physical Education program. More importantly, for children growing up in Australia, swimming and water safety are essential life skills. Whether it is spending time at the beach, visiting a swimming pool, boating, fishing or enjoying time around rivers and lakes, we want every child to have the confidence, knowledge and skills to stay safe in and around water.

At SKiPPS, we place enormous value on this program. Across two weeks, every student from Foundation to Year 6 will participate in a full week of intensive swimming lessons delivered by qualified instructors at MSAC. Foundation to Year 3 students will attend during Week 9 (15-19 June), while Year 4 to Year 6 students will attend during Week 10 (22-26 June). Each class will participate in five 45-minute lessons designed to support students at their individual level, whether they are developing confidence in the water or refining more advanced swimming and survival skills.

We are incredibly fortunate that this program is heavily subsidised through the Victorian Government's Swimming in Schools initiative. This funding allows us to provide five days of swimming instruction, pool entry and transport for just $36 per student. Without this support, programs of this scale would be significantly more expensive for families. We are grateful for this investment, which helps ensure all Victorian students have access to high-quality swimming and water safety education.

We ask that families please complete and return the medical and swimming competency forms recently sent home, as well as making payment via Compass as soon as possible.

We strongly encourage all students to participate in the program. Every year we see remarkable growth in students' confidence, independence and swimming ability across the week. The program is carefully structured to cater for all learners and provides a positive, supportive environment in which students can develop these important skills.

For our Foundation and junior classes, we know that many parents, grandparents and family members enjoy attending to assist with supervision and, most importantly, the often-complex process of managing wet bathers, shoes, socks and uniforms! We greatly appreciate this support, which helps the program run smoothly and allows students to feel confident and settled throughout the day.

To ensure we continue to meet our Child Safe obligations, any adult assisting with changing or supervision at the pool must hold a current Working With Children Check and provide this to the school before attending. We ask all volunteers to register their attendance in advance on the below google form so that our staff can confirm the necessary requirements have been met before the program begins.

I would like to thank our Physical Education team and classroom teachers for the significant amount of organisation that goes into coordinating a whole-school swimming program. We are looking forward to two fantastic weeks of learning and helping our students build skills that will benefit them for a lifetime.

Neil Scott

Principal