Principal Report
Hello families!
We are almost at the end of another wonderful semester and there is a lot to get through in this final newsletter for Term 2! Please take some time to properly scan through it all and focus on the items that may relate to you and your child/ren. The fortnightly NLPS Newsletter is a key element of our communication to the whole school community and we work hard to make it relevant, engaging and informative to our valued readers.
Reports & Parent Teacher Interviews
With the end of semester now upon us, please note that the student semester one reports will be available to parents via Compass on Monday afternoon from 4pm via the ‘View Academic Reports’ option on your child/ren’s home page or the ‘Reports’ tab on their profile page. If you need assistance in accessing the report, please contact our school office.
With Term 2 being eleven weeks, instead of only nine as per the last two years, we have organised Parent Teacher Interviews (and Student Led Conferences in Year 5/6) to also take place next week on Tuesday June 24th, between 2:00-7:00 pm. Details on how to book a time to meet with classroom and specialist teachers was sent out via Compass last week. Parents and carers of students in Foundation to Year 4 please note that if you wish to come in and do your interview face to face, please let your teacher know. Teachers will send out their WebEx details on Monday via Compass.
Wellbeing Programs for our Year 5/6 Students
As part of our focus on the senior students after trends in our Attitudes to School Survey and The Resilience Project data, we have two new targeted programs starting in Term 3.
NLPS is only the second pilot school of the Melbourne Victory School of Football program, which looks to develop not only the technical and tactical aspects of the game, but also to foster important life skills such as teamwork, discipline, and leadership. 16 Year 5/6 students have been selected to take part in weekly sessions with Melbourne Victory coaches, and the entire cohort will get 4 skills sessions over the course of the semester. Students were selected via a raffle, gaining tickets by demonstrating our school values this past term.
‘Cool Guys’ (provided in conjunction with Hobsons Bay Youth Network) will also commence in Term 3 for 14 selected students and sessions will run for one hour a week (over 8 weeks) during school time. This program is targeted at boys and aims to assist them to develop strategies for conflict resolution, fair play, problem solving, power sharing, self-regulation, self-esteem, resilience, and greater school engagement. The main vehicle for the program is an indoor obstacle course or mini-golf course, designed by the boys in small teams.
Parents of these students will be contacted this week with further details.
NLPS is pleased that we can offer these additional opportunities for learning to our students to assist in their wellbeing. Well done to Sam Meddis, our Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, for coordinating this with the external providers and the Year 5/6 PLT for their support.
Coding Attendance on Compass
As part of the Department of Education’s 2024 focus on attendance, we must regularly review our school’s attendance data, reaching out to families of students that have missed the equivalent of 10% or more days already this year for reasons other than a family holiday or medical/illness related.
We’d like to remind you that a regular day away from school adds up. Please see the table below for what that means over the course of a child’s 13 years of school. As you can see, missing even just 5 days a term means that they miss the equivalent of 1.5 years of schooling, not to mention the fact they are regularly playing catch up on new learning and potentially impacting their social connections too.
You can help keep track of your child/ren’s attendance data, including the number and percentage of days, by clicking through on the ‘Attendance’ tab on their Compass profile page, noting that days away that are marked as red will mean that it may attract the attention of the Department. Days marked as orange means that they have been coded with a reason, which can and should be done by parents via the Compass app or you can call the school for assistance. Therefore, please be aware of the focus on attendance and the need to code absences accordingly. Thank you for your cooperation.
My long service leave (LSL)
As some families already know, I am heading to Europe in August and September as I had booked in this dream trip late last year, using my long service leave for the first time after over 7 years of teaching and service here at NLPS, and sixteen years all up in education. In my absence, our former principal, David Moss, will be returning in the Acting Principal capacity, starting from Week 4 (August 5th) for the remainder of Term 3. I am sure the community will be happy to welcome David back for the short stint! I will be back from the beginning of Term 4, refreshed and raring to go in putting together next year’s Annual Implementation Plan.
Expectations for Communication
You may recall that I included some information about our School Values Matrix in the Term 2, Week 4 Newsletter. I would just like to reiterate that this matrix is for all the school community. We included the words ‘These are the ways that everyone in the school community demonstrates our values, at school and online’ as we recognise that parents and families are also part of this learning journey and support this important learning for life.
We ask that all parents adhere to these expectations when communicating with NLPS school community members. Additionally, if you have concerns about a child, please use the appropriate communication channels - touching base with their teacher, or even leadership if needed.
If we are all consistently modelling and promoting our values, both in words and actions, we create a culture where they become ingrained in the fabric of our entire school community. Thank you for your support.
New Gate Installed
As per my last newsletter piece, following on from parent concerns regarding the risk of strangers in the yard during class times and the need to reduce the risk of injury in the yard when unsupervised, we have placed a new gate across the front of the school, just south of the main entrance. This will be unlocked when before school yard duty starts at 8:45am, unlocked again for recess and lunch play breaks, and then for the end of day pick up time.
Note that this will also impact how students get into the main school yard prior to 8:45. If you, or a family member, are supervising your child/ren before school, you are still very welcome to come and play in the main yard prior to when staff are on yard duty, you will just need to pass through the office instead. For those students that are here early but without parents, they will need to remain in the office area/quiet yard near the MPR. If you have to drop your child off earlier than 8:45, please be reminded that Quantin Binnah provides a wonderful before school care service that you can utilise - please click here for details.
2025 Foundation Enrolments
We would like to remind families that enrolment for Foundation 2025 is required by Friday 26th July 2024.
If you have a sibling of a student that attends here already, or know of families within our zoned community that have a child due to start school next year please remind them to get their enrolments in so we can plan for 2025 with confidence.
Enrolment forms are attached below or are available from Compass, the front office or on the school website - here.
Finally…
With this being the last newsletter for the term, I would like to thank all of you for the support of our wonderful school and staff this semester and wish all of you a lovely school holiday break with your children. School will finish up early next Friday, June 28th, at 2:15pm, following a whole school assembly from 1:30.
May we all stay warm and stay healthy, ready for Term 3!
Carly Bannon
Principal
Building Fund & Library Fund Donations - Tax Deductible Donations
Thank you to the families who have already made contributions to these funds. Your support is greatly appreciated.
With the end of the financial year approaching, we would like to remind the community that any donations made to these funds are tax deductible. If you would like to make a contribution, please contact the office.