Jackson School Staff Bulletin

Welcome Back!

Term 4 2024

Welcome Back to Term 4!

 

I hope you've all had a well-earned break over the holidays and have been enjoying the intermittent sun this weekend. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending quality Dad time with my growing family. I'm not sure which is more demanding to navigate: a day at Jackson or being a Dad of three! Time will tell... As Han and I adjust to our new busyness, Auggie is doing well and beginning to crack a smile in between the noisy creativity of his older brother and sister.

Thank you to Bern and Julie for stepping into the Acting Principal role during my family leave; particularly starting in new Assistant Principal roles on top of your Leading Teacher workload. This has truly been a gift for our family. Thank you also to Matt and the Leadership Team for your support too. You've done an amazing job! 

 

Congratulations Jaclyn and Ben who celebrated their wedding over the holidays. We can't wait to hear all about it.

For our graduate staff completing their VIT inquiry projects, I hope you've managed to have a break these holidays. I look forward to reading your projects prior to your panel presentations.

 

We have much to look forward to in Term 4, including: Melbourne Cup long weekend (Curriculum Day for Report Writing); Values Week in Week 6 where we will also celebrate Russ Jackson Day on Friday 10th November by displaying our school values and the 8 Employability Skills; The Art & Design Show in Week 7; Staff Wellbeing Week; the Year 12 Graduation on Wednesday 4th December; Water Play Day on Friday 13th December; finishing with our Concert in the Courtyard on Monday 16th December this year; the Achievement Assembly and Year 6 Graduation on Tuesday 17th December. Oh and lots of camps! The last day for students will be Wednesday 18th December. Thursday 19th December is our Last Curriculum Day focused around transition with time allocated to share our student's Jackson Learner Profiles and other important plans and documents to set them up for success in 2024. This will be followed by our Staff Christmas Lunch in the Courtyard. Friday 20th December is an additional pupil free day honoured by school council as time-in-lieu for staff staying for the Concert in the Courtyard. You can view the Jackson Termly dates in the bulletin, on The Portal or in our whole school Xuno calendar link. Please note the termly is for planning purposes only and should not be used in place of the whole school calendar through Xuno.

Staffing & HR

 

On behalf of the Jackson School Community, I would like to welcome Jamie-lee who will be working in the administration office at reception. In Term 3, Namisha (1/2A ES), Sam (7/8C ES) and Katie (3/4B ES) were successful in receiving fixed term positions with us. I would also like to extend a very warm welcome to the new members of our Leadership Team: Meggan, Deb and Kathy P. Welcome to our Community! 

 

Meggan Decker started with us as the Leading Teacher (Junior School) in Term 3. Meggan comes to us from Davis Creek Primary School as a Leading Teacher (Wellbeing and EAL). Meggan is currently working with us 3 days a week moving into a full time role in 2025. Meggan will now oversee the wellbeing, participation and inclusion of students in Prep to Year 4. Meggan will support as the Principal Nominee for Disability Inclusion Profile Meetings. Meggan is based in Julie's old office between Louise-Amy's and Ethel's classrooms.

 

Deborah Munoz also started with us in the last week of Term 3 as the Leading Teacher (Disability Inclusion). Deb joins us from Strathtulloh Primary School as a Leading Teacher (PSD and Inclusion). Deb is taking on Bern's LT role (enrolments/transitions and special school verification) and aspects of Julie's LT role (Disability Inclusion) as they both transition into their Assistant Principal role and portfolios. Deb will be based in the collaborative office space outside of Bern's office. The IT Team (Pushp and Andy) are now located at the end of the Senior School building near Hands on Learning. 

 

We also welcome Kathy Pham who will undertake the role of Leading Teacher (Middle School), overseeing the wellbeing, participation and inclusion of students in Year 5-8. Kathy joins us from Parkwood Green Primary School where she was an Assistant Principal. Kathy has been doing CRT at Jackson whilst she was travelling this year and will be known to many of you. Kathy will also support as the Principal Nominee for Disability Inclusion Profile Meetings. Kathy will be based in the Mental Health office in the Middle School. 

 

Michelle will remain as the Leading Teacher (Mental Health and Wellbeing) but focus on leading her Tier 1 Wellbeing role (including SWPBS Team and Mental Health Team) across the school. Michelle will also work alongside the Learning SIT to provide support with the development and delivery of our Independent Learning and Health curricula. This will also involve providing in classroom coaching support to teachers and education support staff.

 

Congratulations to Gordy and Chloe who take on acting PLT Leader positions for this term in Uzer and Belinda's absence. Thank you for putting your hand up to facilitate your PLTs. 

 

Some other staffing changes this term: Thank you to Parvin who will cover Uzer's leave. Thank you to Lucy who is covering Belinda's family leave this term in Prep A. Thank you Louise B who has covered 1/2C all year as we have continued to recruit to fill this position on top of the ES vacancies. 

 

Congratulations to all of the staff who have now secured ongoing positions with us at Jackson: Ben, Kristen, Donna, Karlie, Angela, Kim, Sumiyo, Adele, Manu, Melanie, Mirjana, Angie and Sarah P. As we work through recruiting for our 2025 Workforce Plan, congratulations to the staff who have received fixed term positions in the last round: Dash, Gabby RM, Aaron, Tori, Rohan, Kieran and Maddie.

 

Several ongoing and fixed-term opportunities were also advertised for teachers and ESS over the holidays to support our 2025 Workforce Plan. All positions are advertised on ROL and close on Sunday. Thank you to the staff who have already applied. If you know of anyone (Teachers, ESS, Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist) who would be good to work with us in 2025 please spread the word that we have positions available. 

 

We have continued to book our regular pool of CRTs through ANZUK. This is a significant cost to the school, but it ensures we can operate as efficiently as possible. We will continue to roster additional periods across teachers as they become available. Apologies, we can't predict this until absences come in each day to see which CRTs will be available.

Buildings & Grounds

Over the holidays, we continued to have several trades in each day. We have levelled the  bike track and replaced this with new astroturf and fencing. Unfortunately the old bike track design was not able to be relayed. Work has commenced on the new shed extensions on the oval at the back of the Prep/Allied Health building. Asphalt repairs to remove uneven ground and trip hazards. These upgrades are part of our Capital Management Plan.

 

Rendine Modularity have now commenced their 12 month defects for our Asset Management Plan (School Building Upgrade). Over Term 4 and January they will rectify many of the issues you have raised as we live in our new school buildings. 

 

The PA system's final volume adjustments and testing have also been completed. If you have any further PA issues, please raise a building and grounds help desk call.

Thank you to Phil, Matt and Graeme for coordinating this work.

 

Other maintenance and minor works have been completed, including annual tree inspections and air conditioning servicing and maintenance. Thank you Graeme and Lyle for your support with this over the holidays.

School Review

 

Term 3 was a busy term with our School Review, VRQA Minimum Standards Assessment on top of the start of Disability Inclusion Profile meetings. The school review evaluated our performance over the last four years. This has included visiting classrooms, teacher professional learning team meetings and focus groups with our staff, students and parents/carers. Thank you to everyone who took part in the review. Apologies due to staff absences and scheduling not all staff were visited in their classrooms. For the staff who took part in the focus groups, we very much value your views and opinions on how we can improve as a school.

 

We have now received our Review Report and School Strategic Plan (SSP) for the next four years. Feedback received from the review panel and the community has been extremely positive. The review panel, comprising of: the accredited school reviewer from Monash University, our school Senior Education Improvement Leader (SEIL), School Council President and three Challenge Partners from the Department of Education or other Special Schools, were very complimentary about what they saw, heard and found during the fieldwork. I am extremely proud that the review panel’s findings have indicated that the education programs we are offering our students are “extraordinary” with many aspects “excelling” as we embed the work we began together in 2016. This is despite the challenges we all endured throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing staffing difficulties and the disruption of a huge school building upgrade.

 

Thank you to the whole community for making our successes and achievements possible. This is through the shared high-expectations and support of the leadership team, tireless work and dedication of our staff, positivity and effort of our students, and partnership from our families and wider community. Together, we have made Jackson School a Collaborative Learning Community for All and a system leader of inclusive education across the state.

 

As a token of appreciation there will be morning tea provided on Friday at recess and lunch as a celebration of the school review process being finalised.

 

To read the Review Report please click here:

 

Review Report 2024 - Jackson School.pdf

 

To view the 2024-2028 School Strategic Plan (SSP), please click here to view the SSP, AIP & PDP page.

For more detailed information on other areas of School Operations please click on the pages on the left for important updates ready to start the term. These include: 

A reminder that daylight saving time in Victoria begins at 2:00am on Sunday 6th October. Don't forget to change your alarm clocks as there is no Curriculum Day to start the term.

 

I look forward to seeing you all on Monday. I will do my best to get around to see everyone on Monday/Tuesday next week. Enjoy the rest of your weekends.

 

Anthony