Happy World Teachers’ Day!

Today, 27 October, is World Teachers’ Day. And, whilst a single day certainly isn’t nearly enough to acknowledge all that teachers do for their students and colleagues each and every day, it is certainly a moment to reflect on and celebrate all that our teachers do and all that they bring to FNPS.

On a personal note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every teacher here at FNPS for their commitment and dedication to the children and their work. Their tireless efforts towards improving the learning and wellbeing outcomes of their students is something that should certainly be commended and celebrated.

Namaste from India

As many of you know, I have recently spent two weeks in India as part of the Women in School Leadership program, delivered through the University of Melbourne and the Asia Education Foundation.

The program was a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with vocational educators across both nations and discuss contemporary education celebrations and areas for future focus. Part of this program involves undertaking an Action Research Project, which I am working on with my partner Principal from Noida, India, Asha Prabhakar. Our project will explore not only how we can empower our girls to advocate for themselves, but also how we can raise a generation of young men who actively upstand for female rights. I look forward to sharing our progress with you over the coming months.

I also had the opportunity to teach a lesson to a Year 11 Psychology class on Trauma (the area I am extremely passionate about and currently undertaking my postgraduate study in). Through the class, we discussed the effect Complex Trauma can have on the brain and learning, and considered the effective pedagogical responses that can support a child to heal and improve their learning capacity.

This was a truly uplifting and inspirational experience that has brought me much joy as an educator, and I can’t wait to introduce you all to Asha when she reciprocates the visit next May.

Congratulations Max!

A huge congratulations to Max S from 6BA on his recent representation of Victoria in hockey. This year, he has represented our state in both the SSA U12 Championship in Hobart and the U13 National Hockey Championship in Newcastle. We are so proud of Max’s efforts and can’t wait to hear about the next chapter in his hockey career!

“In the second week of the holidays I was fortunate enough to be chosen in the state hockey team and represent Victoria in Newcastle. I played against all of the other states and unfortunately we came last but all of the teams were about equal in ability. Sadly, we didn't win a game but we drew 5 of our games and lost 6 of them. It was a really fun experience and I learnt a lot, I will definitely be trying out next year.” Max S 6BA

Congratulations Aidan!

A huge congratulations to Aidan L from Prep ZP for his participation in the 2023 Deaf Primary School Athletics Day. Some information on the event from Aidan’s mum, Sarah:

After being rescheduled from 2 weeks ago, the weather held out (kind of), and the children had a typical four-seasons-in-one-day weather at the track.

There were hundreds of excited kids from around Victoria, and it was wonderful to be in a Deaf and hard of hearing community of educators, Visiting teachers, parents and children using all kinds of combinations of Auslan and speech throughout the day.

The team at Deaf Sports Recreation Victoria (Tom Dent and Phil Harper) were wonderfully warm, and ran a great event. The Visiting teacher Service for the South East region (from Port Melbourne down to the Peninsula) were there with a large group of children, and they warmly welcomed Aidan into their "team". All kids received a ribbon after finishing the track events (80/100m), and Aidan was so delighted to receive his first ever ribbon, a green "well done" one.

And from Aidan:

“The best part was when I got my award, which was a drink bottle and a frisbee. I did lots of running and also got a green and gold ribbon. And also, the other most exciting thing was playing all of the games.”

Congratulations, Aidan. We are super proud of you!!

Student Arrival and Pick-up

There have been an increasing number of students arriving at school quite early each morning. Please be advised that staff supervision begins at 8:45am and children are not supervised in the yard before this time. We ask that parents and carers ensure students are not left unsupervised before official supervision begins.

This is also a reminder to families that, in the interests of keeping your children safe, we ask that you do not double park during drop-off or pick-up times. Double parking causes congestion on the street and creates blind spots for children and families attempting to cross the road. Whilst I understand the difficulties around parking in our area, accidents can inadvertently happen in the blink of an eye, so I ask that all families refrain from this activity.

Student Free Days

As you may be aware, we currently have one student free day scheduled this term on Monday 6 November 2023.

When we hear news about the handover of Stage 1A, we will be calling another student free day to allow teachers to move into their new classrooms. Please be aware that this may come at very short notice but we will endeavour to provide as much notice as possible.

2024 Enrolments

As we continue to plan for the 2024 school year, we ask that if you are planning on your child(ren) not being at FNPS in 2024 that you please inform the office in writing to fitzroy.north.ps@education.vic.gov.au. This information will help the school to confirm enrolment numbers for next year.

If your child is moving on to another school next year, I offer thanks to the children and families for their contribution to and partnership with our school. We wish all the best to those moving on to a new setting in their future learning journey.

Go gently,

Tania

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