From the Principal
What a stunning start to the term it has been, with the beautiful weather making everyone feel as warm and welcome as our school community.
Last term concluded with a highly excited crowd at our final assembly for the term, dedicated to the much-anticipated annual Easter Raffle. Our wonderful team of parent helpers bundled the many Easter treats into 90 different prize packs, creating great excitement for students across the school.
Together, we raised an impressive $4,860.60, a fantastic result that will support ongoing school initiatives.
We sincerely thank our incredibly supportive parent community for their generous donations, particularly given the rising cost of chocolate, and for helping to sell raffle tickets.
Mother’s Day Stall – Wednesday 6 May
Excitement will be building around the school next week as we hold our much-loved Mother’s Day Stall. Thanks to the efforts of our fantastic parent volunteers, the school library will once again be transformed into a special gift shop where students can select a small surprise for the important mother figures in their lives.
To help keep the surprise a secret, please send your child to school with a bag so they can safely hide their special purchase on the way home.
Further details about our upcoming Mother’s Day celebration for the wonderful mother figures in our community can be found in the Fundraising & Social News tab in this newsletter.
Update Regarding Statewide Industrial Action
You may have seen recent media coverage about industrial action occurring in Victorian government schools as part of negotiations between the Australian Education Union (AEU) and the Victorian Government.
Two key matters being raised through these negotiations relate to ensuring government schools are funded to the full level outlined under national agreements, and working towards salary levels for Victorian teachers and school staff that are comparable with colleagues in other Australian states. These matters form part of broader discussions about ensuring government schools remain well resourced and continue to attract and retain high-quality educators, which ultimately supports the learning and wellbeing of students.
Semester Reports – no written comments:-
One of the statewide industrial actions involves teachers not providing written comments on student progress reports this semester. Families will still receive clear information about their child’s progress through a progression point, which indicates the extent to which a student is demonstrating the expected standards in the Victorian Curriculum.
At our school, we will continue to provide additional information through the Compass Continuum, where parents and carers can view a detailed list of literacy and numeracy outcomes their child has mastered and those they are currently working towards. This information has always been available to families at our school and will continue to ensure parents remain well informed about their child’s learning progress.
Rolling stop-work meetings:-
Another action taking place across the state involves rolling stop-work meetings. Staff from our school will be joining colleagues from other local schools on Thursday 21 May. Further details about arrangements for that day will be shared with families in an upcoming Compass newsfeed.
We appreciate the continued support and understanding of our parent community as these statewide negotiations progress. As always, our priority remains ensuring students continue to feel supported, engaged and able to make strong progress in their learning.
Attitudes to School Survey
Each year the Department of Education invites students to share their views about school through the Attitudes to School Survey (AToSS). This feedback is incredibly valuable as it helps schools understand how students experience learning, wellbeing, relationships and engagement at school.
Within our four-year School Strategic Plan (SSP) we identified two key areas we wanted to strengthen. Each year we review the survey data carefully, speak with students about their experiences, and implement strategies to further improve these areas.
SSP Goal 1: Increase positive Year 4–6 student responses for Stimulated Learning from 80% (2023) to 86% by 2027.
Our results: 2023 – 80%2024 – 94%2025 – 95%.
SSP Goal 2: Increase positive Year 4–6 student responses for Student Voice and Agency from 74% (2023) to 80% by 2027.
Our results: 2023 – 74%2024 – 86%2025 – 87%.
These results show that students feel increasingly engaged in their learning and that their voices are valued within the school. Having already surpassed our original targets, our focus now is on maintaining these strong outcomes and continuing to build on the positive experiences our students report.
As an IB Primary Years Programme school, developing confident learners who can think, question and take ownership of their learning is central to our approach, and these results suggest students are recognising and benefiting from this focus.
Families interested in learning more about our long-term priorities can view our School Strategic Plan on the school website, along with the Annual Implementation Plans (AIP) that outline the actions we take each year to achieve these goals.
Coffee Cart
A positive school culture doesn’t simply happen by chance. As a school, we take deliberate steps to create opportunities for our community to come together, connect, and strengthen that important sense of belonging.
Sometimes the simplest initiatives can make the biggest difference. One of these is our coffee cart, which will be returning soon. It provides a relaxed opportunity for parents and carers to grab an early morning coffee, chat with others in the school yard, and start the day with a friendly connection.
The coffee cart will be back on Friday 8 May at 8:20am and we hope many of you will stop by for a cuppa and a quick hello.
Thank you for partnering with us to nurture curious, confident and capable learners.
Chellee Plumb