Principal's Report

In this week’s newsletter:

Congratulations and Appreciations

• Environment Team members were presented with their badges at assembly last week
• Specialist team appreciation

News

• NAPLAN for grade 3 and 5 
• Restrictions on provisions for student references
• Prep Open Afternoons continued this week
• Grade 4 Campaspe Camp 
• Road Safety Reminder

Coming Up

• Friday Assembly
• New blinds in 2 Dingo classrooms 
• Grade 4 Swimming Program
• District Cross Country Event
• Bike Hub team to visit for Ride2 School Day
• Toilet refurbishment in term holidays
• Easter Raffle

Reminders

• Inform and Empower program / Raising Kids in a Digital World information evening
• School Saver Bonus
• Curriculum Contributions
• Photo and video permission form

Important Information for Families

Due to an ever-increasing workload and in agreement with our local network schools, we do not provide written letters of recommendation / support for scholarship applications for students who are transitioning to independent or Catholic schools. This applies for Year 6 to 7 transitions, as well as transitions in earlier year levels.

With written consent from parents / carers (via an email to the school office), we are able to pass on copies of school reports and have a conversation with a students' new school for the purpose of supporting the transition process. 

Congratulations and Appreciations

Congratulations to our new Environment Team

Last week our ET reps from grades 1-6 were presented with their badges.  Pictured are our new members:

*Students without photo permissions have their faces obscured.

Appreciations to Specialist Team Members  

There have been some pretty warm days so far this term.  With no longer having a gym to access, it has limited the PE options for Stratos and he has spent some long days under his broad brimmed hat and protected by that marvellous green shade sail.  Meanwhile, Jane has been running her music program across the school, with a focus on portable and creative music equipment.  Thank you Strat and Jane, nobody will be looking forward to the building of our new gym, music, food tech and canteen more than you both.

News

NAPLAN Assessments

NAPLAN started smoothly this week with grade 3 and 5 classes completing a narrative writing task Wednesday and today.  The grades were well prepared and in many cases excited to experience this National assessment experience.  A big appreciation to the grade teams and Assistant Principal Carolyn for her comprehensive planning and organisation.

Student References 

Due to an ever-increasing workload and in agreement with our local network schools, FWPS teachers and leadership will no longer provide written letters of recommendation / support for scholarship applications for students who are transitioning to independent or Catholic schools. This applies for Year 6 to 7 transitions, as well as transitions in earlier year levels. With written consent from parents / carers (via an email to the school office), we are able to pass on copies of school reports and have a conversation with a students' new school for the purpose of supporting the transition process. 

Prep Open Afternoon Visits 

Prep Open Afternoon visits were again held in all the classes yesterday. This was the second of 4 Wednesday opportunities this month. Open afternoons run from 2:40pm to 3:10pm. To ensure that all families have the opportunity to attend, each child is able to have one pair of adults attend one of the sessions only.

Grade 4 Campaspe Camp 

The grade 4 campers headed off in fine style this morning. I attended this camp last year and the location and range of activities was first rate. We can expect some very tired returnees at the Blandford Street gate at approximately 3.00pm on Friday.  A very big appreciation to organiser, Troy and our staff and parent attendees.  We cannot run such programs without the generosity of our adult helpers.

Road Safety Reminder 

A week rarely passes without multiple examples of worrying behaviour from motorists during the busy drop off and pick up times. The rush to do so often leads to students being put at risk by being encouraged to walk between double parked cars and crossing Argyle Street away from the pedestrian crossing.  We can all recall the tragedy that occurred at a Melbourne primary school last year.  No one wants to see a similar experience at FWPS.

Coming Up

Friday Assembly 

Friday’s assembly will feature this week’s Pupils of the Week and our assembly item will feature a presentation from members of the Environment Team about their Super Soils incursion held last week by Maribyrnong Council environmental education staff.  The weather should again be conducive for an outdoor assembly.

New Blinds 

5TC and 5HL will have new blinds installed Friday morning to improve the comfort and reduce the glare in these 2 classrooms in the Dingo building. An appreciation to Taleb, our maintenance staff member for organising this installation.

Grade 4 Swimming 

As soon as the grade 4s return from camp they will be back on the bus daily for a fortnight intensive swim program at the MAC, starting on Monday, 17th and concluding on Friday, 28th March. Student groups will be attending the pool for afternoon sessions this year.

District Cross Country Event 

This will be held for the team of 36 grade 4, 5 and 6 qualifiers. The event will be held in the morning next Friday, 21st March at Hansen Reserve.

Ride2 School 

On Friday of next week 21st March there will be a visit from staff from the Bike Hub (corner Barkly and Argyle Streets) to check on the students bikes and to provide some mechanical checks during our morning lunch play time. The grade 6 captains will assist with the organisation and all students who bring their bikes to school can participate.

Student Toilet Refurbishment  

I spent time yesterday with Harrison from Smith Building Solutions. He attended after school to do a final check and measure of our main student toilets for the purpose of preparing a major refurbishment during the Term 1 holidays. Everyone would agree that this is very much needed. While our initial plan was to complete this renovation last year, we took the opportunity to apply for a modest government grant. While we thought our case was a strong one, we didn’t get to make the decision! Nevertheless, we have used school budget savings to self fund the project. It really is too much of a priority for us not to do so.  

Easter Raffle

We announced our annual Easter fundraiser at last week's assembly. Make sure you read the Parent's Association flyer and support our community to raise money and share some Easter treats.

Reminders

Inform and Empower Program / Raising Kids in a Digital World Information Evening 

A replay of Marty and Carley’s first rate presentation and family resources are available here: 

School Saver Bonus 

The office team and in particular our Business Manager, Sandra have been pleased to be able to assist parents and carers every day in ensuring that they are registered and able to access the $400 one off School Saver Bonus. If this has got away from you, or you just need some assistance, please contact the office team for some practical assistance.

Curriculum Contributions 

A parent / carer payment contribution Compass post was sent to all families on Monday early in term. We appreciate the positive response from so many. We really appreciate your support in making this payment for each of your children as soon as possible. Funds received are directed to subsidising the many curriculum costs in managing a school of this size. FWPS is a school that is underfunded based on the Schooling Resource Standard https://www.education.gov.au/recurrent-funding-schools/schooling-resource-standard for Australian schools. At FWPS we receive a lower rate of equity funding due to our local demographic than many other western suburb schools. This may be deemed as fair from a systemic perspective, but doesn't help us pay the bills! With annual fees topped at $300 (prep) we really think our community can do better than the 69% of families (grades 1-6) last year who contributed their expected contribution. There is an opportunity to pay by instalments. Please contact the office team if you would like more information or assistance.

Photo and Video Permission Form 

The Department of Education now requires parents and carers to sign this permission form annually (this used to be a requirement only when students started school or moved to FWPS). This requirement has made a ‘once off task’ for every child now a x7 task for every child. That is a lot of parent time and you can imagine how that is magnified from a schools’ administration perspective. If you haven't done this yet, please make this a priority to complete and return to the office (or classroom). 

We really wish to encourage parents and carers to tick all 3 boxes to enable pictures or videos from class events (incursions, excursions, assemblies, sporting events and camps) and special moments (such as presentations and reports from assembly) to be able to be shown (or linked) in the newsletter and official school Facebook page.

Warm regards,

Brendan