FPS Newsletter

Principal's Report


Foundation Successes!

The beginning of March means the beginning of full school weeks for our Foundation students. For the first five weeks, Foundation students have not been attending school on Wednesdays, as the Foundation teachers met with students individually to complete Literacy and Numeracy assessments.

 

This transition to a ‘full week’ is exciting. It is an opportunity to congratulate every one of our Foundation students for the growth they have made; they have adapted so well to every aspect of school – the learning, the playing, the socialising, the routines, the spaces, the teachers, and so much more! 

 

When I visit the classrooms, whether it be a Reading, Writing, Maths, Exploration, Specialist or Library session, the students are fully engaged in all that they are doing. They take delight in telling me about what they are doing, some of their personal interests, and I’m getting asked ‘What are you doing here?’ less and less.

 

Congratulations Foundation, and good luck for your first full week!

 

School Picnic

We held our Welcome Picnic a couple of Fridays ago. The weather was kind to us, and the oval was a sea of blankets, food and chatter. It was a lovely way to bring parents from all year levels together.

 

Thank you to our parent DJ, Paul Agius for his skills and music. A special mention to our Sustainability Officer, Amelia, for all of the waste streams that were made available.

 

Before & After School Duty

A reminder that staff are on duty across the school grounds from 8:45am. Students should not be left unsupervised before this time. At the end of the day, students should not be left unsupervised on the yard after 3:45pm.

 

TeamKids is available to any families that require extended hours care, before or after school.

 

TeamKids – Outside School Hours Care Provider (OSHC)

School Council has been meeting regularly with TeamKids to discuss how our new OSHC provider has transitioned to FPS. School Council are aware of some of the concerns, voiced by the parent community, in particular regarding the Vacation Care program. TeamKids have been responsive to this feedback and the concerns, and this has been reflected in the improvement of the program that TeamKids is now delivering.

 

TeamKids remain committed to providing the best possible service to our school community. The changes to the program, along with the stability of the staffing, has had a positive effect.

 

NAPLAN

Next week our Year 3 and 5 students will start their NAPLAN tests (the schedule has been communicated to Year 3 and 5 families). NAPLAN has a number of functions, including to provide families with a report of where their child is performing against national standards.

 

Last year, NAPLAN reports moved from students being reported in Bands to Proficiency Levels: 

  • Exceeding
  • Strong
  • Developing
  • Needs Additional Support

 

We recognise that some students enjoy the NAPLAN testing experience, whereas these conditions can cause discomfort for others. We try not to put too much of an emphasis on NAPLAN, so that it becomes part of the students’ learning rather than the reason for their learning. Good luck to all involved!

 

Parent Opinion Survey

Thank you to the 124 families that completed the 2023 Parent Opinion Survey. This is a high completion rate and we appreciate the time that families took in completing the survey. 

 

We discussed the results at our leadership meeting this week, and the survey results will be shared at a future staff meeting and our upcoming Annual General Meeting (scheduled for Monday 25 March, 6 – 6:30pm). Early next term I will provide a summary of the opinion results, and any actions that we will implement as a result in the newsletter.

 

School Council

We recently called out for parent nominations for two School Council vacancies. We received two nominations for these vacancies:

  • Phuong Phan
  • Patricia Stanton

Welcome Patricia and Phuong. At our next School Council meeting, the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary will be determined. We will notify the community of these roles in the proceeding newsletter, and will also acknowledge our outgoing councillors.

 

Enjoy the rest of the week.

 

~ Paul Wallace, Principal