Principal's Report

Dear Parents,

Welcome Back

It is an incredible privilege to start the year off with the students, staff, and families at Macedon Primary School. You have an amazing school in the most beautiful setting. It is clear that the staff here work as a team to provide an outstanding educational program.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the summer break and had opportunities to refresh before the school time routines returned this morning.

There was a lot of excitement in the yard before school as friends reunited and the new Foundation students arrived. It was particularly heart-warming to see Jack B (grade 2), enter the yard, spot a new Foundation student, and make a bee-line to welcome them. The two, both named Jack, shook hands and had a chat. 

I had the opportunity to visit classes this morning and I was very impressed with the way students had settled. A combination of family and staff preparation for the start of the school year has resulted in an outstanding start.

Summer Improvements

Over the summer break we continued to make improvements to the building and grounds with the safety improvement of removing the base boards around the main building and replacing with colourbond. This will be beneficial for our fire safety as it removes the high risk of ember attack.

Staff Professional Learning

Before the students started back, we had two days of Professional Learning with staff.  We welcomed new staff members Carla - Yr1/2 teacher & Learning Specialist, Sam - Foundation teacher and Ashlee - Education Support, and got straight to work looking at school priorities in the Annual Implementation Plan.

2024 is a Review year for MPS. Further information regarding the Review process will be provided at a later date as the Review is not scheduled until later in the year. This means though, that the focus in 2024 will be on completing current priorities. These are: literacy and numeracy, student voice, inclusive practices and wellbeing.

Forest School - Sarah Leaving

Sarah has informed us that, for personal reasons, she will be leaving Macedon Primary School at the end of term 1. You would, no doubt, be aware of the wonderful work Sarah has done to establish the much- loved Forest School program. Sarah’s passion for education in the outdoors and her ability to encourage students to lead their own learning have been a great asset to Macedon Primary School. Sarah will continue to lead the program throughout this term and will support the handover to the new Forest School teacher.

Please be assured that the school will be working hard to recruit an equally passionate and knowledgeable person to replace Sarah. There is no intention of ending this program.

Farm Truck

We were informed last week  that the Farm Truck will not be providing lunch service to the school on Fridays any longer. This will be disappointing for students. I know I loved lunch order day when I was in primary school.

Securing a new provider is the role of School Council and this work will commence in term one. If you have any thoughts regarding lunch order services for the students, please don't hesitate to make contact with myself or a member of School Council.

School Council – Notice of Election

We are holding an election to fill the vacant positions on the school council for 2024/2025.  There are four parent positions that will be vacated by the end of February. The school council is an important opportunity for parents and staff to become involved in the governance and support for the school.  The school council oversees the financial, facilities and programs such as the before and after school care, the Macedon PS pine plantation and the Farmers’ Market. The school council also supports the school to operate with strong governance and transparency.  There is no special prior knowledge or experience required for parents to be on school council and we encourage you to consider this option if you are interested.  If you would like further information please contact the school to answer any questions you have.  All of our meetings are open meetings and we invite you to attend if you are interested in seeing how they run before you decide to nominate.  Our next meeting is on Wednesday 14th of February, please email the school for the details. 

The school council membership term is two years. Below is a timeline of the election process.

If you would like to nominate someone, or self-nominate, please fill in and submit your form to the front office by 4pm on Friday 16th February.  You can find the forms at the front office.

School Council Election Process and Timeline 2024

Please note, there will be no assembly this week, our first assembly will be next Friday the 9th of February at 3;00pm in the John Curtin Building (JCB).

Kind regards

Cathie