Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

The Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, held Thursday last week, was a huge success.

Thank you to all the families that donated food and money to help make it such a success. In total we raised $1266.45, which is a fantastic effort. A huge thank you needs to go to our Admin Staff, Effie and Dani, as well as Ms Davies, who was the MC, making sure the morning tea ran smoothly. I am so proud of this effort, and proud that we can pass on so much money from our school community.

School Values: As we near the halfway mark of term 2, it is timely to reflect on our school vision and values and how they guide the way we work and engage with each other. At Melton West Primary School, our vision is “Together we create an inclusive community that celebrates diversity, sparks curiosity and empowers every learner to thrive.” Our core values are ‘Respect, Kindness, Teamwork and Responsibility. I see these values and our vision reflected in so many interactions across our school every day and want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who contribute positively in our school community, each and every week.

We all have a shared responsibility for ensuring that we uphold our values and vision in our day-to-day interactions with each other, and I am committed to ensuring that everyone in our school community is treated with respect, fairness and dignity. This is particularly important where there are concerns or sensitive matters to be raised, or where we think that a particular issue should be responded to or handled differently.

To reflect the importance of our values and vision, the school has a policy that I wanted to share with you. It is the ‘Respect for School Staff’ policy. This policy outlines the behaviours we expect members of our school community to exhibit towards our school staff and ensures that all members of our community understand the importance of working together in an appropriate and respectful way.

This policy is available on our website and included in this newsletter and I encourage you to review it, and to make a time to talk to me should you have any queries about it. Respect-For-School-Staff-Policy-August-2025.pdf

As a close knit and committed school community, our strength comes from our relationships with one another, and I am so proud of the way our students, parents and carers contribute to the positivity of our school environment in a supportive and collegiate way. I look forward to continuing to work with you throughout the rest of the year.

Child Safety and Wellbeing at Melton West PS: Melton West PS is committed to providing an environment where students are safe and feel safe. We have a zero tolerance for child abuse and are committed to protecting children from harm. Our comprehensive child safety framework outlines our school’s strategies to support student safety and wellbeing. The framework includes the following policies, codes and procedures:

Our students and their families are important partners in keeping our students safe. We value feedback and ideas on how we can continuously strengthen our child safety framework. If you have any suggestions or comments please contact Michelle Costa Principal on 9743 5818 or at melton.west.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Student Academic Reports Semester 1: We will be providing student achievement reports for Semester 1 this year as usual. The reports will be distributed on Monday 22nd June. The reports will continue to provide important details about student learning attainment, but full descriptive comments may not be included as a result of industrial action taken earlier this term by the Australian Education Union. We will of course be pleased to discuss with you your child’s progress at our next parent-teacher interviews scheduled for Thursday 25th June or, as always, you can contact the office on 9743 5818 to arrange a meeting with your child’s teacher.

Reconciliation Week: This week Reconciliation Week begins on Wednesday 27th May, which is the date of the 1967 referendum, and ends on 3rd June, the date the High Court Mabo decision was handed down. These 2 significant dates commemorate two major milestones in the journey to reconciliation. Stayed tuned for the ways we will be acknowledging this important week at Melton West PS.

Curriculum Day: Friday 5th June is our upcoming Curriculum Day, which is a student-free day. On this day staff will be working on the student reports, including working together to ensure the assessments are consistent across the school. We will also revisit the DET values and learn about a tool used to aid communication for a number of our students.

Prep Enrolments 2026 Open: If you or somebody you know has a child turning 5 before 30th April 2027, they are eligible to attend school in 2027. All children have a guaranteed place in their local school, and some schools, like ours, can accept enrolments outside their designated area. If you feel your child is ready to start school next year and would like to find out more about what we have to offer, please call the office to join one of our small group tours. These are fortnightly on a Thursday from 9.30am or monthly in the evening at 6.00pm. To help with organising staff and preparing for an effective transition program, enrolments should be received by the end of July 2026.

High Levels of Learning for All

Michelle Costa

Principal