Principal's Report
Dear families and friends of MPW,
We had an amazing dress up day last Monday for Book Week. It was great to see the majority of students joining in and getting into the spirit of the day. There was a great variety of characters, and there were also some groups of students who had a theme. Thank you to JSC for running their reading sessions last week during lunchtimes to further celebrate reading.
Enjoy some photos from dress up day below.
SunSmart Reminders - Hats
Yesterday at assembly I reminded students that we are heading into Spring this coming Monday, and as per our SunSmart policy (from September to May) students are required to wear a SunSmart (broadbrimmed) hat when outside for play, PE or class activities. Students have been asked to start bringing their hats back to school ready for Monday. We hope everyone can have their hats at school from Monday.
Students without hats will be asked to play or sit in designated undercover shaded areas. Caps and visors are not suitable alternatives for SunSmart protection. The school supplies students with Sunscreen on hot and high UV days, however children can bring their own should they require a specific type.
Show Day
As we draw to the end of Term 3, we are preparing for our annual MPW Show Day. This year Show Day will be held on Friday 12th September between 12.15pm-2pm. Show Day is a school community event, and parents and family members are welcome to attend and participate in the fun. The Athol St gates near the soccer pitch will be opened from around 12.10pm.
Show Day is a student led community event, that provides classes the opportunity to create and run a stall for other students and the community to engage in. Classes will begin working out their 2025 activities and stalls in preparation for Show Day. Typical activities include a whack a mole table, hair spray and nail polish, hit the target (teacher) games and a haunted house.
We are hoping this year to have a fun teacher-based activity as well, we will announce this once confirmed.
We hope you can make it down on Friday 12th September at 12.15pm to enjoy Show Day with us.
Racism Policy
The Department of Education has recently released a new Preventing and Addressing Racism policy for all government schools. The aim of this policy is to support government schools to strengthen their culture and practice to prevent and address racism, religious intolerance and racial and religious vilification. This policy has been updated to our website in the policies section for your information and can be accessed here: https://www.mooneewestps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/preventingandaddressingracisminschoolspolicyeasyenglish3198.pdf
Parent survey
Last week all families will have received an invitation to participate in the annual parent survey. We encourage you to complete the survey over the coming weeks. The survey will remain open until Friday 19th September.
School Planning for 2026
A reminder we are beginning to plan for the 2026 school year.
We do ask that if you are planning on your child(ren) not being at Moonee Ponds West in 2026 that you please complete the form below and return to the office or email to: moonee.ponds.west.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Dogs on school grounds clarification
There have been some questions and comments by parents seeking clarity regarding the schools’ expectations around having dogs onsite recently.
Whilst we understand that many families in our school community have dogs as pets, our school community is diverse and may include people that are allergic or uncomfortable around dogs.
To ensure that our school remains a safe and inclusive place for everyone, School Council has had in place that pet dogs are not permitted on school grounds.
The school will review the Dogs in School policy, as this hasn’t been reviewed for some time, however for consistency at the moment we do ask that if families are walking their pet dogs to and from school that they remain on a leash and are either tethered outside the school gates or accompanied by an adult outside of the school grounds.
We will provide an update after the policy has been reviewed.
Father’s Day Open Morning
Our Father’s Day opening morning is coming up next Friday, 5th September. Father’s, grandfathers or a special person are invited to come along in the first hour of the day to work alongside students. We hope you can attend.
Cyber Safety Parent Information Session
Finally, we have engaged Susan McLean to run a parent information session on the 4th of December. We will be opening Eventbrite to gauge numbers for the session. We highly encourage families of students of any age to attend, as Susan is extremely informative and provides expert advice, commentary on emerging trends and issues regarding use of technology and cyber safety. Families who attended in 2023 gave much praise for the session.
Regards,
Jarrod Sutton
Principal