A message from the Principal

My term 4 started a little later than normal this year as I took 8 days of Long Service Leave to attend my sister's wedding in the UK and also grab some much-appreciated downtime in Croatia, soaking up the last days of a glorious European summer. 

I would like to thank Michelle Bove for doing such a great job as Acting Principal in my short absence. 

Now that I am back, we are straight back into what is always the busiest term of the year at SKiPPS. 

Our teachers and students are still full steam ahead with their learning in the classroom, working hard on goals and making great progress on our core business and essential learnings. Please keep tabs on Seesaw for regular uploads of this progress and to be able to see (and celebrate) first hand the growth that your child has made in their learning this year.

In addition to this, Celebration of the Arts always represents the high point of the school year, an amazing reminder and celebration of our school value of creativity and curiosity and the central role that the arts play at St Kilda Park. Please read the information about COTA later in this newsletter to ensure you and your children are ready for the big night!

Term 4 also sees us start the process of transition for next year.

Preparing our students for the next step, whether that is starting school for the first time, preparing to graduate and move onto secondary school or just moving up into a new year level and new class is a hugely important piece of work for us. Getting this right, listening to student voice and allowing them to feel comfortable and confident as they make this transition is something we spend a lot of time on.

Over the next week, students in years Foundation - Year 5 will be nominating four friends that they would like as classmates next year. As we set out on the process to form 2024 class groupings that are a perfect blend, we ensure that each child gets at least one person from this list so they feel happy and confident at the start of next year.

We recommend that you have a chat with your child about the names they will be writing on this list - we encourage personalities that will bring out the best in them as learners - acknowledging that sometimes a child's 'best friend' may be someone who works well in a social setting or a lunchtime game but can sometimes become a distraction within the classroom.

When we have these friendship lists, we work hard to create groupings that balance personalities, behaviours and abilities for our 2024 class groups.

We will then run three transition sessions later this term to allow us to see these groups in action - making tweaks and changes as we go to ensure that children feel comfortable and supported in their 2024 class and that each class works well, clashes are avoided and the right balance is achieved.

These three transition sessions will take place on;

• Thursday 16th November: 9:30 - 10:50am
• Thursday 23rd November: 9:30 - 10:50am
• Thursday 30th November: 9:30 - 10:50am

We ask you to ensure your child is at school on these days and at these times to allow them to fully participate in the transition process and so feel prepared as they go into 2024.

As always, we are very keen to hear from you if you have any concerns or thoughts about your child's class for next year. Please come and see or call me or send me an email on neil.scott@education.vic.gov.au if you have any requests or views about 2024.

Students will find out their final class grouping and 2024 teacher on Monday 18th December when they will bring home a class list of their new classmates.

Neil Scott

Principal