Principal's Report
Moonee Ponds West Primary School
Dear families and friends of MPW,
We are about a third of the way into Term 4, and have had some great achievements to begin the term.
Well done to those students who completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge. These students were acknowledged at assembly and their certificates passed on.
Congratulations to Anika, Birdie, Clara, Ivy, Uma, Hannah and Estelle who represented us at Regional Athletics last Tuesday. Making it to this level is a huge achievement and as always, they put their best effort forward.
We have our School Review this week and look forward to reflecting on our achievements over the past 4 years and set new goals for the next 4 years. We were fortunate to receive our School Performance Report recently and deemed a ‘high’ performing school in 2026. This is an achievement that we are proud of and demonstrates our school’s commitment to our students learning and wellbeing.
Pupil free days next week
A reminder that Monday is our final curriculum day for the year. Teachers will be working on their assessment and reporting obligations for the end of the year. Camp Australia will be operating onsite on the day, should you require their services.
And Tuesday is the Melbourne Cup Day public holiday.
We hope you have an enjoyable long, long weekend and look forward to students returning on Wednesday 5th November.
World Teacher’s Day this Friday
Finally, this Friday 30th is World Teacher’s Day, a day to celebrate and acknowledge teachers across Australia. I would like to personally thank all our teachers and educators at MPW who support, teach, inspire and encourage our students every single day at school. Teaching occurs all the time in the classroom, outside of the classroom, on camps and on excursions. Our staff work hard to plan, prepare and work with our students to support the best academic and wellbeing outcomes of all.
The theme is ‘shine a light on teachers.’
2027 School Structure
After consideration of enrolment numbers, student needs and our projected staffing profile for next year, the school structure in 2027 will remain very similar to this year.
Three Foundation classes, Four Year 1/2 classes, Three Year 3/4 classes, Four Year 5/6 classes.
Our specialist offerings will remain the same as the past two years, with Japanese, Physical Education and Creative Arts 1 hour per week, with an additional hour of Japanese for 6 months and Creative Arts for the other 6 months.
Class Placement Process for 2027
Class placement arrangements for next year are beginning and any input parents wish to highlight to support their child’s learning as part of the class placement process needs to be in writing to the Principal using the attached form by Friday 13th November.
While we cannot accommodate requests for specific teachers for your child, we always strive to make the best possible placement for all students.
There are many considerations when classes are arranged, including academic, social and wellbeing development of students.
As part of the process for developing classes, students are asked to nominate “learning buddies” that they hope to be in a class with in 2027. These are peers who they enjoy being with and who bring out the best in them as a learner. The school will then ensure that each student is placed with at least one of their nominated peers.
It is important to note that part of children’s social and emotional learning and development is for the school to support and provide opportunity for students to continually develop their resilience and skills to both maintain and make new friendships throughout their time at school.
It is normal to feel apprehensive about moving classes or starting a new year. The following information features some useful tips and strategies from Dr Judith Locke (clinical psychologist, former teacher and author of the book ‘The Bonsai Child’) to support students to feel successful in the transition to next year. It is important that children develop confidence in their ability to cope with new experiences and environments.
Supporting Class Placement
Dr Judith Locke (clinical psychologist, former teacher, and the author of the parenting book, The Bonsai Child and The Bonsai Student)
Making friends at school is a wonderful by-product of the main task at hand – to learn. Their effort should primarily be in developing new skills, not overly focussing on being in the constant company of their best friend. Indeed, immersing themselves in study and school activities will help them cope with early social awkwardness and also have the byproduct of making more friends naturally and over time.
Some tips:
• If your child is anxious about starting a new class with unfamiliar people, do listen to them talk about their fears, but normalise them (‘A lot of people feel worried about starting something new’), and then talk about their past strengths in facing tricky things and your confidence that they will cope with this challenge.
• When they come home from their first day at a new activity, keep your questions broad, ‘How was it?’ not, ‘Did you make a friend today?’ or ‘Is Sam in your class?’ This won’t put unnecessary pressure on them or suggest things in which they should be disappointed.
• Keep your and your child’s expectations realistic. It is highly unlikely that they will form close friendships in the early days of a new school year, particularly in early primary. How often have you started a new job and come home from your first day to announce, ‘I made my new best friend today’?
There are things you can say if your child is not in a class they want to be in:
1. Listen to them. Then reflect back what you hear. ‘You’re upset because your friend is not in your class. That is a completely understandable feeling’. Or ‘Sounds like you are upset because you didn’t get the teacher that you wanted.’
2. Then state the potential benefits of facing this challenge, i.e. making extra, new friends; learning skills to make new acquaintances; being able to focus more on schoolwork in class than talking to their current best friend; learning how to work with a different type of teacher than the one they had last year.
3. Maybe tell them a story about how you learned a lot from a teacher you had who was a bit tougher but taught you a lot, or a time you went somewhere where you didn’t know anyone but learnt how to get on in unfamiliar environments.
4. Let your child know that they can still see their friend/s at lunchtime or at play dates or parties.
Dr Locke explains that giving students the opportunity to choose a friend to be in their class or team or camp group implies that they need it and makes them rely too much on one or two people – this will stop them developing their social skills to make other friends. It inadvertently suggests that the child is incapable of making new friends or that they can’t cope when their environment is not exactly the way they want.
Don’t worry about your child coping. You can rely on the fact that teachers usually undertake activities that help children to get to know each other, early in the year. Even if your child is offered an opportunity to choose, I would encourage you to suggest they don’t nominate anyone and see what happens. In this, you encourage them to be confident in their skills to cope with a new set of classmates and develop a potential new set of friends.
Further information and the full article can be found online at:
https://theparentswebsite.com.au/judith-locke-case-parents-influencing-class-placements/
© Judith Locke. About the author Dr Judith Locke is a clinical psychologist, former teacher, and the author of the parenting book, The Bonsai Child and The Bonsai Student, which details practical strategies to help you build confidence and capability in your child.
Not returning to MPW in 2027
To help with planning for 2027, we do ask that if you are planning on your child(ren) not being at Moonee Ponds West next year, that you please complete the form below and return to the office or email to: moonee.ponds.west.ps@education.vic.gov.au
MPW start of school dates 2027
We have confirmed and endorsed at School Council our start of year dates for next year.
Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th January will be our usual Curriculum Days to begin the year, these are student free days. Staff will undertake start of year induction, and preparation and planning for Term 1.
Friday 29th January– Students in Years 1 to 6 commence school
Wednesday 3rd February- Foundation students commence full time.
Foundation students will attend individual assessment appointments between 29th January and 2nd February.
With the new Victorian Government Schools Agreement, there will be a total of 8 planned student free days for 2027. We will be finalising our other Student Free dates for 2027 in the coming weeks.
Enjoy the long weekend.
Jarrod Sutton
Principal