Principal's Message

Welcome back everyone and a warm welcome to our new families. 

Welcome to our Friday newsletter. We have had a great start to the year. Over the holidays we built the new accessible Gaga Pit over on the Senior School playground side. We extended the staff car park and refenced the area. New fencing will be added over the Easter holidays around the oval.  We also altered the classrooms in the new building so that classes  are working in pairs rather than larger spaces. We have retained the flexibility to open and close those classrooms.

The classrooms are looking amazing and all classes are working well with our Foundation students attending only for their assessment interview with their class teacher this week. Our Foundation students start fulltime on Monday.

Assembly

We will be holding our first Assembly on Monday from 2.45pm. This assembly is always a favourite as we have Online Music Solutions presentation - Online Music Solutions provide music lessons at our school. See the Advertisements page for information.

Classes will begin hosting assemblies from 19th February with 5/6E our first class (this is always on the Sentral calendar) We welcome parents/carers to attend particularly if you can make it for your child's awards or when their class is hosting. There is limited seating at the back of the hall for those that need and also standing room. There is also standing room behind the class teachers along the doors that face into the courtyard.

Parent Teacher Interviews/Three Way Conferences

Foundation ‘Get to Know You’ Parent Teacher Interviews are in Week 3, starting 12th February. These interviews will be face to face in your child's classroom.  Bookings for the interviews are open now on Sentral.

Year 1 to Year 6 Three Way Conferences are in Week 7, starting 12th March. Bookings will open for these the week before.

Consent Forms and Information

Next Monday information regarding Annual Consent Forms will be available to all families and consent needs to be given via Sentral Activities. Please read carefully and sign for each of the activities through Sentral by Monday19th February, so that we can provide the best care and your child is able to participate fully in all school activities. 

As part of our Duty of Care to your children and to ensure their safety at all times we have a comprehensive Yard Duty and Supervision policy this can be found on the school website and via this link 

Before and after school Mount Pleasant Road Primary School’s grounds are supervised by school staff from 8:45am until 3:40pm. 

Outside of these hours, school staff will not be available to supervise students. Kiss and Drop off is monitored by a staff member as well as a staff member roaming the school grounds including all entries and exits. 

Parents and carers should not allow their children to attend Mount Pleasant Road Primary School outside of these hours. 

Families are encouraged to contact OSHClub for more information about the before and after school care facilities available for our school community. 

If a student arrives at school before supervision commences at the beginning of the day, the Principal or nominee staff member will, as soon as practicable, follow up with the parent/carer to: 

● advise of the supervision arrangements before school 

● request that the parent/carer make alternate arrangements. 

If a student is not collected before supervision finishes at the end of the day, the Principal or nominee staff member will consider whether it is appropriate to: 

● attempt to contact the parents/carers ● attempt to contact the emergency contacts 

● place the student in an out of school hours care program (if available and the parent consents) 

● contact Victoria Police and/or Child Protection to arrange for the supervision, care, and protection of the student.

P&F Coordinator

We have a wonderful group of parents and friends who help out in the school and organise events. Our P&F Coordinator, Leonie Semmens will continue in the role this year please look out for information on meetings and events to come.

Parent Reps

We are looking for parent reps for our classes from Year 1- 6. 

Parents Reps provide a social point of connection and contact for families at an individual class level. Class Parent Reps communicate with families regularly and organise social outings and playdates throughout the year. If you are interested in being a parent rep please let your child's teacher know.

The assistance given by parents is greatly appreciated by staff and certainly benefits your children. Once we have all the Parent Reps class contact lists will be organised. Talk to your child’s teacher or Kim, Erin and/or Mr Shaw if you feel that you can assist the school in any way. 

2024 Calendar

The dates for the month are always on the front page of this newsletter. Please check the front of the newsletter each week or you can access the full calendar through Sentral, via the app - look for the calendar tile.

Parent Payments 2024

Our Parent Payments cover a range of items for students including their supplies for the year. 2024 Parent Payments were made available on January 15th, 2024 through Sentral. Please see the documents on the school website which provides a detailed breakdown and description of Parent Payments 2024.

Mobile Phones in Schools

Some students are wearing smart watches to school with features including messaging, camera and video etc. As in all schools across Victoria MPRPS introduced the Mobile Phone Policy which at our school includes all messaging devices including smart watches and Ipad messaging. Please refer to the link here  

or as published on our website. 

We understand for security and peace of mind many students do have these devices and most follow the direction of: Mobile phones brought to school must be switched off and stored securely during the school day. This includes switching off the messaging function of the smart watch during the school day. 

We ask that parents/carers support us with this direction by not messaging or allowing their child to message during the school day. All messages that you need to communicate to your child need to come through Reception. This is to ensure your child’s safety and remove any interruptions to learning.

Statement of Intent - Term Overview

Each term, teachers spend time reviewing the Victorian Curriculum and MPRPS Scope and Sequences to develop a flexible overview or 'Statement of Intent'. These can always be found on our school website and are available below, outlining the key concepts that students will be focusing on.

Street Library Thankyou

A huge thank you to the Duyvestyn family for looking after and maintaining the street library over the extended holiday period. Thank you too for watering the rose garden dedicated to Miss Jo Lancaster. This is very much appreciated by the school and community. It has been great to see so many still accessing the street library! When was the last time your family paid a visit? Remember that there are still tubs at the office foyer where you can donate books.