Principal's Report

Defining Our Priorities

Our recent school review was a great celebration and acknowledgement of our achievements, and provided us with the opportunity to define our future work. The three high level focus areas that we have targeted as priorities for the next four years are:

LEARNING:

How do we extend our students in their learning in the areas of Numeracy and Writing? 

Our NAPLAN results demonstrate very high performance in the number of students who are ‘Exceeding’ or ‘Strong’. In Numeracy and Writing we had the following percentages:

• Year 3: Numeracy 83% Strong and Exceeding
• Year 3: Writing 84% Strong and Exceeding  
• Year 5: Numeracy 92% Strong and Exceeding
• Year 5: Writing 83% Strong and Exceeding.

Our goal is to increase the number of students in the ‘Strong’ category to ‘Exceeding’. This will be achieved by reviewing the delivery of our instructional model, ensuring that students are being met at their point of need.

LEARNING:

How do we effectively deliver our Structured Literacy block?

This year is the first full implementation  of our delivery of a Literacy Block which consists of the Big 6 elements of Reading (Oral Language, Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, Comprehension) and Writing (Handwriting, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation). This was identified as a big success during the review. 

Our next stage is to increase staff capacity to deliver the Structured Literacy block, to achieve greater consistency across the school. 

WELLBEING:

How can we excel the delivery of our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) Framework?

SWPBS has been the vehicle for achieving the excellent school climate that is present throughout the school. The introduction of our classroom routines, acknowledgement systems and tier 1 and tier 2 supports have made a positive difference to our students’ school experience. 

The next step is to review and refine these processes, and also introduce a whole-school acknowledgement system in the form of ‘Pulse Points’.

The school review reflected our renewed attention to learning. The diagram below shows that wellbeing and learning are at the centre of all that we do, supported by those rich areas that FPS is proud of delivering so strongly.

4C Staffing Update

Emilia McDonald (4C teacher) will be leaving FPS at the end of this term after successfully being appointed in a new role within the Department of Education. Emilia will be part of a team working to support the prevention and management of work-related aggression and violence within schools.

Nicole Rettke, our assistant principal, will be 4C’s teacher next term. Nicole will remain our assistant principal while also teaching 4C.

We wish Emilia well in her new position.

Year 5 Camp Success

Congratulations to our Year 5 campers who returned from Anglesea with positive stories to share and reflect upon. Every message that I received from the Year 5 teachers during the camp was positive. The students made the most of the opportunity to display the school values of ‘Excellence’, Creativity’, ‘Respect’ and ‘Community’ in all that they did.

For a camp to be successful, the students need to be responsible within a less structured environment, take risks, and listen to all instructions; this enables a positive camp experience for themselves and for others. By all accounts, the students hit the mark on all of these points!

Thank you as ever to the staff and parents who made this camp possible.

• Staff: Naomi Reynolds, Blake Herreen, Tom Edwards, Lauren Withers, Cathy Turner and Gabi Scott.
• Parents: Brendan Ferguson, Jana D'Rozario, Lila Cumming and Yuki Cheong.

Special Person’s Breakfast

Last Friday we hosted our celebratory Special Persons' Breakfast. This was another wonderful opportunity for family members to spend time in the school grounds and catch up with each other. Thank you to Jennifer Clarke for her coordination of the event and the parent volunteers who supported on the day. Funds raised will go towards our yard redevelopment. An update on funds raised (including ART FOR ALL) will be shared at Friday’s assembly.

Division Athletics Success

Congratulations to the 27 students who represented the school at last week’s Division Athletics. Yet again, our students displayed their athletic abilities, with 16 making it through to next term’s regional event.

Yard Redevelopment – Starting Over the Holidays

These holidays will see the start of our yard redevelopment works. The contractors for the works, Warrandale, met with the school on Monday to discuss timelines for the project. Fences will go up at the start of the school holidays, with the first phase of the works being asphalting of the area next to the office. Warrandale is predicting that the works will take ten weeks to complete.

End of Term Assembly

Everyone is invited to our end of term assembly this Friday at 9am, at the fig tree courtyard. Students will share their term three highlights, and we will also announce funds raised from ART FOR ALL.

Thank You

It has been another great term at FPS, and the parents have been a big part of this success. Whether it be at the Book Week Parade, the ART FOR ALL weekend, or going swimming with the Year 1 and 2s, we are grateful for all that you do.

Have a great break everyone.

Paul Wallace

Principal