Principal's Message

Principal's Message

Welcome, reader, to the start of Week 9 of Term 2. I hope you enjoyed the long weekend. It is a nice time to have a three day weekend and take stock of how the world is going for you and your family. I find myself, at times, living life unconsciously and not paying attention to the passage of time or reflecting on my own game plan. Finding some solitude is a good way to refocus and reflect on what I am trying to achieve in my 4000 weeks on the planet. I hope you get that time, too. 

Your children are only young once and really only get one shot at childhood. I hope you are able to give them their best shot at success - whatever success means for you. But I do hope you can define success so you know what it is you are heading towards. If you don't know your destination - you will still get somewhere. But that 'somewhere' may not be part of your hopes and dreams. 

I have the incredible privilege of meeting with families from all over the world. They represent such a diverse range of cultures, beliefs, religions and lifestyles. Somehow, they converge onto SMPS and into our beautiful melting pot. It is wondrous to see first hand. I am incredibly privileged. 

I met with the folks from Greystar last week. They are the developers of the three towers next to the school. In the coming months, they will be onboarding the 700 apartment renters destined to call the area home. It is an incredible wildcard as we don't really know what demographic will be attracted to the building. It sounds incredible (but, then again, all salespersons make things sound incredible). I hope we get another slice of community emanating from these towers as we welcome even more wondrous humans into SMPS. 

This newsletter contains important information about changes to our school entry process. It is a feat to get all 500 students into the building so we do ask for cooperation as we make tweaks to the system. I want to remind parents that the first day of Term 3 (Monday, July 15) is a Curriculum Day and no students will be at school. OSHClub will run for those seeking child care on the day and you will need to book that service online. I also want to draw your attention to the Parent Contributions section on the next page. We rely on the support of the community to deliver excellence - so please do what you can to help your child and the school. We deeply appreciate it. 

Morning School Entry Changes - Prep-6

To support the smooth transition to school in the morning, we are making some changes to our procedures, particularly for families of children in Grade Prep.

NEW Prep Entry Routine and Procedure (Term 2 onwards)

• All students (Prep-6) enter via the Main Entrance. 
• No students enter via the side door (Ferrars Street). (This allows kinder families, visitors to MCH etc to use the code to access and follow set procedures)
• Prep students meet teachers outside the entrance to the Maternal Child Health Service Rooms (next to the Office) and only enter the lift/gym foyer once teachers are ready to use the lift. 
• Parents ‘kiss and drop’ at the front entrance and should generally not enter the building unless visiting the office or meeting with a teacher to avoid congestion in the foyer.
• Prep teachers collect students on Ground Level until 8:55am.
• Prep Lift/Supervision Duty person is responsible for: 
  • Supporting the orderly nature of the Prep lines and inside ‘foot traffic’ between 8:45am-9:00am
  • Meeting children in Years 1-6 who have a physical impairment and have permission from Leadership to use the lift. 
• Students who arrive after 8:55am will be supervised by the Prep Lift/Supervision Duty person and taken to class via the lift at 8:59am.
• A staff member will assist with transitioning late arrivals to Learning Levels (particularly Level 5) after 9:00am.

 *Note: This will come into effect from Tuesday 11 June.

Students with Physical Impairment/Injury – Lift Access and Supervision

At SMPS, all students in Years 1-6 are expected to access the Learning Levels via the stairs, unless they have a known physical impairment/injury. 

All children who may require the lift (e.g. wheelchair, crutches, moon boot) must be always supervised by an adult. To ensure staff are available to support students, families should advise the school (via Classroom Teacher) as soon as any condition that may prevent them from accessing the lift is known, including the period of time they may be required to use the lift instead of the stairs. The school will then make appropriate arrangements to ensure they are supervised and supported throughout the school day. 

Students who have a physical impairment/injury should not ‘join’ the Prep classes in the morning to access the lift.