Principal's

Message

THANK YOU

I’d like to say a huge thank you to every part of our SMPPS community for a great Term 3. I am in awe of the generosity of spirit shown by our parents and carers. We continue to have so many people stepping up and offering support to organise and run community events like our Fathers and VIPs’ Breakfast, facilitate second-hand uniform sales, Breakfast Club, the list goes on. You are a wonderful community!

Our staff and students have also had a great term. Our focus on writing, has seen some real improvement in the area of sentence level grammar and paragraphing. Our teachers and ES continue to strive to be better which is all I can ever ask of an educator. A special thank you to our learning specialists, Johanne Abbott and Melanie Davis, who have been incredibly supportive of me late this term, while Trish has been on leave. 

BREAKFAST CLUB

A HUGE thank you to Steph Le Moigne, who is stepping down as our Breakfast Club coordinator. Steph was instrumental in getting the initiative off the ground and has been incredible coordinator. Steph and her team have changed lives, and we are eternally grateful for their generosity. Helen Shaw (Mum of Jasper in Prep B) will be taking the reins as of term 4. 

INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLANS (IEPS)

I want to give you an update on our use of individual education plans at SMPPS. These plans are developed for students who are funded, our Koorie students, students in ‘Out of Home Care’, students working 12 months below the expected standard and those working 18 months above the expected standard. IEPs provide an opportunity for the student’s support group to develop goals each term and to monitor their progress. 

As you can imagine, these plans take a considerable amount of time to develop. After a review of our approach and in reference to our data, we have made a decision as a school to no longer provide these plans for students working 12 months above standard. Those working 12 months below or 18 months ahead will still have a plan. This decision is based on the fact that we have a significant cohort of students working 12 months ahead. This means that our lessons need to be differentiated every day to challenge these students. I have a strong belief that the precious time teachers have in order to plan and prepare lessons, is best spent ensuring that all lessons have the breadth to allow children working below, at and above the standard to be challenged at their point of need. If your child has previously had an IEP because they are working 12 months ahead, do not hesitate to speak to you child’s teacher, who can explain how they are being catered for.

I can’t quite believe that term 3 has come to an end! Here are some photos of our final assembly last week which was AMAZING! 

We’re very much looking forward to an action-packed Term 4, with the Art Show, 3-6 Camp, P-2 Swimming and so much more, and look forward to doing it all again with you.

Have a safe and relaxing break everyone!

Nicole Arnold

Principal