Lysterfield PS Newsletter

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Friends,

 

Outer East Principal's Forum

 

Last week Mrs Roose, Mrs Mowat, and I attended the first Outer East Principal's Forum for 2024. At the forum we heard from the Deputy Secretary for Schools and Regional services, David Howes. David spent time outlining the priorities of the Department over the next 12 months, these priorities look at system-wide challenges and the things we can do to improve quality instruction, the school environment and student engagement.

 

The Department priorities stated by David were:

  • Student attendance
  • Mobile device policies
  • Mental health and inclusion
  • Workforce shortages
  • Explicit instruction
  • "Levelling up" very good practice
  • Numeracy outcomes
  • Tutor Learning Initiative

These are all things that we are addressing in one way or another through our own plans for the year. 

 

Issues such as student attendance and workforce shortages continue to be incredibly complex and are not just related to the things we do at school. Attendance can be connected to mental health, family trauma or concerns about school. Whilst we as a school can support families with these we do not have control over them all.

 

At LPS we are managing workforce shortages by creating an environment and culture for staff that prioritises:

  • personal growth
  • leadership development
  • relationships 
  • and kindness

Challenges around increasing the number of high school leavers choosing to be teachers, keeping teachers in the profession and increasing the number of relief teachers are all big issues being considered and addressed by the Department.

 

Meet the Teacher

 

I want to thank all of you who made the effort to Meet the Teacher this week and share some valuable insights about your children. Whilst teachers are excellent at building relationships with children, as parents you have incredibly valuable information that can take some time for teachers to discover, despite our very thorough handover procedures at the end of each year.

 

Research shows that when parents or carers are engaged in school activities students achieve more highly both socially and academically. There are many ways that parents can be engaged with the school however two of the most important are School Council and our Parents and Friends Association. Below you will find further information about school council. 

 

Parents and Friends Association are always welcoming of more volunteers to support their efforts throughout the year. The Parents and Friends Association is an incredibly valuable part of our school community, raising additional funds to support programs and facilities. I encourage you to carefully consider making yourself available to support some of the Parents and Friends activities throughout the year. This doesn't mean you need to help out with everything, you can pick and choose, but the more help they have the better it is for our school and your children. To make contact please email the PFA at lysterfieldpa@gmail.com

 

School Council

 

Last month we sent out communication to families about nominating for School Council. I want to say a huge thank you to those people who put their names forward to be a part of our school council for 2024.  Below is the Lysterfield Primary School Council for 2024 and we thank these community members for giving up their time to support the functioning of our school:

 

Adam Wight (Principal)

Nathan Abrahams

Mel Bartlett

Mel Cavanagh

Aaron Halstead

Ellice Hutchinson

Brian McAlpine

Rachel Michaud

Kylie Middlemiss

Joel Read

Cath Campion(staff)

Robyn Mowat(staff)

Kristine Roose (staff)

 

The next school council meeting is on Monday 18th March at 7pm, this meeting is the first meeting of the new council and is also the farewell of the previous council. It is also our public meeting and AGM.

 

Bellfield Drive Parking

 

The text below is from a Compass message I sent earlier in the week. I sincerely request your support with this.

 

Outside the front of our school, on Bellfield Drive, we have a permit parking zone. This zone is in place between 3.00pm and 3.20pm.The purpose of the zone is to ensure that members of our community with a disability can access a park closest to our school. 

 

Last week on Thursday 22nd February a member of our community with a parking permit arrived at 3.10pm and was unable to access a park as they had been filled by people without a permit. This meant the person was forced to walk an unacceptable distance in 37 degree heat, causing them undue distress. 

 

Not parking in these spaces allows for those most in need to gain a park near our school and is also a fantastic opportunity for you to model kindness to your children. I have informed the council of the need for parking inspectors to monitor this area more closely and I anticipate them to do this regularly going forward. Thank you for your cooperation in supporting our school community.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Adam Wight, Principal