Moorabbin Primary School

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

The Moorabbin Primary School Community touch the land and think of the Bunurong People and surrounding Clans of the Kulin Nation 

who cared for the land before us.

We share our gratitude to their Elders past, present and emerging.  As we touch this land, we promise to treasure it, taking care of all its people, animals, plants and waterways. We at Moorabbin Primary School appreciate this land. 

Thank you.

Dear Families of Moorabbin Primary School,

 

Welcome back to everyone after a long weekend, cold but thankfully wet! I trust that everyone had opportunity to recharge and to have some quality time with family and friends.

 

On Tuesday our staff focussed on their report writing, student assessments and data analysis during their professional practice day. Further along in this edition you will see what a report looks like and the features that you will be provided with about your child’s learning and their achievements. Please look out for a compass message next week where parents and carers will have the opportunity to book in a time to meet with teachers and go over the reports and next steps for learning in the first two weeks of term 3.

 

STAFFING NEWS

Mr Corrigan will be on LSL leave from Monday 16th June- Wednesday 25th June. During this time Mr Crane will step into the Acting Assistant Principal role, and 5C will be covered by Ms Young and a relief teacher, while Mr Crane supports the school and staff in welfare and the daily organisation of staffing, along with everything else that is involved in the AP role.

 

I will be on LSL from Monday 30th June- Friday 8th August.  Mr Corrigan will step into the Acting Principal role in my absence, and Mrs Mary Tsekouras will step into Acting AP role from Monday 30th June and support the school, staff and students. 6T will be supported by Ms Clarke and a relief teacher during this period of time.

 

We have incredible leaders in our school, and I know that our community will support them while they expand their skills and take on board leadership opportunities within MPS.

 

MUSIC POSITION

Like many schools across the country, we are currently experiencing the impact of the national primary teacher and specialist teacher shortages. Despite our best efforts even after 6 recruiting rounds, we have been unable to secure a specialist music teacher. As a result, I have no other option but to dissolve the program for the remainder of the year and begin another round of recruitment in term 4 in the hope that we may be more successful in acquiring a music teacher for 2026 until Ms Howden returns from her maternity leave. 

 

We understand how valuable music is to our students’ education and are continuing to explore all avenues to restore this important part of our curriculum. To this end our school will continue with their commitment to the bi-annual whole school concert production in term 3 so that students won’t be missing out on the enriching experiences that a dedicated music program provides, including performance opportunities, creative expression, and the development of important listening and collaboration skills. 

 

The leadership team are working with Mr Stephen Leeden who has a background in the performing arts and Mrs Yana Triplik who has a background in dance and drama along with the support and incredible dedicated staff that we have in order for the production to go ahead. We are currently planning all the details and what it will look like for classes, teachers and our parents as I know that you will definitely want to be engaged and help as much as you can! When Mr Leeden has all the finer details worked out he will send everything out to the community… and as the famous quote goes… “the show must go on”!

 

ATTENDANCE 

Regular attendance is one of the most important factors in a student’s academic success. Each day at school provides valuable learning opportunities that contribute to your child’s understanding, confidence, and progress. By attending regularly, your child is building strong learning habits that will benefit them both this year and in the future.

 

 

As the image above shows, consistent attendance across the years can make a significant difference in the total learning time a student experiences. Staying under the 20-day absence target means your child is maximising their access to classroom learning and maintaining positive engagement with their school community.

 

 

Please see below the Swimming Schedule for Years 2 - 4 (commencing 23rd June)

YARD DUTY - SUPERVISION 

Just a reminder that teachers are on duty from 8.45 am to 3.45 pm each school day. During these times, staff are available to supervise and support students in the yard and at key transition points. For the safety and well-being of all students, we ask that children are not dropped off before 8.45 am unless they are attending a supervised program such as Out of School Hours Care or are being actively supervised by a parent or guardian.

 

SCHOOL SAVING BONUS 

We have fielded a few questions regarding the School Saving Bonus (SSB). Please note that if you haven’t utilised the money by the end of July, you will not lose this amount. Monies not spent will be allocated to your family account, which can be used throughout the remainder of the school year. The only negative is that after July, the SSB cannot be used on uniforms.

 

SEMESTER ONE REPORTING 

Semester One reports will be available to access from the Compass portal on Friday 4th July 2025. Assessment involves the ongoing gathering and analysis of information about your child's performance against the curriculum standards as set by the VCAA. This report, in conjunction with parent-teacher interviews, will provide you with an understanding of how your child’s is progressing. 

 

REPORT FEATURES 

Subject Overview At the top of each learning area report there is a ‘Subject Description’, which gives an overview of the expectations at that Level. These come directly from the Victorian Curriculum and teachers use these descriptions in their planning across the semester. Victorian Curriculum Standards. The Department of Education mandates schools to report against the ‘Victorian Curriculum’ in English, Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, The Arts and Technologies. These Learning Areas appear on the first page of the report and show the level that your child is currently at (the dark dot) and their growth over the past 12 months (the empty dot and line). 

CONTENT DESCRIPTORS 

These are major skills covered during this reporting cycle and are assessed using the following ratings: 

  • Established (E) - The student has acquired the skill, and uses and applies it consistently.

  • Consolidated (C) - The student has acquired the skill, however requires more time and focus to consolidate its use and application, in a more consistent manner. 

  • Beginning – (B) – The student is beginning to acquire the skill, however full use and application, has not yet been established. 

For example, the mathematics section of your child’s report may look like this if they are in year 2. Each year level has slightly different skills that are taught and assessed against the curriculum.

Victorian Curriculum General Capabilities Integrated into each of the ’Learning Areas’ are the ‘General Capabilities’ of – 

  1. Critical and Creative Thinking 

  2. Personal and Social Capability 

  3. Ethical Understanding 

  4. Intercultural Understanding 

The ‘General Capabilities’ are not currently assessed separately but incorporated into the ‘Learning Area’s’ assessment. Work Habits In each ‘Learning Area’ there is a five-point scale: 

  • Excellent 

  • Very Good 

  • Good 

  • Acceptable 

  • Needs Attention 

which indicates your child's approach to their learning in the following two areas: 

  1. Effort Behaviour 

  2. Teacher’s Comment and Attendance 

A ‘General Comment’ is included in the report along with a report on the number of days of absence this semester.

 

NEW MATHS CURRICULUM 

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) recently published its revised mathematics curriculum (Mathematics Curriculum 2.0). All Victorian Government schools will start using the Mathematics Curriculum 2.0 in 2024 or 2025. At Moorabbin Primary School we are using the revised mathematics curriculum for school reporting from Semester 1 2025. On your child's previous report, the teacher reported against the 3 strands of the achievement standard for Mathematics (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability). Under the Mathematics Curriculum 2.0, your child’s teacher will report against the achievement standard as a whole, providing a single, aggregated score.

 

As the achievement standards reported on have changed, your child’s Semester 1 report will only show achievement and not progress. For all reports after this, progress will be shown against the single achievement standard.

 

SPECIALIST SUBJECTS 

Specialist teachers provide an overview of tasks completed throughout the semester. They assess students’ work habits.

 

Some Frequently Asked Questions 

 

What does the 5-point scale with the dot points represent? 

Student reports use a five-point rating scale to show student progress and achievement, at the time of reporting. Teachers enter a score based on their judgement of each student’s level of achievement against the curriculum areas taught during the reporting period. 

 

Why is there such a big or small spread between the dots on the scales? 

Reporting reflects what has been taught. For example, English, Mathematics and Physical Education are all subjects that are taught all year and are reported against twice a year. The dot points on the scale reflect this 6-month time span, hence the line (growth) is shorter.

 

Some other subjects, such as History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship, for example, are curriculum areas that are managed on a two-year cycle. This means that those subjects may not be taught every semester, or indeed, every year. The dot points on the scale will either have no previous dot (as this is the first time the subject has been taught), 

                                                                       

                                                            

 

 

 

 

or it will have a longer line between the dots (as it may be 12 months or more since the subject was taught).

 

WHY HASN’T MY CHILD MOVED ON THE SCALE FROM THEIR LAST REPORT? 

Like physical growth spurts, children learn at different rates. Sometimes they make rapid progression with their learning and may then need time to consolidate before their next learning growth. Other children might learn at a slower, but more continuous rate. Everyone is different. Children will never progress as rapidly as they do in the early stages of their life. (In the first few years, more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second!) 

 

As children progress through stages in their education their thinking becomes more abstract. They move from the ‘known’ (which is what is in front of them or the experiences that they have lived) to broader and more unfamiliar concepts. Learning becomes more about expanding their education and applying their new knowledge and skills rather than just going up levels.

 

Enjoy your weekend...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noxia Angelides

Principal