Important Notices

A new mural for SKiPPS

We are excited that we will have a new addition to our beautiful school over the next couple of weeks.

Bianca Loiacono (mum of Smith in 56MS) is a local artist who painted the amazing mural titled 'Growth' on the Performing Arts room a few years ago. This mural has become a much-loved feature of our school, inspiring two ranges of merchandise and predicting the arrival of chickens at SKiPPS years before we built the chook-house in 2023!

 Over the next week, Bianca will be creating a companion piece on 2 sides of our sports shed, facing the original mural.

In Bianca's words;

Focussing on creativity, diversity & inclusivity.  I will be illustrating a series/'lineup' of bird characters of all different shapes, colours and sizes to represent our points of difference yet our unity in a playful, creative way. The birds will be full colour on a sky blue background and will make you smile. 

We can't think of a better way to celebrate our school values and approach to life at St Kilda Park alongside our love of the arts and creativity in all of its forms.

Whilst she is working on the sports shed, the 2 individual basketball hoops will be out of bounds and we will put up some fencing to keep students away – obviously if balls hit the shed whilst the paint is wet or soft it will damage both the mural and the ball.

We seek your support in reminding your children if they are playing before or after school.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN assessments for Year 3 and 5 students will take place from Wednesday, 13th March to Monday, 25th March. The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a national assessment that evaluates students' literacy and numeracy skills in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar, and punctuation), and Numeracy.

All assessments will be conducted online, except for the writing component in Year 3, which remains paper-based. NAPLAN results provide valuable insights into students' progress in literacy and numeracy over time, both individually and compared to national standards.

While NAPLAN assessments are an important tool for schools to assess student achievement and program effectiveness, it's crucial not to overemphasise their importance or create unnecessary anxiety in children. Our message to students is simply "Just do your best."

This Friday, we will share a detailed Compass post with parents of Year 3 and 5 students, providing additional information about the upcoming NAPLAN tests.

In the meantime, if you would like more information about the tests or access to practice questions for some extra home learning, please visit https://nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site.

Should you have any questions or concerns about NAPLAN testing, please don't hesitate to contact your child's teacher or Matt Cook at matthew.cook@education.vic.gov.au.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Next week, (week commencing 19th February), we will run Parent Teacher Interviews for students in Years 1-6. These are an opportunity to meet 1:1 with your child's teachers, to share any information that is important and to ask any questions specific to your child. 

Whilst most interview slots will be on Wednesday 21st February, teachers will provide meeting times throughout the week to support all families to attend. 

We ask that you try your best to attend these sessions to help us build a strong partnership between school and home - something that is essential for children to achieve their best.

Interview bookings are now open on Compass.

A guide to making a Compass booking can be found at https://www.compass.education/guide#section-09 

A reminder that our teachers are always available for short chats at the start and end of the school day and are contactable via email.

A thank you to Bunnings

We want to formally thank Bunnings Port Melbourne for a recent generous $200 donation to support the setup of our Foundation classrooms. A huge thank you to Abby Cormack for sourcing this - it will help us create beautiful and engaging learning spaces for our newest students.

Extra Curricular activities

At SKiPPS we are excited to provide lots of opportunities for students beyond the classroom to explore and develop their skills and passions. Some of these are offered by our school staff, some by our parent community and others by external providers. Below we have tried to collate all of the opportunities in one place and encourage your child to get involved in 2024.