Principal's Report 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the 2026 school year. I hope your holidays were restful, and you were able to do lots of fun activities as a family. Our staff have been working hard leading up to the return to school date, to be ready for a positive start to the school year. I am so grateful that the children did not start on the day of 45 degrees, Tuesday 27th. We, as a staff, needed to adjust the time we spent together to be in the coolest parts of the school. Thankfully the air-conditioners held up, and with some mild refreshments through icy-poles, staff managed to stay relatively cool. 

Curriculum Day Number 2: We have another Curriculum this MONDAY 2nd February – STUDENTS ARE NOT REQUIRED AT SCHOOL ON THIS DAY. For this Curriculum Day we have a guest speaker Dr Nathaniel Swain who is working with many schools across the state. The timing is not ideal, being so close to the start of school year, however it was the only date available. 

2026 Staff: Over the January Holidays, we worked extremely hard to try to fill our vacant positions. Below is a list of our teaching staff. In the next newsletter I will include our Education Support Staff and their roles:

School Policies: Our school website includes many relevant policies that are applicable to all students, parents/carers and visitors. Please click on this link to take you to our School Policies page on our school website. Our School | Melton West Primary School (meltonwestps.vic.edu.au). In this first newsletter I would like to draw your attention to the following, which have been included in this newsletter for your convenience:

• Sun Smart Policy – this refers to the need for staff and students to wear a broad-rimmed hat when the UV rays are over 3, which have a UV-rating of moderate, typically during term 1 and term 4. Did you know that a UV rating of 3 (rated as moderate) or above is deemed dangerous for our unprotected skin. Even on cloudy days, the UV rating could reach 9 which is rated as very high? Children who do not have a suitable hat will be directed to spend their break time under the pergola. Please ensure your child has a NAMED broad-rimmed hat by Monday 3rd February 2025 for them to wear whilst outside at recess and lunch and during outside learning experiences. Please encourage your child to wear their hat at the appropriate times.

• Mobile Phone Policy – The Government has mandated that all students in Victorian schools are required to store their mobile devices, including Smart Watches, in a secure location. If your child is required to carry a mobile phone or smart device, they are required to sign it in at the office on arrival.

• Respect for School Staff Policy – This policy outlines how staff, parents/carers and visitors work together in fostering a safe and inclusive environment for the entire school community.

Communication: Keeping parents informed about the happenings around school is very important to us as we believe it helps strengthen the partnership between home and school. We have a number of ways in which we send important information in the hope that all parents and carers can access it in some form. 

• Class Dojo is a great tool where messages can be sent direct to the teachers. It is important to remember that it is a written form, similar to text messaging, so lengthy detailed descriptions are not appropriate in this context. If you have a concern, a short text asking the teacher to contact you is preferable to writing the whole incident down. Please note, I do not get the chance to check Class Dojo often, so if you need to contact me, please call the office and leave a message rather than placing it on Class Dojo, which may not get seen for a few days!

• Sentral is the system we use across the school where we can send SMS messages direct to parents’ mobile phones or an email to the parent’s email address.

• Skoolbag App is app that can be put on any Smart Phone and can be set up to send you alerts when information, such as the newsletter, is available. It also sends reminders about things that are due such as camps and excursions. It is available from the App Store – type in Skoolbag and look for Melton West PS 

• Facebook is another platform we use to post messages 

• Instagram is a platform where we post some information, including celebrations. Consider following us @meltonwest_primaryschool on Instagram

Please remember for complex issues a phone call or face to face meeting with the teacher is the best way to ensure it gets sorted as quickly as possible. Please call the office to make an appointment.

“Getting to Know Your Child” Parent/Teacher Interview: Another important way to communicate is via Parent teacher Interviews. We have organised these for Thursday 26th February from 2.00pm – 6.30pm. Information about these and how to book a time will be sent home shortly and posted on all the above communication platforms. If you would like help setting up an interview time, please call the office on 9743 5818. 

School Council Vacancies: Each year in March we call for nominations for School Council members. A new rule has come into play effective 2026 and all new school Councillors will require a Volunteer Working with Children Check to be able to nominate themselves. If you are considering nominating yourself, please start the process for a Working With Children’s Check now, so that you have it at the time of nominations.  If you would like further information, I would be happy to talk to you about what the functions of School Council.

Attendance on Hot Days: It is important that students come to school everyday that they are well, including on hot days. We are fortunate to have our learning spaces air-conditioned, so the room temperatures are comfortable. We also call a Hot Day Timetable for recess and lunch if the temperatures hit about 34 degrees, so children stay inside to play on these extreme temperature days. They may go outside at recess if it is below 34, but stay inside at lunch if the temperature hits 34 before 1.30pm. Supplying your child with an ice-old drink bottle and a broad-rimmed hat also helps.

Annual Privacy Reminder: Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice. Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy Photographing-Filming-Recording-Students-Policy-July-2024.pdf describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in eleven community languages. Please let us know if you would like a copy in your preferred language.

High Levels of Learning for All

Michelle Costa 

Principal