Principal's Report

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Carers, 

We would like to welcome the new students and families who have started with us since our last newsletter. Thank you for your continued support of the staff and school. We place great value on building positive relationships with our families and it is very encouraging to see students and families happy, confident and satisfied with our staff and school. 

We are very proud of the learning community we have created thus far and look forward to continuing to develop an environment where students will have opportunities to develop their social and academic skills and be provided with optimal learning opportunities.

This term at Merri-bek Primary we have continued to focus on the wellbeing and learning needs of our students as our number one priority. All staff have worked hard to establish a culture of community and to re-establish teaching and learning routines. Many students have benefitted from Individual Education Plans, inclusion in our Tutor Learning Program and other additional supports. This work and valuable support will continue for the remainder of this year and until all students have progressed to the desired level. The leadership team would like to take this opportunity to thank our hard-working staff for all that they do, every day for all our students. 

Over the next 2 weeks the teachers will be involved in planning programs and undertaking professional activities in preparation for Term 3. The timetable during planning week each term enables teachers from each level to be released from their teaching duties for a full day to work collegially with their team members. The specialist program for the week is re-timetabled to allow for this release and this also allows our specialist teaching staff a day to plan together. 

Teachers meet as a level, for example, our Year 5/6 teaching team meet to plan the content of the curriculum and share ideas as to how it may be delivered and assessed. Following this each team may reflect on their practice and consider successes and what activities perhaps didn’t meet the expected outcomes. 

Teaching practices are regularly reflected upon and reviewed during weekly team planning meetings. This reflection is used to improve classroom teaching practices and the engagement of children. It is this strong sense of team, detailed and thorough program planning and consistency across the school that ensures high quality teaching and learning is occurring from Foundation to Year 6.  As usual our teachers will be meticulously prepared for Term 3!

The Island of Vie Elet- Project Based Learning (PBL)

The 5/6 team have been doing an incredible job into learning about and organising the Island of Vie Elet project. Their hard work and creativity have truly brought this project to life, and I am impressed by what they have accomplished.

We are excited to invite all families to join us on Wednesday, June 19th, from 3:30 to 5:00pm. During this time, you will have the opportunity to explore the 20 unique communities created by the students as part of their PBL work. It’s going to be a wonderful showcase of their talent and teamwork, and the 5/6 team can’t wait for everyone to experience it.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Pre-Service teachers and Work Experience

We have several Student Teachers from various tertiary institutions working with us between now and the remainder of the year. We also have several students on work experience later this year, mainly from Coburg High. We see this as an important role for us, as it gives us the opportunity to keep further in touch with current thinking at universities as well as training the next group of teachers.

Education Support Day- 16th May

On 16th May, we celebrated Education Support Day. Their dedication, hard work, and commitment play a pivotal role in the smooth functioning of our school.

Belinda, Libby, Helen, Ruth, Lisa, Sengul, Rhyarna, Pia, Jacqui and Katy’s contributions do not go unnoticed. Whether it's managing the day-to-day operations of our office, providing invaluable assistance in our classrooms, or offering support to our students and staff, their efforts truly make our school exceptional.  To show our appreciation, we held a special in the staffroom.  It was a small token of our gratitude for their tireless efforts and commitment to our school.

Visitors from New Zealand

On Thursday 25th July we will have five principals visiting our school from New Zealand.  They would like to come and visit our classrooms, see how we work in our professional learning communities, share the vision of our school, chat about our leadership structure and how we have built the capacity of our teachers and the leadership team. 

Network Meeting

On Wednesday 6th June, Bianca and I, together with Down Syndrome Victoria (DSV), presented to our Hume/Merri-bek network around our success story, being the first school in Victoria to employ someone with DSV.  Our purpose was to encourage other principals to follow suit.  Having disabled individuals visibly present within, and contributing to, our school community, provides an invaluable opportunity to break down barriers.  Hopefully, the insight our children gain from such representation is a step toward them becoming a generation which embraces individual differences and makes substantive progress toward a truly inclusive society. 

2024 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS) 

One tool we use to assess student connectedness to school is the Student Attitudes to School Survey. The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist the school in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students were asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer and family relationships, resilience, bullying, mental health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. 

We value student voice as a means of improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction will be conducting this survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. In our experience, young people enjoy having their say. 

Students from Years 4, 5 & 6 were invited to complete the survey online during class time using a purpose built secure online survey tool. The survey took around 30- 45 minutes to complete and participation in the survey was voluntary.

Parent-teacher Interviews

On Tuesday 25th June we look forward to seeing families come and meet with their child’s classroom teacher.  It’s a great opportunity to have conversations around what children are doing well, and what they can also do to continue to challenge themselves and improve their learning.  Student reports will be available on Compass on Monday 24th June.

To the whole of the community of Merri-bek PS: Thank you for entrusting your precious children to us. I want to reassure you that all the teachers are here for you and our families. If we do not get it right and you have questions, please do not hesitate in contacting your child’s teacher, Bianca Hudson (Assistant Principal), or myself. We work as a collaborative team and we are here to ensure we work together for the best of your child. 

Maria Giordano