Principals Report

Bike Safety Around Our School

Over the past few weeks, several parents, John and Anastasia, our crossing supervisors have spoken with me or contacted the school to raise concerns about unsafe bike-riding practices they have witnessed around the school at the start and end of the school day.

We all know that the area around our school becomes extremely congested at approximately 3:30pm and 8:45am in the mornings, with large numbers of students, families, pedestrians, bikes, scooters and cars all moving through the same spaces. In these busy conditions, it is particularly important that we take extra care and look out for one another.

For the safety of everyone in our community, students riding bikes are asked to walk their bikes along the footpaths when coming and leaving school at the end of the day. This includes walking bikes along the footpath past the shops opposite the school.

While students may be confident and capable bike riders, the congestion at this time of day makes riding along the footpaths particularly risky. Walking bikes gives everyone more space and reduces the risk of collisions with younger children, pedestrians and other families.

We ask parents and carers to please reinforce this expectation with their children and remind them to:

• Walk their bikes when using the footpaths around the school at the end of the day.
• Be aware of pedestrians and give them plenty of space.
• Follow road rules and use crossings safely.
• Wear a properly fitted helmet whenever riding.
• Take extra care when entering or crossing busy areas.

Thank you for helping us keep our students, families and wider community safe. A little extra patience and consideration at the end of the school day makes a significant difference to everyone's safety.

Building Project Update

I am pleased to share another exciting step forward in our $21.3 million building project.

This week, interviews were held with the shortlisted architectural firms as part of the process to appoint the architect company who will work with us to bring the next stage of the Wales Street Primary School redevelopment to life.

The interview process provided an opportunity to hear more about each firm’s vision, experience and approach to working with school communities.

We expect to be able to announce the successful architectural firm by the end of thisterm. Once appointed, we will begin working closely with the architects and the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) as the project moves into the design phase.

I look forward to sharing the successful firm with our community and keeping you updated as this exciting project progresses.

Principal’s Day.

Last week, myself, Luisa & Louise  were very fortunate to be recognised by our students and staff as part of Principal’s Day.

It was a lovely surprise and a wonderful reminder of what makes Wales Street such a special community. I was touched by the thoughtful messages, cards and kind words from students and staff throughout the day.

Being a Principal is certainly a busy role, but it is also an incredibly rewarding one. I feel very privileged to work alongside such dedicated staff, wonderful students and supportive families.

A big thank you to everyone who helped make Principal’s Day so special. Your kindness and appreciation were very much valued.

Curriculum Day - Teaching Primary Mathematics Effectively

Last Friday, our teaching staff participated in our second curriculum Day focused on Teaching Primary Mathematics Effectively.

Strengthening teaching and learning in Mathematics is an important part of our school improvement journey and directly supports the goals and priorities outlined in our four year School Strategic Plan. As part of this work, we are partnering with Brendan Lee, an experienced mathematics consultant, to further develop a consistent and evidence-informed whole-school approach to Mathematics.

Brendan is working with our staff through a clear four-part approach to professional learning:

1. Build teacher knowledge – strengthening teachers’ understanding of effective Mathematics teaching and how students learn.
2. Ensure teachers know what it looks like in practice – connecting the research and evidence to what effective Mathematics teaching looks like in the classroom.
3. Put it into practice – supporting teachers to apply their new knowledge and strategies in their everyday classroom teaching.

4. Check that it is working – using student learning evidence, observation and reflection to evaluate the impact of our teaching and identify next steps.

    

This approach ensures our professional learning extends well beyond a single Curriculum Day. Our ongoing work with Brendan will provide opportunities for teachers to continue building their knowledge, applying their learning in the classroom and evaluating the impact on student outcomes. Next term, Brendan will be going into classrooms and modelling lessons to our staff.

Through this work, we are continuing to build a shared and consistent approach to Mathematics across Wales Street and working towards our Strategic Plan goal of ensuring all students are appropriately challenged and supported to make strong learning growth.

Parent/Carer Opinion Survey

This is a reminder that our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst all parents. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions about your child’s learning, teachers at the school and general satisfaction with the school Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. All parents and carers have been invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year, the Parent Opinion Survey has been extended and will close at the end of this term on Friday 18th September.

The survey is conducted online, only takes 15-20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. 

An invitation to the survey with a link and password has been sent out via Compass as newsfeed.

Hats 

With Spring fast approaching, the sun is out and with that comes the requirement to wear a hat. The sun protection measures listed in our Sunsmart Policy state that all students and staff should wear a hat when the UV rating is 3 and above from 1 September to 30 April. Students must wear a navy blue sunsmart hat. 

Parents, please make sure your child has a clearly named hat in their bag at all times from September 1st.