The Newlands Times

School Council

Nina teaches Pat how to play guitar...

Hello from School Council!

The current School Council had its final meeting on Feb 18.

The meeting included reviewing outcomes from the group’s evaluation of what worked in 2019 and where there is room for improvement. Thanks to Dung for coordinating the survey.

We were sad to farewell Deidre and Annika, who have now finished up their terms on Council, and thanked them for all their energy, input and commitment over the past two years.

We were pleased, however, to have a new member of the school community come along to the meeting as an observer – Helen Barrett, mum to foundation student Farrah.  We were even more pleased when Helen then submitted her nomination form to join Council in 2020! A reminder that parents and carers are welcome to come along to any of our meetings to observe.

One key priority for School Council in 2020 is to strengthen communication between the school and parent community. To that end, we have formed a new sub-committee focussed on communications.  Speak to Luke if you are keen to get involved!

Who is School Council, you may ask, and what do they do?

School Council exists to support the achievement of the school’s educational vision and goals and to ensure there is diverse community input to the school’s strategy and decision-making.

For more information on school governance check out this quick guide:www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/governance/scgovernancequickguide.docx

School Council Sub-Committees

Our Community is what makes our school special! Our families are dedicated to giving their time and supporting our school by contributing to working bees, helping with fundraisers, supporting our student’s learning in the classroom or by being a part of one of our school’s important committees. Below is a list of our school’s groups/committees and organisations for 2020 with a brief description of their purpose. If you are interested in learning more about one of the groups or finding out when each group’s next meeting is, please contact Ross, Luke or someone in the office.

Parent & Friends Association -  Community Events & Fundraising

The Newlands Primary School Parents and Friends Association is a friendly, social group of parents and guardians who meet regularly and help the school in a variety of ways.

The PFA aims to:

  • Contribute to the wellbeing of the students, staff and other members of the school community
  • Promote the development of facilities for education generally to support the school council
  • Raise funds for the purpose of providing amenities and enhancements for Newlands Primary School for use by the whole school community
  • Endeavour to stimulate interest in Newlands Primary School and education generally
  • Promote interaction between all members of the school community

School Council Committee

Newlands School council is a partnership between the school and community to provide oversight into the school’s operations and school’s committees. The school council has three main responsibilities:

  • Finance: overseeing the development of the school’s annual budget and ensuring proper records are kept of the school’s financial operation
  • Strategic planning: participating in the development and monitoring of the school strategic plan
  • Policy development and review: developing, reviewing and updating policies that reflect a school’s values and support the school’s broad direction outlined in its strategic plan.

More detailed information can be found on the following link, if you are interested in being a member

 https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/community/Pages/schoolcouncilsfunction.aspx

Education Sub Committee

The Newlands Primary School Education Sub-Committee is a committee that aims to be pro-active in the matters relating to education, particularly those that involve parents and carers at Newlands Primary School. The Education Sub Committee aims to do the following:

• Improve school-to-parent communication and vice-versa

• Draft, support, and publicise school education policies

• Reviewing whole school data

• Ensure schools initiatives and programs are beneficial to the students at the school.

• Help develop and implement the ‘Community Engagement in Learning’ element of the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes.

Buildings and Grounds Sub Committee

The Newlands Primary School Building and Grounds Committee consult on matters relating to maintenance together with immediate and future plans to improve the school’s grounds and buildings.

The scope of Newlands Primary School’s Buildings and Grounds Committee includes the commissioning, coordination and oversight of the following:

  • General playground maintenance;
  • Working bees;
  • Building projects;
  • Schedule of maintenance;
  • Playground audit;
  • Supporting the Principal with major and minor development and improvement projectThe Sub-committee works in consultation with the Principal and Deputy Principal who outsource certain buildings and grounds jobs on an as-needs basis to different contractors. The work of the Sub-committee is undertaken in addition to these outsourced jobs. A key component of the Sub-Committee’s work is its occasional community working bees. These scheduled events are held on either a Saturday or Sunday and a BBQ lunch may be provided for the families attending. Together with maintaining the school building and grounds, these events provide opportunities for informal social gatherings for all those involved.

Finance Sub Committee

The responsibilities of the Newlands Primary School Finance Committee include:

  • Consolidation of revenue and expenditure,
  • Dedicated transfer of fundraising,
  • Assisting the Principal and School Council with the development of the school’s annual budget;
  • Ensuring that the annual budget supports the school strategic plan;
  • Regularly monitoring and reporting to Council on progress against the budget; Ensuring that the school finances are in accordance with DEECD guidelines and that relevant internal control procedures are maintained;
  • Making recommendations to Council on fundraising activities and liaise with the Community Committee and other school groups concerned with these activities;
  • Assisting in the completion of school tenders e.g. works contracts, school council building contracts;
  • Review of parent payment policy;
  • Assisting the Principal in ensuring that the school operates to a balanced budget and that all liabilities and financial commitments are brought to account in the relevant year.

OOSH Committee

The OOSH sub committee’s purpose is to ensure that Newlands Primary School has a high quality program for children who attend the Out of Hours Care.

The responsibilities of the Newlands Primary School OOSH Committee include:

  • creating clear communication between OOSH and school council
  • documenting key work by program staff
  • supporting the service by researching best practices
  • networking with local and state organisations 
  • ensuring the OOSH service meets standards set by state and national regulators

OH&S Committee