Principal's Message

3/4 Summer Sport Gala Day

Congratulations to all of the Independence Centre for their amazing sportsmanship and participation at our Gala Day. It is the first time that 3/4 students have participated in the competition, where teams play against other schools in a range of sports.

I must acknowledged all the support we have had from parents, Catherine Chua, Tapan Shah, Katie Diep, and Luke Smits in making sure each team had assistance for the day. Also huge thanks to all staff including Mr O'Connor and Mrs Butterworth for organising teams, buses and supervision.

Blueberry Fundraiser

An update on our Blueberry Fundraiser result is that $729.00 was raised. At this stage School Council and Parents and Friends in consultation with the community will be meeting to decide on a project that they want fundraising to support in the school and kindergarten. The last project that parent fundraising supported, namely through the MPRPS Bazaar was the new Basketball Rings in both the Junior and Senior School that continue to be put to good use!

Tutor Learning Initiative

Our program that has run from the beginning of term for targeted students identified from assessments in December 2020 and 2021 is having a great deal of success. The program is co-ordinated by Erin Bennetts and taught by Erin and Simone Rock. I enjoyed  a meal prepared by some students on the program and just as all students are benefiting from engaging in the Kitchen Garden program coordinated by Bu Mundy, we know how valuable cooking and getting into the students garden can be for learning.

Bathroom Talk

A great or should  I say a not so great part of being Principal of a school is the need to have the 'Bathroom Talk', occasionally at assembly. We are very fortunate at MPRPS to have very modern and clean toilets but as students know well it is still difficult to keep them maintained and consistently used respectfully.  The SRC are on to it and together we hope that we can make some changes so that the bathrooms are always of a good standard through out the day. Staff appreciate the students input and recognise this is probably the best approach in keeping them nice for everyone.

COVID Safe for Adults Onsite

A huge thank you to parents for helping out with our Foundation PMP program that runs on a Friday. This is such a valuable program in supporting students to develop directional language and gross and fine motor skills in small targeted groups. We will also welcome all families for 3 Way Conferences for years 1-6. Both of these activities allow us to meet social distancing and density limits. 

As we begin to have more adults onsite it's important that we follow the DET Operations Guidelines. I have included part of them here and there is more information in Important Information.

Over the next weeks we will share steps for parents to attend onsite in Term 2 with Assemblies, Pick up and Drop off, Parent Phonogram Program and other parent events.

• A combination of strategies is required to minimise transmission risk. No single strategy completely reduces risk and not every measure will be possible in all educational settings. Where some controls are not feasible, others should be enhanced.

• Reinforce COVIDSafe behaviours

Stay home when unwell 

The most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, is to ensure that any unwell staff and students remain at home and get tested, even with the mildest of symptoms. 

• All staff, students and visitors to schools should undertake regular hand hygiene.
• Sharing of food is not recommended.
• Use non-contact greetings (not shaking hands, hugging or kissing).
• Ensure the highest hygiene practices amongst food handlers.

Ensure physical distancing

A variety of strategies to support physical distancing among all adults should be pursued, where possible. 

A face mask provides protection when physical distance cannot be maintained. Physical distancing is not practical when providing direct care. In this situation a face mask together with standard precautions, including hand hygiene, are important for infection control.

Density limits of one person per two square metres apply to all areas accessed by the public, such as reception areas. For public areas, signage must be displayed to indicate the maximum number of members of the public that may be present in the space at a single time.

Strategies that can be considered to support physical distancing include:

• the careful management of movement of adults through school reception
• signage and rostering so that access to shared physical spaces and food preparation areas can be managed
• reminding students, staff and visitors including through signage, of the importance of physical distancing where possible
• actions to reduce the congregation of adults around the school and reduce congestion. Schools can do this through strategies such as the use of multiple entry/exit points, creating spaces for egress in different areas of the school and appropriate signage to communicate expected behaviours.
• communicate the strategies in place to parents through local signage 

School event/open days

A school event/open day (or evening) meets the definition of a public event as per the Public Events Framework. 

Open day events with fewer than 1000 attendees (inclusive of staff and students), meet the criteria of a Tier 3 event:

• Schools must complete and submit a COVIDSafe Event Checklist via the online registration form to the Victorian Government to register the event.
• Tier 3 events must submit the COVIDSafe Event Checklist at least one week before the start of the event

Open day events with more than 1000 attendees (inclusive of staff and students) should visit the Public Events Framework for further information regarding Tier 2 event requirements. Please note that Tier 2 events must submit a COVIDSafe Event Plan to the Victorian Government 4 to 6 weeks prior to the start of the event for public health approval.

Secondary School 2022 Transition

School tour details can be found online and are an excellent way to learn more about a prospective school. School Tours are now occurring weekly at many High Schools.  

A timeline for High School Transition applications can be found below. It is important to note, that the transition process and the dates outlined are determined by the Department of Education and not by Mount Pleasant Road Primary School. All government Primary Schools in Victoria follow the same processes and timelines. 

• Term 2, Week 1- Government schools distribute Transition Information Packs for parents/carers of all current Year 6 students
• Friday 14 May- All Transition Applications must be returned to government Primary Schools for submission. Parents/carers are encouraged to submit their application form a few days prior to the due date.
• Friday 23 July- Placement Confirmation Form sent by secondary schools to notify primary schools of the names of students accepted into Year 7 for 2022.
• Wednesday 4 August- Primary schools notify parents/carers of year 6 students of placement offers, in writing.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s classroom teacher or Matt O’Hern (Acting Assistant Principal).