Principal's Report
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to week 5 – nearly half way through term 3. Hard to believe.
Thank you to the families who continue to test regularly for Covid when their child shows symptoms and for reporting your results to the school. Thank-you also to the families who continue to test routinely, even when there are no symptoms. We still receive notification of positive cases without experiencing symptoms and this will help reduce the numbers in the community of people then need to isolate. I understand it can be frustrating receiving constant notifications about confirmed cases, however it is an expectation from the Department of Education to continue to inform our community, in an effort to eliminate and/or reduce cases as quickly as possible.
I am grateful that we have been able to continue educating our students with minimal interruptions this year. It is so nice not to have to worry about the possibility of returning to remote learning, which was challenging for all – students, families and staff.
We have had better luck filling vacancies that occurred due to unwell staff by employing a few Casual Relief Teachers directly, and who only work at our school, as the agencies we normally use often cannot find staff to work for us.
New Assistant Principal:
I am pleased to share with our school community that Mrs Sarah Mills was recently appointed as the new Assistant Principal at our school. Sarah started her teaching career here at our school as a young graduate and has worked in many roles over the 13 years she has been here. She has supported many, many young graduate teachers as they started their career, enabling them to learn the craft very quickly. Sarah has a warm and caring approach with everyone she interacts with and we are very pleased to have her as part of the Principal Class Team at Melton West PS. Congratulations Sarah!
Long Service Leave: I will be taking Long Service Leave for the last 2 weeks of this term, as I travel with my husband to Greece and Turkey. We had this trip planned for 2020, however needed to postpone it a few times already. I have my fingers and toes crossed that we will get on the plan on Monday 5th September and return healthy during the school holidays, ready for a great start to term 4. Sarah and Jenny will ably lead the school during my absence.
Prep Enrolments 2023: We have started to conduct small group tours for potential 2023 Prep enrolments. If you have a preschool age child or you know someone who does, please ask them to call the school on 9743 5818 to book into one of these tours. We start our Transition Program in November and we would like as many children as possible to attend to help their start to school life be positive.
Professional Practice Day: Students are not required at school on Friday 19th August. Since 2018, the workplace agreement on staff workload and wages granted each teacher one day per term to develop their teaching skills in an area of their choice. These days are referred to as Professional Practice Days (PPD). Historically, teachers have been released from the classroom by providing a casual relief teacher (CRT). As with most industries there is limited supply of staff and in the Education sector this affects the availability of CRTs to replace illness. Having the added burden of replacing all teachers across the State with a CRT for the PPD, the department has decided schools can provide all teachers the Term 3 PPD on the same day with students not required at school on that day.We are negotiating with Extend about whether they can have students cared for on this day and they will let families know as soon as we they have made a decision. Please make arrangements for your child for Friday 19th August 2022.
Mask Wearing: It is still strongly recommended that staff and students over the age of 8 wear a mask while indoors at school. We have a supply of masks that students can use if you no longer have one for them to wear. Also, if a child is a household contact they can come to school, however they need to test each day for 5 school days and wear a mask at all times if they are 8 or over. We still have an adequate supply of RATs if you need more for your children and all household contacts. Please contact the office if you require more of these.
Melton West Primary School's 50th Anniversary | Facebook Group for Past Students and Staff: Melton West Primary School was officially opened in 1972.
This year (2022), marks the 50th Anniversary of MWPS 🥳🎉
We are currently in the planning stages of organising a celebration for past and present members of the school community.
Please feel free to join the group and share any school photos that you may have kept from previous years.
Don’t forget to respond to the 3 membership questions to obtain entry into the group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/594834301990432/?ref=share
High Levels of Learning for All
Michelle Costa
Principal
