Auburn South Newsletter

ASPS School Council News

July & September School Council Report

The ASPS School Council met on 26 July and 7 September. 

 

Both meetings opened, as always with a thought-provoking and heartfelt Acknowledgment of Country written by the Year 6 Class of 2022. 

 

The main agenda item for the July meeting was the School’s recent work on Visible Wellbeing. Mr Wicher circulated some informative reading around the School’s evidence-based approach to Visible Wellbeing, and provided a presentation of the learning undertaken by staff across two recent curriculum days. A special focus of the presentation was how Visible Wellbeing pathways are being embedded into the School’s Programs of Inquiry (POI). By making these connections, wellbeing is integrated into all programs across the curriculum. The value of the consecutive curriculum days was particularly noted. 

 

Special thanks were extended also Ms Tregaskis and Ms Jang who had taken on leadership roles in this space as co-presenters and facilitators. Mr Wicher spoke about the importance of developing this leadership capacity within the school, which provides pedagogical, financial and professional benefits to the school community. 

 

Other issues covered at the July meeting included:

  • The Finance committee noted that, in general, parent support for the school through the payment of fees was strong. The committee, and the school leadership team, is grateful for the ongoing support by the ASPS community. The payment of these fees is essential for the programs that bring value to student learning, such as the kitchen garden, which are not otherwise funded. The budget remains in a strong financial position, and has rebounded well in 2022, despite the pressures currently facing the sector in general. 
  • The Council was also informed of a number of staffing updates. Welcome (and welcome back) was extended to Ms Corrigan and Mr Chapman who join the staff for the remainder of 2022, to cover leave. Millie Angliss and Maya Ingwersen were also welcomed to the School’s administration team. Maya will be working Wednesdays and Millie on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
  • A number of school policies were also reviewed and approved by Council. These included the Asthma and Anaphylaxis policies, Yard Duty and Supervision policy and the Complaints policy. All school policies are available for the community to view, on the school website: http://www.auburnsthps.vic.edu.au/school-policies/

The September meeting started with council members donning hard hats for a site tour of the main building, which is progressing well and promises to provide valuable new learning and administrative spaces for the school from 2023. It is on track for completion in late 2022. 

The two main agenda items for the September meeting were updates from the School Improvement Committee as well as an overview from the leadership team of the Annual Implementation Plan

The School Improvement subcommittee have been working hard to develop a mid to long term plan for the school’s ongoing projects and developments, with the goal of putting together a strategic vision for school improvement projects and initiatives. This will incorporate both short-term smaller projects (such as as new garden beds, seating and storage under the COLA, a wallaby grass eco space and pathways), as well as a plan for bigger long-term play spaces. Ideas for these play spaces have been developed through consultation with staff and will be further developed in conjunction with landscape architects as part of the 5 year master plan. Many thanks to Lisa Oaten, Dan Murdoch and the whole SI subcommittee for their long hours of planning and work. 

 

The September meeting’s second agenda item was a discussion of the mid-year AIP review, provided by the School Leadership team. It was noted that goals around student learning, wellbeing, achievement and agency were all being tackled as priority areas, with progress noted in each area. 

 

Other issues covered at the July meeting included:

  • Noting the success of the year-level events teams, a model which is working well. The upcoming disco and school picnic are much anticipated and promise to be well attended and successful events. 
  • The COLA is now in action, with the first full school assembly for many years being held in late August. 

The next School Council Meeting will take place on Tuesday 25 October. 

 

Danielle Chubb

School Council Parent member