From the 

Assistant Principal

I AM GRATEFUL FOR...

Christine and our amazing office staff, Kym and Magda. There is an enormous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes by our administration team, and this work is not always apparent to our staff or community. Thank you!

EDUCATION WEEK

Last week was Education Week. This is a chance for schools to celebrate all the amazing learning that is taking place every day in our classrooms. Our students engaged in ‘Simultaneous Story Time’ where the whole school read Thee Family Tree, a sweet book written by Josh Pyke and beautifully illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh. Family Tree is a heartfelt celebration of family, community, and the seasons of life to cherish and to share. We invited our families in to our classrooms for our Maths afternoon, where our parents had the opportunity to engage with their children in Mathematics and learn alongside them. The Scholastic Book Fair has been an exciting opportunity for all our kids, and really helps to build our collective love of reading. We finished this amazing week with our Walk-a-Thon and Education Week Assembly, with presentations of learning from our students, moving performances from our choir, a Spanish play, and video presentations across the week. There was so much happening, and what a great way to wrap up a special week!

ZERO HERO!

We are a Zero Hero school, which means that we ask that we bring no wrappers in to the school grounds. Any wrappers that are brought in to the school will be packed away in the child’s lunchbox and sent home. Our students really care about our school being environmentally friendly and sustainable, and our sustainability leaders will be collecting information from classes about how many wrappers are coming to school and awarding house points for our Zero Hero’s.

ATTENDANCE

You and your child are an important part of our community. Great things are happening at school this year. Every day of attending school counts. Being at school supports your child’s learning, social and mental wellbeing.

Please remember that it is a requirement to enter the reason for any absence on Compass. You can do this via the app and you can select the reason that your child has been away. We have to report all absence reasons to the Department, and we will be sending out letters to families to update their absences in Compass over the coming week.

ARRIVING EARLY IN THE RAIN

As we move into the colder months of the year it is getting wetter and colder, particularly in the morning. It is important to remember that we only open the buildings at 8:45 am in the morning so plan your morning commute carefully so that you do not have to wait out in the rain.

RECONCILIATION WEEK

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Reconciliation Week runs from Friday 27 May to Friday 3 June 2022 and is a chance for all schools to reflect and learn more about our shared history in Australia. At South Melbourne Park Primary School we deeply value our connection to the traditional owners of the land we work, learn and play on, and you can find more information about National Reconciliation Week via the National Reconciliation Week Factsheet.

PREVENTING BULLYING

What is bullying? Bullying is often a term that we use instinctively but it is important that we use our language accurately when talking about anything that occurs with our children. Bullying occurs when someone, or a group of people, deliberately and repeatedly upset, harass, intimidate, threaten or hurt another person or damage their property, reputation or social acceptance. It is important to know that bullying is not a one-off disagreement between two or more people or a situation of mutual dislike. Many distressing behaviours may not constitute bullying even though they are unpleasant. Students who are involved in or who witness any distressing behaviours of concern are encouraged to report their concerns to school staff.

We take all instances of behaviour very seriously at South Melbourne Park Primary School and we investigate and address any concerns that are brought to our attention. You can find our Bullying Prevention Policy on our website.

DEALING WITH TRAGEDY

Some families may be aware of the recent tragedy that occurred in Texas, and we all have been affected by this event. We have had members of our community reach out and ask how to talk to their children about this event. It can be a really hard conversation to have. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network have developed the resource “Talking to Children about the Shooting” to support you with a few key things to keep in mind when having these conversations.

Matthew Vines

Assistant Principal