Dear parents and carers,

Last Thursday we had a special visitor in the school grounds before school. I was very surprised to see a wallaby jumping around the school grounds when I arrived just after 7.00 am. Although he was very cute and we would have loved to have kept him as a school pet, obviously being a wild animal, this is just not possible. I called Wildlife Victoria who were able to send volunteers to sedate and remove him just as the gates were open at 8.30 am. He certainly brought a smile to the staff who saw him. I have included a video below.

“Getting to Know Your Child Interviews”: Thank-you to the families who booked in to speak to the teacher about your child and their learning needs. The teachers all spoke highly of the conversations they had and learnt something very important for each and every child. This information will help ensure they are providing the best support for your child.

Rapid Antigen Tests: Thank you to the families who have been undertaking the twice weekly testing. I have just had confirmation that this will continue until the end of term 1. We sent home the second box yesterday with the students whose parents/carers did not collect a box when they were available from Monday. The boxes you have collected for each child should be enough to get you through until the end of week 5. We will let you know when the next box is available for collection. This program has been very successful across the State and this success is a testament to the effort of every family who are testing their children twice a week.

Home School Partnership: When parents and carers work together with school staff as one team, our students do better. Melton West PS want to work with parents and carers to achieve this. Parents and carers have a relationship with school staff that can last many years. This is an opportunity to work together to create a positive relationship in the best interests of the child.

When this relationship is built on respect and trust, students learn better and feel like they belong in the school. The foundation of a good collaborative relationship is based on:

open and honest communication
trust and respect
working together
fair and reasonable expectations by all.

To understand more about how to build a positive connection to your school, access the Family Engagement in Learning resource.

It is the shared responsibility of members of the school community to behave respectfully. Positive school environments are important because everyone has the right to be safe and play a shared role in being respectful. Everyone at school, particularly staff and parents and carers, play a role in making school a better place for learning and work. Respectful behaviours are important in building strong, healthy and thriving school communities. School staff in Victorian Government schools have to follow the Respectful Workplaces Policy to build and maintain a respectful workplace, including:

treating each other with respect and consideration
being inclusive, valuing others and accepting their differences
recognising the efforts and achievements of others
considering our impact on others
calling out and addressing behaviour that can lead to bullying, harassment and discrimination.

Parents and carers can create a positive environment for learning and work by:

modelling positive behaviour to their child/children and to the school community
communicating politely and respectfully with all members of the school community
working with the school to achieve the best outcomes for their child/children
communicating constructively with the school
making use of the expected processes and protocols when raising concerns
following the school's processes for communication with staff and making complaints
treating all school staff, students, and other members of the school community with respect.

By treating everyone with respect, parents/carers and schools can make sure students feel supported and cared for. Please chat to your child’s teacher or a member of the school’s leadership team if you have any concerns.

School Values: As part of developing our new School Strategic Plan 2022 – 2025 we have the opportunity to review the school values. The values statement will:

provide a basis for decision-making and action
shapes the way people work together by creating shared expectations and norms
helps the school community to remain focused on what is important.

Please take the opportunity to list 2 or 3 values by clicking on the link below. Please ensure you only write one value per entry, clicking send after each word. https://app.sli.do/event/fpSF3MbAVqFvbRBFqCFp2a/embed/polls/8f9aa2c5-6aa7-4145-b11a-666919e03692

Mobile Phone Policy: Please find attached the Mobile Phone Policy which requires all students to hand their phones in at the office so they can be securely stored. If your child has a mobile phone, please ensure they are aware of these requirements as set out by the Government.

Sharing Food: We have recently received updated guidelines from the Department of Education that state sharing of food is not permitted. We recently sought clarification about this to determine if this included pre-wrapped lolly bags, cakes etc. The direction was that there was to be no sharing of food, even if pre-packaged and/or individually wrapped. We understand that families like to celebrate occasions such as birthdays by sharing food, however unfortunately, in the current circumstances this cannot take place. We will update you when and if the guidelines change.

Parents and Friends: Our P&F Committee are a dedicated group of parents and carers who work tirelessly over the year to provide fun opportunities for our students and families and raise money along the way. We are very keen to re-establish this group after 2 years of disruption, however until we can have parents on-site we cannot really progress with this. As soon as the guidelines change we will hold a meeting and encourage everyone who is interested in being part of the school in some capacity to join us. Your commitment does not mean you need to be involved in every project or event, just as much or as little as you can do. All help is appreciated. Look out for further updates. We hope we can have our first meeting before the end of term 1.

High Levels of Learning for All

Michelle Costa

Principal

Policies