School Council Update

The School Council met last night (Wednesday 17 May) after the School Annual General Meeting (AGM). We wanted to give an update on outcomes of this meeting, so there is transparency with messages about what is happening in our school community. 

Firstly, we’d like to congratulate Rachel, school leadership, and all staff on a successful 2022 and presentation at the AGM. We’re proud of the outcomes for our school and the evidence-based practices that our experienced and passionate teaching staff engage children in. We spoke of efforts underway led by Maddi to improve numeracy skills in our children – and will continue look at what can be done to build on this.

Out of School Hours Care

As per previous communications, Team Kids have been appointed as the new OSHC provider and will commence with our community in Term 2 School Holiday Program. Rachel is meeting with Team Kids to operationally plan for the transition. Please refer to prior newsletters for information on registration with Team Kids. Closer to the time, we will ask Team Kids to provide some communications about the program, including a social story they have written to prepare children and families for their OSJC program. We will also work with Team Kids to ensure the program can be suitable for families with additional or other needs, so please let us know if you are interested in this.

Fundraising: Fete funds 

After a very successful fete (thanks again to Cath, Annabel, Alice and everyone involved!), School Council is carefully considering, in consultation with School Leadership, how these funds should be best spent. We are working to the overall principal of ensuring that the decisions are aligned with the strategic priorities of the school. It is likely that a portion of the funds will be allocated to operational expenses. This is because funding from the Department of Education for our teaching team is allocated on an average and given the quality and tenured teaching team that we are fortunate to have at Carlton North, there is a gap between staffing costs and funding that we receive. We will update you in the near fut once final decisions are made about allocation of fundraising funds in line with the school’s budget.

Acoustic treatments

We’re pleased to confirm that the acoustic treatments for our arts, STEM and performing arts rooms will be installed in the upcoming school holidays. Thank you again to Annelise Tiller, Stephen Vick, Megan Quinlan, for working with Kylie and school leadership on securing these funds. When we were writing the grant we received survey feedback from staff and students about how noisy these rooms are, and how this created a challenging teaching and learning environments for everyone. The treatments that will be applied to these rooms will minimise the noise to make it easier to hear and concentrate!

Building and Grounds Working Group

The Building and Grounds Working group has been established and are focused on getting us ready for the funding that we will receive from the Victorian government to upgrade some parts of our school. 

We’re very lucky to have so many skilled experts in our community who are leading us through this very complex process. This group meets fortnightly and are currently focused on preparing for the first stage of the process, which is known as an ‘AMP1’. This involves asking our teaching and leadership teams to think big picture about what kind of future we want for our students, school and community. 

Lunch orders

We have received feedback that our current lunch order menu is not as inclusive of all our students as it could be. We’re in the process of understanding what, if any, adaptions can be made, whether we can add additional local suppliers, or expand the current lunch order menu. We will come back to you all with updates.

NAIDOC week

We are very excited to announce that Friday 14 July will be a full day for our school to celebrate NAIDOC week.  A massive thank you to the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) working group who are working so hard to pull together what will be an incredible experience for our students and whole community.  More detail to follow, but please put this date into your calendar as there will be opportunities for parents and carers to help out.  

Call for support - come and join us!

As per Rachel’s Compass post earlier this week, we have two vacancies on School Council. If you have an interest in having a strategic input and positive impact on our school, please reach out to Rachel, Kylie or Rebecca to discuss.

In addition - we are still seeking volunteers for the 150 Year Celebration Working Group. The planning is in very early stages and the celebration is likely to be in Term 4. There will be lots of diversity in the roles required, so no matter your skill set, please reach out to Rachel if you’d like to support this important celebration for the school. 

Finally, the very passionate and impactful RAP Working Group are seeking new members also. Please reach out to Kylie or Ben if you’d like more information or would like to take part. 

Enjoy your weekend, and we’re always very open to feedback or a chat.

Rebecca Slater & Kylie Hansen