From the Principal

Dear LPS families and friends, 

New Newsletter format

If you're reading this, I am sure that you have noticed our updated newsletter format. We hope that by modernising the newsletter it will make it more user-friendly and a better experience for those who read it. I want to thank Mrs. Roose for setting this up and doing some technical support work with me and the other staff responsible for the newsletter.

Communication

In the close to 13 years your child will attend school it is highly likely that they will be involved in incidents with other students, sometimes your child will make a poor choice and sometimes it will be another child. In these circumstances, the most appropriate course of action is to contact your child's teacher so that the issue can be dealt with by the school. It is not appropriate to approach another parent or child online or in person in regards to a school-related issue. No parent ever has the full story about what has happened at school, as much as we would love our children to be perfect they rarely are and it is best to let the school manage these incidents.

Prep Enrolments

Prep enrolments are now open and are due by July 28. After July 28 we will notify those families that have secured a spot for 2024, please make sure your form is in prior to that date to guarantee a place at our fantastic school. There is a link below to the enrolment form.

https://www.lysterps.vic.edu.au/enrolment-information

On Wednesday evening we had our 2023 Taste of Prep night. It was fantastic to see some new smiling faces at our school. I want to thank the prep teachers and the Specialist team for giving up their time to help our new preps feel connected to school already.

Beanies

With the cold weather well and truly here, the arrival of the new school beanies has been a very timely one. It has been fantastic to see so much red and blue gracing our buildings and grounds, it makes me feel like I am at a Melbourne Football Club home game. I want to thank the PFA for not only continuing to support the raising of funds to improve the school experience of our students, 

but also for building pride amongst our community.

Staffing

This week we welcomed and farewelled staff members to our school. The farewell is just for a short time as Danielle Sandeman has taken long service leave to go an extended holiday with her family. Danielle is a very passionate and dedicated Visual Art teacher and she will certainly be missed during her time away. Whilst Danielle is on leave we welcome Lauren Madeley who will be taking on the role of Visual Art teacher. Lauren has been doing some CRT work at LPS during terms 1 and 2 and we know she will fit in beautifully with our current staff.

AToSS

Over the past 3 weeks, Mrs. Roose and I have been implementing the Student Attitude to School survey. This survey is completed annually with all students in grades 4-6 in all government primary schools. The survey is an important tool in helping the government and schools identify areas of concern and strength within our practice. The survey covers students' attitudes towards their own learning, their thoughts about the school, their thoughts about their peers, and also issues such as bullying (in person and online), physical activity and technology use. We will receive these results later in the year and they will give us a good sense of how our students perceive these things in relation to students in other schools. We will then use the data to help plan for the following year.

Reports

As term 2 draws to a conclusion our teachers have been finalising the student reports for this semester. Teachers spend a huge amount of time assessing and scrutinising data to ensure they give students a fair and accurate report that indicates their current stage of learning. Whilst we all want our children to thrive at school and make consistent growth, the reality is that none of us learn at a consistent pace. It is important to remember that your children will learn some things quickly and other things will take more time, this is why we see that some students might move ahead of the expected level of learning and others drop behind. Your child's teacher will make contact with you if your child hasn't made the expected growth, but should you want to clarify anything from the report you are welcome to contact your child's teacher and make a time to chat.

In this semester's report, you will notice a change to the specialist reports which now include Learning Tasks as a way of giving a more clear picture of your child's competencies in the various specialist subjects. We hope that by including these it will help you to more clearly understand what has been taught, the expectations of students and what your child has been able to achieve.

Adam Wight, Principal