News and appreciations this week:

Resilience and Through School Transition

What a terrific first TST session we had on Tuesday! With many hundreds of students moving to and from ‘new’ classes before and after the session, it was a purposeful, but somewhat chaotic scene. It must be quite an experience for our group of brand new students who met their new classes perhaps after only one previous tour of our school. As senior staff visited all classrooms, we observed calm and positive behaviour across all grades. All but one class had their teacher in attendance. We welcomed in person, Brooke Danaher, who is transferring from Alamanda College into the grade 2 team and welcomed by Vimeo Lauren Crump who will be joining the grade 5 team, but currently is preparing to return to Melbourne from her current place in Southampton UK. As is sometimes the case we also learnt the next day of a small number of students who may be feeling a little sad or out of sorts in moving to their new classes. When this sort of concern occurs in the supportive environment of a school like FWPS, we have confidence that your child needs will be catered for. Developing friendships is a skill. Experience in developing friendships, builds the skill to cultivate more friends and thus be less dependent on one or two others. These experiences prepare kids for the common fallings out that happen in childhood, or the likelihood that a one friend relationship is shattered by family movement. When kids manage an acceptable outcome, they can place this sense of success in the resilience bank. It is a bank that builds with experience.

We always provide an opportunity for appropriate consideration of student placement. The process is well advertised, requiring parents to make a written request bearing in mind stated and necessary parameters. Despite this opportunity, we are more frequently trying to respond post Through School Transition visit to new and unexpected ‘requests’. Some can be disparaging and disrespectful to our wonderful, highly trained and passionate teaching staff. Putting your child first, does not require putting others last.

Our second Through School Transition occasion will be held on Monday 16th December from 12.00 pm – 1:40 pm.

Orchard to Plate launch – It was pleasing to be in attendance with parents and student contributors and supporters at the Orchard to Plate book launch on Friday afternoon. What a marvellous publication it is. I was pleased to discuss this triumph with our contributors and local Member for Footscray, Katie Hall, who was not surprisingly very impressed with the publication, the orchard and our OTP program. We are scoping some improvements in the kitchen, readying for next year when OTP moves into a two day a week, staffed program. We have made this commitment as we are so impressed by the program and want it to thrive, not see it struggle due to the need to rely on volunteer support. We hope the program will continue to be enhanced by great voluntary support, but be able to operate effectively, regardless of this assistance.

Volunteers’ annual appreciation – Staff members proffered plates of food to show appreciation to parent, grandparent and community volunteers at our annual Parent and Community Helpers Appreciation Brunch on Monday. Thanks to all who attended. We know finding an ideal time is a challenge and with the 3/4 swim program and music concert week we pushed it out to Monday – probably not ideal. Expect a more suitable Friday brunch date next year.

School Council news – Our final School Council meeting for 2019 was held on Monday evening. A big appreciation to council members who have worked with a common purpose to support the significant challenges and expectations during a school review year. I would like to quote from my monthly council report in acknowledging the work of School Council President Marcus Hildebrand. “In particular, a very big appreciation to Marcus for his outstanding effort in a busy review year. Stepping in after the fine supportive work of John Dinh may have been daunting, but I can only applaud Marcus for managing the role of president in his own image, one that demonstrates great understanding and sensitivity towards students, parents and staff.”

At our meeting we approved the 2020 Annual Implementation Plan and a number of other practical improvements for the holidays.

Due to the requirement for asbestos removal works, an area of soil around the machinery shed will be scraped and removed, covered by a geo tex material and then covered by soil and Dromana toppings. These works are to occur during the period following the school break and Monday 13th January, when the TheirCare holiday program will start. Due to strict requirements restricting onsite access during asbestos removal works, no other work will be able to be carried out until mid-January. Consequently, we have contracted car park asphalt replacement works to occur from Tuesday, 15th January. There will not be any access to the car park for the remainder of that week enabling the old asphalt to be removed, new asphalt laid, cured and line markings made. We anticipate that following these works there will be an installation of an electronic parking boom gate, unfortunately required due to the many folk who are choosing daily to ignore car park access restrictions. We plan to maintain access to all before 8.00 am and 4.00 pm daily, but reduce car and student movement in the car park during those times which are busiest with staff vehicle movement. In other works, we have already begun to renovate the Dingo kitchen to more practically support the revamped Orchard to Plate program and in the New Year have significant electrical, plumbing, painting and flooring work to complete. We are pleased that we have just learnt that we have received an Equipment Boost for Schools grant. We plan to install a wheelchair accessible cubby house for student use. An appreciation to Caren Taylor for her work in preparing the application.

Professional Development Process – The concept of annual review isn’t usually an exciting prospect and in a system where excellent performance is not matched by financial incentives, perhaps less so. Nevertheless, I would like to pay an appreciation to teaching and education support staff for the quality and passionate presentations that senior staff reviewers have had the privilege to be party to throughout this week. We can be really proud of how strongly goals, aligned to strategic planning and student learning have been realised. With our teachers the sense of collaboration on the delivery of our 6+1 Traits of Writing has been highly effective. We are now well placed to support a continued uplift in the profile of writing at our school.

Coming up … next week, the last week of term

Assembly – Our final Monday assembly will be held in the Gecko for the grade Prep, 3, 4, 5 and 6 teams, with the 1 and 2 teams meeting in the separate assembly to be held in the Dingo gallery space.

Graduation – Our annual presentation evening and valedictory to our grade 6 graduating class will be held at the Quin Auditorium at Caroline Chisholm College, Braybrook on the final Monday of term, 16th December. Students need to be at the venue by 7.00 pm to allow for a 7.30 pm start. The evening will conclude by 10.00 pm. A big thank you to the grade 6 teaching team, for the work in preparing the senior students for this event.

Park to Park and Class Parties – On the final Tuesday of term, the annual grade 5 and 6 end of year celebration will be held along the banks of the Maribyrnong River on Chifley Drive. Students and staff run or walk from Pipemakers Park to the location for lunch and games. Back at school grades prep to 4 will enjoy their annual class Christmas parties. I expect that there will be some direction of what occasional foods you will be asked to contribute.

From a Community perspective

Again, thanks to all who have supported our two charity drives this year.

The Salvation Army Christmas Drive </

Lost Property

If you own any of the glasses, purses or watches, please collect them from the office. The wall in the Wallaby building corridor holds all the water bottle/container items. Anything left at school will be donated to the local opportunity shop.