Principal's

Message

Welcome back to term 3. I can’t quite believe that this time last year, I had just arrived at South Melbourne Park! It has been an amazing 12 months and I am incredibly appreciative of the support from staff and families. Nothing makes me happier than interacting with your beautiful kids and sharing in their learning as they grow. Just today a teacher came in, bursting with pride, to show me the progress that one of her students had made. These moments along with moments of inspiration shown by our teachers as they learn new things, make me feel very lucky to be your Principal.

STAFFING NEWS

We have made a couple of farewells over the last 2 weeks. Evie Vieira Miller has returned to Western Australia to be with family. We thank Evie for all she’s done for our kids over the past 12 months. Congratulations to Roy Lee to has been appointed to the Year 1 position, replacing Evie. We also welcome teachers Penny Carr and Conor Maher, who will be in support roles, part time. I would like to officially welcome back Nick Lovett to our school. Nick has been working overseas and is back to join our Year 2 teaching team. So happy to have you back, Nick! 

Congratulations to Ella Byrne, who has replaced Magda on Mondays and Tuesdays in the office. Magda has given birth to a gorgeous baby boy called Austin. While we’re talking babies, Bec Drew, our previous psychologist, has welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Clara. Our Education support staff have grown in numbers with the addition of Tanzeena Zaman, Aashna Yadav and Bailey Robinson. Farewell and thank you to Kirra who is leaving TheirCare and taking up her first teaching position. Congratulations to Nilay, who is taking on the coordinator role. It is great to have such a lovely relationship with our supportive TheirCare team.

And last but not least, I want to congratulate Melanie Davis, our year 2 team leader, who has been appointed as Acting Learning Specialist (Numeracy), for the remainder of the year. Our 2nd Learning Specialist, Johanne Abbott, has also had her LS time extended to support our Student Wellbeing team. 

ENVIRONMENT & FACILITIES UPDATE

SHADE SAIL

After multiple delays, we hope to finally have a shade sail installed over the synthetic grass in the courtyard, in the September holidays.

BOOM GATE 

Negotiations continue in terms of the proposed boom gate. A full proposal has been submitted to Parks Victoria by the Victorian Schools Building Authority (VSBA). I will continue to provide you with updates as they happen.

INTERNAL WALL REMVOAL

A huge thank you to Bernie Hutchinson, Vaso and the team for volunteering their time to remove an internal wall in one of the year 2 classrooms. The wall was impeding the teacher’s line of sight and dividing the space unnecessarily. Ms Azzopardi and the kids are thrilled with the result. Removal was going to be a costly exercise and we are very grateful to the team for removing it free of charge – THANK YOU!!

BIKES

With growing numbers of our kids riding and scooting to school, our bike racks are prime real estate. There are currently 4 or 5 bikes in there that have not been removed for some time. If you may have left your child’s bike here, please come and collect it on Monday. 

NAPLAN

With NAPLAN testing in Term 1 this year, we have received the results earlier than ever before. We are really pleased with the results achieved by our year 3 and 5 students, and are proud of each and every child who showed courage and stamina when completing the tests. I am very proud of our staff for their constant ‘open-to-learning’ attitude, as we continue to implement evidence-based best practice, to improve student outcomes. We have been busily preparing the reports so that they are ready for collection from classrooms by parents/carers from 3.30pm Monday.

FAMILY HOLIDAYS

While we don’t encourage family holidays within the school term, if you are planning a trip, please email me with the details as early as possible for approval, in line with Department policy. Teachers also need enough notice to develop absence learning plans for students. 

FRIENDSHIP TREE

A big thank you to our wonderful Anna Barden for the Term 3 display on our Friendship Tree - Play as a Team.

Nicole Arnold

Principal