Principal's Message
Parent Opinion Surveys
As the Principal of the school, I would like to begin by passing on a huge thank you to all of our families who committed the time to provide input into our recent surveys:
- DET Parent Opinion Survey
- USPS Master Plan Survey
When receiving commentary from families, we look for honesty and solution-focused thinking as to how we can work together to continue driving our school forward. Therefore, our Leadership Team are deeply analysing the results of our recent surveys; so that we can do more of what we are doing well, and set up the structures to enrich opportunities for our students across the curriculum.
Below is an extract of the DET Parent Opinion Survey, which holds statistical validity given that 30% of families responded. The areas highlighted below reflect the overall trends of our 2020 survey, and have been selected as they are factors which we as a staff have been focussing upon (refer to image below).
Regarding the USPS Master Plan Survey, there have been some wonderfully thoughtful suggestions as to the future direction of our school facilities. The results of this survey are being presented to School Council on Monday evening, and will be shared with the community in due course.
A School Showing Strong Levels of Literacy Growth
In late-2018 following our School Review, we took the brave move to 'flip' the way we previously taught Literacy; moving from a 'Balanced Literacy approach' to an 'evidence-based approach'. The academic results of our students, as well as the increased levels of engagement and teacher professional learning have shown that whilst the move was bold, it was also necessary and the right thing to do.
Since moving to an evidence-based model, we have been approached by DET Regional Staff to provide insight for schools across our region as to the how and why of what we do. Whilst this is testament to the quality of Literacy teaching across our school, there are also many areas we must continue to focus upon- in particular the schematics of Writing in the upper years.
For those families who may not have knowledge of the above, at our school we utilise a tiered-intervention model to teaching Literacy; partnering with Macquarie University and MultiLit.
In support of the above, we encourage you to take the time to read a recent article from the Sydney Morning Herald (30/11/2020) which addresses the notion of the 'Reading Wars'. This article appears in our Curriculum Section.
Extend OSHC Holiday Program Hours
We are pleased to say that we have confirmed with Extend OSHC the hours of operation for our school holiday program. These are detailed below:
Holiday Care (hours of service 7:00am - 6:30pm)
Service in operation: Monday 21/12/2020 – Thursday 24/12/2020
Service closed: Friday 25/12/2020 - Sunday 10/01/2021
Service in operation: Monday 11/01/2021 - Wednesday 27/01/2020
The service will then resume school hours of operation from Thursday 28/01/2020:
Before-school care: 7:00am - 8:50am
After-school care: 3:30pm- 6:30pm
2021 Classroom Structure and Transition Days
On Monday 23/11/2020 we wrote to families providing information regarding the staffing structure of our school for 2021. This letter is attached below:
As the Principal of the school, every year Term Four can bring about mixed feelings. We reflect on our achievements of the year, and look forward to the goals we are setting for the following year. These reflections involve both students and staff achievements.
A measure of our school's success in recent years has been that staff who have developed the confidence to apply for promotions beyond our school have been successful in their appointments. In 2021, this will again be the case for our school.
In order to gather the final pieces of our puzzle for 2021, we held our second-round of full-day panel interviews yesterday. We are pleased to say that there was an extremely high-calibre of applicants, and we are confident that movements within our staffing will continue to strengthen the curriculum opportunities for our students.
On Monday 07/12/2020, we will be in the position to share with our school community the exact staffing structure for 2021; including the names and responsibilities of staff. Once this information is confirmed with the community, we can then commence our 'step-up transition' in preparation for 2021.
The following timeline is therefore in place:
- Monday 07/12- open letter from the Principal announcing staffing
- Tuesday 08/12- Year Six students attend full-day of government secondary school transition. New students from Year One- Year Six spend the morning at our school.
- Wednesday 09/12- Current students are informed of their 2021 class. This will be done via a printed letter to each student in a sealed envelope.
- Thursday 10/12- step-up transition session from 10:30am - 12:30pm
- Friday 11/12- step-up transition session from 10:30am - 12:30pm
The success of our classroom structure in 2020 was due to the fact that student placements were made by staff, based upon the following criteria:
- The most suitable teacher for the individual student's learning style
- The social-groupings of the individual student that will best benefit their learning confidence
- The academic and social spread of students that will best support the values of our school.
The allocation of students is always one of the most challenging aspects of leading a school. Student placements in 2021, have again been allocated based upon the above criteria.
Its' beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
In the Specialist Section of the newsletter, Ms Lang provides information for families regarding the filming of our Christmas Concert videos. Please refer to this article, and be aware of the following information from Ms Lang:
Christmas Concert - Free Dress
Next week we will begin filming the class items for our online Christmas concert. This will be done over two days. It would be great if your child could come to school in Christmas themed clothes (on the date assigned below). They can wear anything that looks Christmassy (red, green, white, silver, gold etc), elf ears, Santa hats, tinsel, glitter, red wigs, reindeer ears...the more the merrier! Please note these dates:
Tuesday 8th December - Foundation to Year Two students to dress up
Wednesday 9th December - Year Three to Year Six students to dress up
Promoting the Christmas Spirit in our Local Area
One of the great features of our school is the community spirit we have in abundance! We are very pleased to say that through the efforts of one of our past families, the businesses in the Upper Ferntree Gully strip have got together to promote some Christmas cheer. Attached below is a combined schools tree, which has been created with Christmas wishes from Year Three-Four students from across our immediate area.
Keeping Aware of Information Relating to School
As a school we work hard to keep our families informed of happenings across the school. We acknowledge that receiving information in a timely and consistent manner can help to alleviate the pressures which come from managing a busy family calendar.
Communicating via Compass
All of our school notifications are sent via the Newsfeed within the Compass app. There is also a calendar of events within the app, which sends push notifications to users to remind them of school events.
In 2020, we are also utilising Compass for families to consent and pay in order for their children to take part in school events. The uptake and comments from families thus far is that it is so easy to do, and helpful to be able to consent at the push of a button.
In order to filter notifications which are received, you will notice that we send out notifications which are year level specific. This means that sometimes not all notifications are sent to all year levels.
Communicating with the School Administration Team
We look forward to partnering with you in 2020, and welcome your input:
USPS Inbox:
upwey.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Damien Kitch (Principal)
Damien.Kitch@education.vic.gov.au
Clare Bennett (Business Manager)
Clare.Bennett2@education.vic.gov.au
Janette Clarke (Office Manager)