FPS Newsletter

Principal's Report

School Tours

It has been lovely having some current FPS parents join our school tours as their younger child prepares to embark on their schooling journey in 2024. It made me think that whilst tours are an important part of a school’s cycle, families might not always remember what they heard. 

 

Below are some of the themes I highlight as being important to our school when leading a tour: 

  • Learning: This focus is to support students in having happy and healthy lives as they grow up. In particular our focus is on Literacy and Numeracy so that students can  make sense of words and numbers.
  • Wellbeing: Creating an environment where the students feel good about themselves, the place that they’re in, and the people around them.
  • Creativity: The importance of students being able to express themselves by having opportunities to explore their school world in different ways.
  • Community: Our school has a role to play in bringing people together, including students and families.
  • Fun: It is so important that we experience fun in all that we do, and drawing on the above dot points can enable this. 

 

The tours are made even richer by the contributions of our Year 6 Community Leaders. The visitors enjoy the opportunity to hear from our current students. A special mention to two of our Year 5 students, Griffin and Quinn, who responded to a last minute request to join a tour due to a Year 6 incursion – they both did a great job. 

 

Specialist Classes in 2024

At last night’s School Council meeting I shared the news that we would be introducing a fifth specialist class from 2024 – Science/STEM. 

 

The 2022 Victorian Government School Agreement entitles primary school teachers to a minimum of four hours of non face-to-face teaching from 2024 and are providing funding for schools to implement this measure. Classroom teachers currently have 3 hours and 20 minutes of non face-to-face teaching through the delivery of four specialist classes; specialist teachers also currently have 3 hours and 20 minutes of non face-to-face teaching.

 

When choosing Science/STEM as the new specialist class the school considered:

  • The subjects that we are currently delivering through non-specialist classes.
  • The viewpoints of staff through our Consultative Committee.
  • The viewpoints of parents through our School Review Parent Forum.
  • The viewpoints of the School Council.
  • The opportunities, engagement and possibilities that a new specialist subject could bring.
  • A place where the new specialist classes could take place.

 

The feedback that I have received to date on this new specialist offering has been overwhelmingly positive. There is lots for us to learn and plan for between now and the end of the year in order to have this new specialist class ready for 2024. At this stage, we are using Science/STEM as an umbrella term for the new subject, with the aim to have greater clarity by the end of the year as to what precisely the content will be. 

 

Other significant considerations for the school include choosing and developing the most appropriate purpose-built space in the school, resourcing this new specialist class, and staffing. I have been fortunate to see Science being taught as a specialist class in a nearby school, and we will use our time between now and the end of the year to connect with other schools who can demonstrate excellent practice in this area.

 

We will keep you informed on our progress between now and the end of the year.

 

Welcome Filipa & Gabi

I am pleased to welcome two new staff members to FPS - Filipa and Gabi. 

 

Filipa and Gabi have been appointed as education support staff who will be working alongside our funded students through the Program for Students with Disabilities. Filipa started at FPS last week and we look forward to welcoming Gabi next term.

 

Mathematical Association of Victoria – Consultation at FPS

I am excited to share with you that as part of our Maths school improvement work, Jane Hubbard – who is a consultant with the Mathematical Association of Victoria – will be working at FPS next term.

 

Jane will be at FPS for four days, working with teachers by modelling lessons, reviewing lessons, and effectively planning for non-routine/challenging Maths tasks. This consultation will build the capacity of our teachers in the delivery of effective Maths lessons. 

 

Jane presented a professional learning day to all of our staff in this area of Maths at the start of this term, and we look forward to building further upon the positive impact that her work has already made.

 

Cups Full of Jelly!

Our staffroom became a classroom last week with our Year 1 students making jelly as part of their unit on Procedural Writing. 

 

It was lovely to see the grades putting their learning into action, gathering around the table to put their procedures into practice. And I even became the lucky beneficiary of a couple of cups of jelly myself!

 

Happy Holidays!

This term has gone in the blink of an eye – thank you to everyone for all of your efforts. Well done to the students for both their focus and energy, thank you to the staff for their ongoing support of the students, and thank you to families for your support of the school.

 

I look forward to seeing you at our end of term assembly, Friday 1.30pm in the Fig Tree Courtyard.

 

~ Paul Wallace, Principal