Principal's Message

Welcome Back to Term 4

Welcome back to all families. I hope you are well and have enjoyed some of the eased restrictions as we move out of COVID-mode (at least a bit). I want to keep this message short and sweet so you can focus on the information below which pertains to Remote Learning and the Return to School plan.

All students return to Remote Learning on Monday, October 4 at 9am. Planners containing Webex Codes are included in the PDF's below.  

Find below the graphic which represents the Return to School Plan.

The main highlights are:

• Preps to return to school from Monday, October 18 for three days per week
• Grades 1 and 2 return to school from Thursday  21 October for two days per week
• Grades 3 and 4 return to school from Tuesday, October 26 for two days per week
• Grades 5 and 5 return to school from Thursday, October 28 for two days per week
• All students return to school full time from Friday, November 5

Remote Learning Planners (Webex Codes) - October 4-15

Note that the Specialists times are included in the planner PDF's.

Student Placement into 2022 Classes Process

Staff will soon place students into draft 2022 classes. Teachers have not yet been allocated to grades, and this process will occur later in the term when we know staff intentions for the new year. 

It is not possible for parents to 'name their child's new teacher' and this is not an opportunity to do so. We have full confidence in our staff and we expect only small tweaks of feedback from families regarding the placement of their child.

As one of our values is 'Community', this process offers the chance for parents to put forward their perspective if they feel valuable information needs to be considered during the class placement process. The school understands there is sometimes valuable feedback to be shared when teachers are placing students into new classes. This information should pertain to academic and wellbeing outcomes for the child and not merely based on a 'preference for a teacher'.

A time window opening from Monday, October 11th and closing at 3.30pm on Friday, October 22nd will be available for the Principal to receive any parent feedback about their child's placement that is relevant to education and wellbeing. This feedback may guide us in our placement decisions, but no promises can be made. 

The feedback will only be accepted in writing to the school's email address (south.melbourne.ps@education.vic.gov.au). No verbal or other submissions will be considered. A receipt will be issued to you via reply email acknowledging that your feedback has been received. Emails should be addressed with the subject line: "Attention Mr Noel."

It is important that parents understand that feedback offered outside this time window will not be accepted, except for exceptional circumstances. We thank you for your support in this process. Please note that whilst your letter will be officially acknowledged as being received, the outcome of your child's placement will occur using the same process and timeline as all other children. This is in keeping with the spirit of fairness for all. 

It is relevant for parents to alert us to any issues with relatives (e.g. cousins in the same year level) as we will not necessarily associate students via surname. Also, if you have made requests previously, please do not assume we will have a corporate memory of them in placing the students. You would need to mention issues raised in previous times via a new email.