Principal's Message

Please take the time to read each page of our newsletter, as we provide you with information updates across each curriculum area. 

The past month of our school calendar has been stacked full of events and extra-curricular opportunities for our students, and the remainder of the term promises to be just as exciting!

This newsletter is full of great photos from our brilliant "The Wizard of Oz" Production, and also full of photos of what's been happening in our classrooms. 

Thank you to everyone across our community for your hard work and efforts in helping to make Upwey South Primary School a great place to belong. 

Parent/Carer Opinion Survey

Please note the survey referenced in this  section of the newsletter, is separate to the localised survey which 29% of families completed as part of our School Review process. 

Dear Parents/Carers of Upwey South Primary School,

Your family is asked to participate in the 2022 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey (previously known as the Parent Opinion Survey). 

The survey for Upwey South Primary School will be open from Tuesday 30th August to Friday 16th September. 

About the Survey

Each year the Department of Education (DET) invites school communities to take part in a state-wide survey. When responding to the survey, you will answer with your own school in mind. Schools may invite a random selection of families to participate, or may open the survey to all families. 

At Upwey South Primary School, all families are invited to participate in the survey. Results will be used to by the school and by DET to inform and direct our future school planning and improvement.

The survey contains 44 questions, under the following categories: 

• About your child’s learning
• About the teachers at your school
• About your school
• General school satisfaction

Please take the time to complete the survey as your opinions are important to us, and will contribute to the future management and organisation of our school.

Survey Delivery

• The survey will be conducted online and should take 20 minutes to complete. 
• The survey can be completed on any internet enabled device (iPad, Desktop or Laptop, Smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.
• The survey is available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, Somali and Punjabi.

Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential. The survey is conducted anonymously, and it is important to us that you complete the survey as honestly as possible. 

Only one parent/caregiver/guardian from your family is invited to complete the survey. 

Please do not complete multiple surveys. 

To complete the survey:

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey.

https://www.orima.com.au/parent

Select the School and Campus name below:

School Name: Upwey South Primary School

Enter the School PIN below:

PIN: 694359

When complete, please click on the tick button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity.

Thank you for taking the time to participate. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Questions?

Please contact your school’s principal if you have any general queries about the survey. 

For specific technical or participation-related queries, you may also contact the department or the supplier administering the survey, ORIMA Research.

• Should you have any technical queries regarding the Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey, please do not hesitate to contact ORIMA Research on 1800 654 585 (toll free), or by email: pos@orima.com 
• Should you have any participation or survey-related queries, please contact the School, or the department by email: school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au.

Staffing Update

Mrs Judith Liddell has been undertaking the role of School Tutor across our school during the first half of 2022. Following discussions with our Regional Office, we made the decision to release Mrs Liddell to teach a year Three/Four class at Upwey Primary School for the remainder of 2022. As a proactive and community minded school, we are also conscious of supporting smaller schools in our area when we can. 

Mrs Liddell has now handed over the tutoring program to Ms Hayley Oliver, who we welcome back following family leave. Ms Oliver has been in the school for the past four weeks, and we are confident she will continue to add value to our school's tutoring program. 

We have also appointed Mr Justin Scicluna to be in the school each Monday (in addition to his role as the Health & Physical Education Leader) to support students and staff with wellbeing initiatives. 

Gifted Insights Select Entry Enrichment Program

Gifted Insights Mentoring Gifted Kids at Upwey South Primary School  provides small group enrichment experiences for selected students. Classes are held each Tuesday morning, based in our school library. 

The next unit being held is "Hands-On Equations: Making Algebra Child's Play". 

For further information, or to register for a program, please contact Jennifer 

E: jennifer@giftedinsights.com.au 

M: 0414642560

Further details are below: 

Spotlight on School Policies

Each Department of Education and Training (DET) school is mandated to hold a minimum of eight School Council meetings per calendar year. At each of these meetings, the School Council members oversee the governance of the school; part of which is the updating and publishing of policies which are aligned with DET legal obligations. As these policies are updated, they are distributed to the community via school websites. 

In order to bring these updated policies to the attention of our school community, we will be including a "spotlight on policies" twice per term through our newsletters. 

All School Policies have been updated and are now available on the following link: 

http://www.upweysthps.vic.edu.au/about/upwey-south-ps-policies/ 

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. 

We continue to utilise Compass for families to consent and pay in order for their children to take part in school events. 

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. 

Administration Reminder

Please be reminded that if you need to collect your child/ren early, please contact the office when you are five to ten minutes away so we can have them at the office for collection.

Communicating with the School Administration Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2022, and welcome your input: 

Damien Kitch (Principal)  damien.kitch@education.vic.gov.au 

Paula Lee (Business Manager) upwey.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Janette Clarke (Office Manager) upwey.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au