Principal's Message
Term 1 Week 5 2022
Principal's Message
Term 1 Week 5 2022
Huge thanks to Flip and our P&F helpers who made sure we had our 1/2 and 3/4 parent morning /afternoon tea catch ups this week. It has been lovely to meet up with our parents face to face. Friday was our last whole School Assembly and I thank Sophie, Ryan, Chris and Lachie for navigating our outside assemblies and being helpful with all of our badge presentations.
Junior School SRC representatives were presented with their badges and all of the Pupil of the Week and Specialists Awards were also presented. Our Foundation students were very patient as all of these presentation were made and of course the Cake Raffle is always a highlight.
It's not the Olympics and its not held at the G but its a highlight of our MPRPS & K calendar. Bring a picnic and join us on the oval from 5.30 on Thursday 3rd March. If you are attending you need to be well and double vaxxed. We are aiming to have everyone spread out around the oval as much as possible.
This year we are hoping to have an Indigenous Smoking Ceremony as part of an acknowledgement of country by a Wurundjeri Elder.
If your child has asthma medication in their bag to use at school, we must have an asthma management form to allow them to use this medication. Please submit forms to Ally in Reception as soon as possible.
Our regular fruit/vegetable supply is back. Students are provided with a piece of fruit as a healthy break in our first part of the day. Huge thanks to our amazing Education Support staff who organise this around supporting the students in the classroom.
We have four (8) vacancies on School Council for four (4) parent members and two (2) Department of Education and Training (DET) members. In addition, there is one (1) Department of Education and Training (DET) member casual vacancy. In addition, there is one co-opted community member to represent the Kindergarten that is filled by the co-option of a parent by School Council.
What is School Council and what does it do?
All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally formed bodies that are given powers to set key directions of a school within a centrally provided guideline. Members of School Council meet for two sub-committee meetings and two council meetings each term.
Who is on School Council?
There are three possible categories for membership:
A mandated elected parent category - More than one third of the elected members must be from this category. DET employees can be parent members at their child’s school.
A mandated elected DET employee category - Members of this category may make up no more than one third of the total membership of School Council. The principal is automatically one of these members.
An optional community category - Its members are co-opted by the decision of the council for their special skills, interest and experiences. DET employees are not eligible for this category. Our School Council has one community member position co-opted by the School Council to represent the Kindergarten.
The term of office is two years. Normally half the members retire each year and this creates vacancies for the annual school council election. Retiring councillors may re-nominate.
Why is parent membership important?
Parents on school council provide important viewpoints and valuable skills that can help to shape the direction of the school. The parents who become active on school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may find their children feel a greater sense of belonging.
What do you need to do to stand for election?
If you are interested in standing for election, please see the office for a School Council Nomination Form, complete it and return it to the office by 3.45pm on Monday 15 February. Where the number of nominations equals the number of vacancies in any one-membership category, there will be no need to go to ballot. If the number of nominations exceeds the number of vacancies, a ballot is required.
Notice of election and call for nominations | Monday 14 February |
Close of nominations | Monday 21 February at 3.45 pm |
Date by which the list of candidates and nominators will be posted | Wednesday 23 February |
Date by which ballot papers will be prepared and distributed if necessary | Monday 28 February |
Close of ballot | Monday 7 March at 3.00pm |
Counting of votes and Declaration of Poll | Monday 7 March |
Announcement in the school newsletter | Monday 7 March |
First School Council meeting to elect office bearers | Thursday 17th March |