Principal's Report 

Welcome!

I am thrilled to be sitting in the Principal’s chair for Term 1 of 2022! It is an honour and a privilege and I hope to make it a positive and productive time for our students and staff. Despite the ongoing complications that covid has brought to our lives and the operation of our school, we are all looking forward to a more settled and predictable year where the students can engage fully in their learning. We know this will be beneficial for their wellbeing also. 

We welcomed 95 new Foundation students to the school and 20 students from other levels across the school. 

We were very lucky to have a number of new staff join our school for 2022 and it has been wonderful to see them settle in over the last two weeks and start to develop relationships with their students and teams. 

Liam Sommers – Acting Assistant Principal – Wellbeing & Engagement. 

Rebecca McJannet - Level 1 Classroom Teacher 

Hannah Ambrose – Level 2 Classroom Teacher

Luke McDonald – Level 3 Classroom Teacher

Ashleigh Cormack – Level 4 Classroom Teacher

Tegan Cant – Level 4 Classroom Teacher

David Torr – Level 5/6 Classroom Teacher

Sally Marion – First Aid Officer

Alex Campbell – First Aid Officer

I am very excited to be working with Liam Sommers to support our new Student Leaders including our 2022 School Captains – Remi Peters and Samuel Brown. 

Pupil Free Days

We commenced the term with our first Pupil Free Day on Friday 28th January. Staff participated in professional learning around Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), The Resilience Project, Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships (RRRR), eSmart and our new COMPASS system. There was also time for start up processes including team meetings and classroom preparation for the start of the new term. It was an invaluable learning time together and also allowed a smooth transition for new and returning students on Monday. 

Foundation 2022

Welcome to our foundation students who started their first day on Tuesday 1st February. It was a very beautiful sunny day and it was so wonderful to welcome our youngest members of the school. 

Our ‘Cheers & Tears’ morning tea for Foundation parents and grandparents had to be cancelled due to COVID restrictions. However, most importantly family members were able to come into their child’s class the day prior and meet the teacher. Congratulations to all of the parents as your child reaches another milestone- starting school. 

Reminder: Due to individual testing, Foundation students don’t attend school on the following dates: Wednesday 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd February & Wednesday 2nd, 9th & 16th March.

Parent / Teacher Interviews

The ‘Getting to Know You Interviews’ will be held on Tuesday, 15th February from 3.40pm to 5.30pm and Thursday, 17th February from 3.40pm to 7.30pm. These will be held online via WebEx for this initial meeting due to covid safety reasons. We hope to be in a position to run the 3-Way Conferences later in the year face to face. 

Families are required to book interviews online. Information will be sent home with times and access information. Families will receive their unique access number to log onto the COMPASS Parent Portal.  ‘Getting to Know You Interviews’ are valued by parents, students and teachers. If you do not have Internet access at home, please ring the school office on 9874 6381 for alternative arrangements to be made.

Foundation Families - Please note: there will be no Foundation interviews due to the interviews undertaken at the beginning of the term.  

Car Parking

Please be aware of the various parking restrictions and drop off zones around the school. The local council do enforce restrictions with infringement notices. The 5 minute drop off zone does not allow you to walk your child into the school please do not leave your car parked in this zone, it can cause traffic congestion. 

The school car park off Churinga Ave, is for staff only, except for OSHClub usage before 8am and after 4pm. The boom gate has been installed for traffic management and as a safety measure as children and cars don’t mix.

Class Ambassadors

If you are interested in supporting your child’s classroom teacher, please complete the online form - Class Ambassador and Volunteer sign up, by 18th February 2022.  The first class ambassadors meeting will be held later in February/March. 

Nude Food 

There has been a collective effort to reduce the litter in our school yard and it is working because students are eating inside and only permitted to take nude food outside. We encourage parents – wherever possible – to send the students with a packed lunch that is nude! 

Green Mile Lighting

I would again like to extend our thanks to Jeoff Cuberes and the team at Leadsun Australia for the incredibly generous donation of the new solar lighting for our family walkway ‘The Green Mile’. This new lighting allows parents and students to walk safely into and out of the school for evening events! You have really ‘lit the way for our students’

School Council Elections - Notice of Elections and Call for Nominations 2022- 2023

Friday 11th February 2022

Closing date for Nominations Friday 18th February 2022

I am announcing the annual elections for our School Council. School council members are elected (or co-opted in the case of community members) for approximately a two year term. Usually half the membership expires each year creating vacancies for the annual school council election. We have 3 Parent vacancies and 4 DET employee vacancies.

Process:

1. The principal arranges and conducts the election. The principal will issue a notice and call for nominations for parent and Department employee members in February or early March. The notice will include a nomination form or way to reply and the date to submit the nomination. The election process must be completed by the end of March.

2. Return the nomination form to the principal through the office within the time frame stated on the notice of election. Those who nominate will receive a receipt. Ask at the school for help if you would like to stand for election and are not sure what to do.

3. If there are more nominations than there are vacant positions on council, a ballot (vote) will be conducted after the call for nominations has closed.

4. If you decide to stand for election, you can arrange for someone to nominate you or you can nominate yourself in the appropriate category.

5. Forms are available at the office.

Annual Privacy Reminder for 2022

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Dari
• Gujarati
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese.

Department of Education Vaccination Update

It’s been really fantastic to see such excitement around the return to school and we want to keep it that way. A crucial part of that is getting as many students vaccinated as possible. 

Alongside ventilation and other vital COVIDSafe steps such as regular rapid antigen testing, supporting as many students as possible to be vaccinated will help make our school as safe as possible. 

Bookings for children aged 5 to 11 to receive the paediatric Pfizer vaccine are open and we encourage parents and carers to get your child vaccinated, if you haven’t already done so. 

The Pfizer vaccine is safe and recommended for children. The vaccine will help protect your child from getting sick from COVID-19, help to reduce the spread of COVID-19, and help ensure kids can have more time at school and playing with their friends.

Vaccinations for children aged 5-11 years old are delivered at 2 appointments, 8 weeks apart. Children with specific medical vulnerabilities can access their second dose 3 weeks after their first dose.

If you’d like more information about this, you can read a recent statement from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI): https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-update-following-weekly-covid-19-meeting-19-january-2022 

To book an appointment

You can book at your local GP or pharmacy: https://covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/booking

You can also book at a family-friendly vaccination centre by calling the Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 675 398.

You can also make vaccination centre bookings for your children online, though you will need to use an email address that has not been used in the system before: https://portal.cvms.vic.gov.au/

Helping children to get their vaccination

Vaccination centres understand that children may feel anxious about vaccination or have other support needs. A range of options are available to help children get vaccinated. Please discuss your child’s needs with the vaccination centre when you book an appointment. 

Appointments are also available at Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Organisations. 

👉 Find out more about vaccination for kids: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-information-children-and-teenagers

Marika Ferguson

Acting Principal