Principal's Message
Welcome to Term Two at Upwey South Primary School!
Term Two is an exciting time to be part of our school community. As we begin to adjust to CovidSafe practices within schools we are pleased to be able to once again begin offering extra-curricular opportunities for our students and families to come together.
A reminder that our PTA will be holding our annual Mother's Day Stall this Friday 7th May, either side of the Cross Country. If you are able to assist with the stall, please refer to the School Council/PTA Page of this edition. As per our previous Compass posts, parents/carers who are able to assist with our School Cross Country this Friday 7th May (10:30am-12:30pm) please contact Mr Sciculna.
Remember to check the calendar of events within this newsletter, and please make contact with our helpful staff if you have any questions regarding school events.
2022 Foundation Enrolments
Since the commencement of Term Two, we have been inundated with requests for families from the surrounding area to attend school tours. As a school with an extremely strong reputation across the community we want to hear from any of our existing families who have younger siblings due to start Foundation in 2022.
By securing 2022 enrolments for existing families, we will then be in a strong position to determine how many positions exist for students who live within our designated school zone, and then determine how many vacancies may remain for students who live beyond our school zone.
For information regarding enrolments, please contact the school office.
Smile Squad School Dental Program
You may have recently heard that the Victorian Government has announced that the Smile Squad- School Dental Program- will continue to be rolled out across more schools and Local Government Areas (LGAs) from mid-Term Two, 2021.
As a school within the Yarra Ranges Council, we are pleased to say that we have secured the Smile Squad School Dental Program for our student community, with dental health sessions for students commencing on-site from Week One, Term Three, 2021.
This means that in the coming fortnight, each student will be bringing home a dental health information pack, provided by the Victorian Government. Inside this pack will be a consent form which parents/carers are required to complete in order to access this free dental service.
More details regarding the program, arrangements for our school, and timelines will be published via Compass when dental health information packs are distributed in approximately a fortnight from now.
What is Smile Squad?
Smile Squad is a Victorian Government dental program offered for students. Smile Squad will provide free oral health examinations and follow up treatment to all Victorian government primary, secondary and specialist school students.
Smile Squad is committed to the same high standards of safety and quality required of all public dental services, and must be accredited to all relevant National Safety and Quality Health Service standards. These standards provide a nationally consistent statement of the level of care consumers can expect from health service organisations.
For more information about Smile Squad, please refer to the attached .pdf below:
NAPLAN- Information for Families
Recently students in Year Three and Year Five across government schools have been discussing NAPLAN with their classroom teachers, and undertaking practice tests during class. In 2021, our school will be undertaking paper tests.
The NAPLAN paper tests will be conducted from Tuesday 11th May- Thursday 13th May (inclusive).
The timetable of examinations for Year Three and Year Five students is:
- Tuesday 11th May- Language Conventions and Writing
- Wednesday 12th May- Reading
- Thursday 13th May- Numeracy
- Friday 14th May- catch up tests for absent students unable to be completed over previous three days
The information below is sourced from: NAPLAN- Information for Parents/Carers
Why do students do NAPLAN tests?
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
The tests provide parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. NAPLAN tests are just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process; they do not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance.
NAPLAN tests also provide schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
How can I help my child prepare for NAPLAN?
NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular classroom activities. As such excessive preparation or coaching is not required. You can help your child prepare for NAPLAN by reassuring them that the tests are just one part of their school program, and by reminding them on the day to simply try their best. NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress.
See the NAPLAN website for examples of the test.
Participation in NAPLAN
All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to participate in the annual NAPLAN tests.
If your child regularly utilises adjustments in their classroom, it may be possible for these to be used. Where applicable you are encouraged to discuss the use of disability adjustments for your child with your child’s teacher.
A formal exemption may be granted for a student with significant intellectual disability and/or significant coexisting conditions, or for a student who has recently arrived in Australia and has a non-english speaking background. Your school can give you more information on disability adjustments or the process required to gain a formal exemption.
Will my child sit NAPLAN on paper or online?
Children in some schools across Australia will sit the NAPLAN tests online this year. Federal, state and territory education ministers have agreed that NAPLAN will move online over the next two to three years. State and territory education authorities will determine when their schools move online. NAPLAN Online uses an adaptive test design, which presents questions that better match student achievement levels and provide more precise results for teachers and schools.
Unless you receive specific advice from your school, your child will be sitting the NAPLAN tests on paper in 2021.
To find out more about NAPLAN Online, visit www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment
What if my child is absent from school on test days?
Where possible, schools are encouraged to arrange for individual students who are absent at the time of testing to complete missed tests at another time during the testing week. The 2021 test timetable can be found on the NAPLAN Test Timetable page.
Please note the facilitation of catch up test for individual student are up to schools’ discretion.
For more information on how your child's performance is measured, and what NAPLAN results are used for visit: NAPLAN- Information for Parents/Carers
Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS)
Across Victorian Government schools we value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing, and quality instruction, and will soon be conducting a survey to find out what your child/ren think of our school.
Students in Year Four- Year Six will soon have the opportunity to undertake a Department of Education and Training (DET) online survey, with the same questions being asked across all Victorian Government schools. Our students in Foundation- Year Three will also have the chance to undertake a localised survey, which has been designed by our School Wide Positive Behaviours for Learning (SWPBL) staff team.
What is the AtoSS?
The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by DET to assist our school to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, bullying and life in general.
Students from Year Four- Year Six will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool. It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any time.
Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used to link data for statistical and research purposes only. All responses to the survey are kept anonymous in the response file. Personal identification data will not be recorded in the survey response file. This ensures that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times.
When will the AtoSS occur?
This year, the AtoSS will be conducted at our school in late May-early June, with a Compass post confirming dates for classes to undertake the survey. The survey takes around 20-45 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time. The survey results will be reported back to the school in an aggregate form throughout the survey period. All survey data that is made available in reports are for groups of students only so that no individual student can be identified. Data suppression rules are used for schools with low student numbers per year level.
Where can parents/carers find more information?
If you would like more information, please speak to your child’s teacher or visit: https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/data-collection-surveys/guidance/attitudes-school-survey
Facilities Upgrades
As a School Council we are committed to providing our students with upgraded and improved facilities. Whilst the majority of School Council actions follow our school's Master Plan, we do also take into account general works which need to be undertaken around the school.
Most recently, we have undertaken works to improve the OSHC building, painted external seating, and began works on our Indigenous Welcome Space which was reflected as a high priority in our 2020 Master Plan Community Survey.
Yarra Valley Psychology is partnering with our school!
We are pleased to share with you that our school has secured a partnership with Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services (https://yvp.com.au/), with the aim of providing in-school counselling services to students.
Throughout schools across Victoria, student counselling is a much needed (and under resourced) service. Many of our families are currently experiencing first-hand the difficulties associated with trying to gain access to support services for their children. Therefore, we must be grateful that we have been presented with the opportunity to enter a partnership with YVP, as the resources do not exist for this partnership to occur across schools within our region.
Please be aware of the information below:
Is there a cost involved to access the service, and does my child require a Mental Health Plan?
There is no cost involved for the family.
Your child does not require a Mental Health Plan to access the service. This is due to the fact that the counselling sessions will be delivered by a Masters of Counselling practitioner, who is under the direct supervision of Yarra Valley Psychology (YVP) Services.
There is also no limit on the number of sessions a child may access. Access to sessions, and duration (in weeks) will be determined between YVP, the school, and the parent/carer.
When do sessions commence, and how will they be structured?
Sessions will commence from the beginning of Term Two, with student-needs being prioritized in partnership with the school and YVP. Prior to any child commencing, a confidential discussion will take place between the YVP counsellor and the parent/carer.
Our school has been allocated a male counsellor (name TBC) who will conduct sessions each Wednesday for the entire duration of Term Two and Term Three.
The counsellor will have the time allocation to see up to five students per day, with each session being allocated 50 minutes. At this stage sessions will be occurring each Wednesday.
Will each child who is referred be able to access the service?
Unfortunately, this is not achievable within the current mental health environment. Referrals will be prioritized on a needs basis from within our own school cohort.
If I wish for my child to access the service, what do I need to do?
Please complete the referral form below and return it via the instructions on the form.
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.
In 2021, we will 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.
Communicating with the School Administration Team
We look forward to partnering with you in 2021, 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