Melton West Primary School

Principal Report

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back from Remote Learning 4.0. It has been terrific seeing all students settle back so quickly, and eager to be at school. We are still assessing the situation in the morning about the best time to open the gates, trying to balance the need to limit social distancing of adults, with the need to get children to class in a safe and timely manner. Today we opened the gates at 8.45 am, which helped ease the congestion somewhat, however we will continue to monitor the situation and inform you of any changes. The idea is for children not to be waiting outside the school until the gates are opened, but to be dropped off at a safe location, walk along the footpath and enter the school at the nearest gate after 8.45 am. This includes the Melton Wave Pool Carpark, which is very well serviced by the Crossing Supervisors on Coburns Road. Although the music goes at 8.50 am to enter the classroom, children are not marked late unless they arrive after 9.00 am. The 10 minutes between 8.50 am and 9.00 am is an opportunity for the children to enter the classroom, chat with the teacher and perhaps complete a small task whilst waiting for the 9.00 am lesson to begin. Thank-you for your patience and understanding as we work through this to find the best option for all.

 

Curriculum Day: On Tuesday 15th June, all staff spent the day reviewing our work over the past 4 years. We looked at the range of data available through the Department of Education, including Parent Opinion Surveys, Students’ Attitude to School Survey, NAPLAN data and results from school-based surveys parents were recently asked to complete, to name a few. (Thank-you to those parents who clicked on the link for these surveys – your input is much appreciated). We then reflected on the Goals and Targets that were set out in our last School Strategic Plan (see link from school website: https://meltonwestps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/School-Strategic-Plan-MWPS-2018-2021.pdf ). This was a very long – but successful – day and was important to get input from all staff about the things we do well, what helped us achieve our goals or what prevented us if we didn’t reach them. 

One of the surveys parents were asked to complete was identifying a highlight from a list brainstormed at School Council. The following is a summary of the results from this survey:

Sourcing feedback from our parent community is very important to us, as their views and opinions are held in high esteem. The results of the survey showed having the Principal Class Team out and about before and after school each day came out as the number one highlight with 14.9% of respondents choosing this. The Tutor Learning Initiative came in second at 11.7% and the school’s response to Remote and Flexible Learning in 2020 was third at 9.6%. 

Some of the comments from parents about the number one highlight included:

  • “Principal Class members are on yard duty before and after school, greeting families and students. It’s great to be able to say hi and communicate with them”
  • “As stated it’s great to see them out and about and being able to talk to them freely about anything”
  • “I highlighted no 2 because we don’t need (an) appointment to see the principal if we have any little issue about school or about kids, you can meet the principal (in) the yard and she is so nice (and) listen(s) to us very nicely. Thanks for that. We love MWPS”

Other pertinent and positive comments from our parent community include:

  • “My children feel at home at MWPS. It's comforting to know this since their big move from their old school. We love that the school is inclusive and my children are learning lots. Thank you all for all your hard work :)”
  • “Every highlight listed is true and wonderful of MWPS. It is through creative thinking and embracing change that all these great elements of our school are possible”
  • “The work that the teachers have put in over the last year and a half with the COVID lockdown was nothing short of amazing. My child felt included and connected to the class community with the online environment even though she was not physically able to attend. I congratulate you all on the efforts you have made to make this happen.”
  • “The schools willingness to accept change, quickly and respectfully”
  • “The Tutor Learning Initiative program has been fantastic”

Prep Parent Info Session to be Re-scheduled: Unfortunately we needed to reschedule the planned celebration of the Prep Letter ID Data which was scheduled for yesterday, Wednesday 16th June. The Prep Team and I were looking forward to sharing the results with the Prep Parents of the children’s knowledge of Letter Identification. In March we shared the initial data of how many letters each child could recognise, gave the parents games and activities to do at home with their child to help build their knowledge. We now have the data that shows the improvement the children made, as well as the data from 2019 without the parent help. We will reschedule this to early next term, once we are allowed to have more people on-site. I will then share some of this data with the rest of the school in a newsletter, which significantly shows how much more children can learn when their parents are part of the learning team. Thank-you to the Prep Team and Prep Parents for supporting this new initiative.

 

2022 Prep Enrolments and Tours: We are currently accepting enrolments for Prep 2022, so if you have a child coming to school next year, please pick up an enrolment pack at the office. If you have family and friends who have a child starting school next year, please let them know they can enrol their child now. If they are interested in a School Tour please let them know we will recommence Prep Tours as soon as we get the ok from the Department of Education. 

Child Safe Standards: Our Website has been recently upgraded, with our current policies uploaded. I have attached a link to the website where you will find our Child Safety Policy: https://meltonwestps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Child-Safety-Policy-June-2021.pdf which sets out the school’s commitment and approach to creating and maintaining a child safe organisation where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and provides the policy framework for the school’s approach to the Child Safe Standards. You will also find the Child Safe Standards Code of Conduct on the website at the following link: https://meltonwestps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Child-Safe-Standards-Code-of-Conduct-June-2021.pdfhttps://meltonwestps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Child-Safe-Standards-Code-of-Conduct-June-2021.pdf

Please take a look at these policies for your information. If you have any comments or concerns, please make an appointment to speak to a member of the Principal Class Team.

 

Privacy Policy: Another relevant policy that parents should be aware of is the Department of Education’s Privacy Policy. This link is available on our website for your information. Again if you have and questions or concerns please contact a member of the Principal Class Team. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx

 

High Levels of Learning for All

Michelle Costa

Principal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School Captain Report

 

Hello Melton West Primary School,

 

We hope you had a wonderful long weekend!

As we all know, we recently returned to face-to-face learning after two weeks of remote learning. Hopefully, lockdowns don’t happen too often! 

Before we went into Lockdown 4.0, the Student Leaders and JSC attended National Young Leaders Day with Ms Moore and Mrs Cvitkovic. We had a great day listening to key speakers talk about their lives, successes and challenges thus far. It was very inspiring and we each left with ideas about being the best version of ourselves and future leaders. 

It is the second last week of term so school holidays are coming up which means we are half way through the year. As always, please remember to follow our school rules and expected behaviours in the classroom and in the school yard. We also advise you all to try and not make physical contact with your teachers, peers and friends. Try to avoid high fives and handshakes simply do an air handshake to ensure we are doing everything possible to ensure we remain learning onsite.  

 

Stay safe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your school captains:

Johnathon and Alisha.