Principal's Report

Appreciations

We were so pleased to welcome every one back. Watch out for some of our returnees featuring in next week’s assembly video.
A big thanks to former FWPS parent Jason Wagland, who (almost as soon as our newly repaired ride on mower was returned) managed to find time over the long weekend to mow the oval. Now there is a volunteer who really earns his annual slab of the hop product!

A newly cut oval welcomed all students back to school on Tuesday. Cold start. Warm welcome.

News

Remote and Flexible Learning at Home survey – Thanks for parents and carers who have completed the survey posted in last week’s newsletter and repeated here. We discussed the responses yesterday at our Leader’s meeting and will also discuss an updated version on Monday when School Council next meets.

Assemblies – While we are back at school, we will continue to moderate some of our practices due to sensible state-wide restrictions that remain in place. Generally activities that

include students from across different schools or even classes is to be avoided. That puts a line through interschool sports, excursions and even lunchtime clubs for now.

Reboot of our school website – While the domain name remains the same, our website https://www.fwps.vic.edu.au has had significant changes over the last few days. We were encountering some functionality issues recently, so a revamp was a priority. We welcome feedback at: footscray.west.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Stage 2 - Return to School - 3-6

After two completed days of all students returning to classes, we can report that the organisation has held up well and problems experienced have been minor and generally solved easily.
I did post the importance of maintaining vigilance about personal safety. This has been particularly evident with adults and children often ignoring use of the school crossings, especially on Argyle Street. I understand there was a near miss yesterday, so please, please take the time to be safe and courteous.
A reminder that students need to have access to a water bottle at school, as due to CV-19 restrictions the bubbler taps are unavailable for use. Water bottles should be labelled and left at school.

Loaned iPads are now due to be returned to school – Thank you to all families who quickly returned the iPads to school that we promptly provided to all families who requested them during the period of learning at home. Now that all our students are back at school, we anticipate all remaining iPads be returned over the next few days. On return, they are cleaned and our IT guru Quang prepares them for return to the grade area they were borrowed from. As the iPad allotment is required for daily use, the importance of prompt return cannot be overstated. A very big appreciation to Anne Reciszen, Quang Ho, Russell Newman and members of the office team for all their work in managing this important support for remote and flexible learning at home throughout this extraordinary term.
Capturing the experience – Our grade 6 school and class captains are excited to be working on capturing the experiences that the students have had learning at home. In a series of activities, devised by the captains, all grades will participate in learning activities in class that record their personal recollections. We will feature samples in future newsletters and assemblies.

Reminder: The DET Primary School Nursing program questionnaires for Prep Students are due back at school. Please send them in with your child as soon as possible. If you do not wish for your child to take part in this program, please send back the envelope and questionnaire with 'No' ticked on page 5.

Best regards

Brendan