Principal's

Message

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

As I’m sure you’re aware, the AGP build is in full swing. Please refer to the scheduled road closures sent out on Compass this week. I have been working closely with the AGP around providing safe access to and from school from 28th March to 6th April, when parking at the Lakeside carpark will not be available. There are some final matters to discuss but as soon as I have confirmation of the arrangements, I will let you know. You will also notice that excursions planned for Thursday 30th March, during race week, are up on Compass, ready for your consent and payment. Friday, 31syt March will be a curriculum day for the children and will see the staff doing professional learning at an off-site venue.

STAFF UPDATE

Last week, we officially farewelled Matthew Vines at our first assembly for the year. Sincere appreciation from the students, staff and broader community was certainly felt, as we all thanked Matt for the enormous contribution he has made in building this school and its culture. Thank you to Freya, who spoke beautifully, on behalf of Council.

We also farewelled Anne Mackelvie, better known as Maestra, after 40 years of teaching service. Anne brought such passion to her Spanish classes and did an exceptional job of developing a brand new LOTE program at SMPPS. Replacing Anne, are two new Spanish teachers, Toni Canto Castello and Sara Del Rio Garcia. Toni will be teaching Prep, Grade Two and 3/4 A & D, and Sara will be teaching Grade Ones, Five/Sixes and 3/4 B,C, E and F.

Next week, we farewell Rebecca Drew, our Psychologist. Bec has worked part-time at SMPPS for the last 18 months. She has had a significant impact on Disability Inclusion and provided support for students and families, more broadly. We thank Bec for her hard work and wish her the very best for the birth of her baby. We will be advertising for a Psychologist to support the work of the Education and Engagement team, this term.

SCHOOL COUNCIL NOMINATIONS

I would like to sincerely thank our 6 Councillors who are retiring this year, Danny Pinchas, Jo Manley, Sarah Sorenson, Korina Morrisey, Steve Miles and Jacqui Franzoni. These councillors have given of their time to assist in the governance of the school, both through school council and the various sub-committees. I would personally like to thank these councillors for their incredible support of me in my first term as Principal.

School Council nominations are invited for vacancies in both the mandated elected parent and the Department of Education (DE) employee categories.  Specifically, our School Council is currently comprised of seven elected parent representatives, three elected DE employee representatives, one(optional) community member and the school principal (executive officer).  All elected representatives are elected for a two-year period with overlapping tenure, so that not all positions are declared vacant in any one year.  For 2023, we have two (4) elected parent positions vacant and two (1) DE position. The need to co-opt an additional community member will be discussed and agreed upon with the newly formed council. 

If you are an enthusiastic parent interested in getting more involved in the school by representing the school community or know someone who is, we would love to hear from you. Effective councils have a broad range of experience, skills, and expertise. Face-to-face and online training is also available to help councillors develop the skills and knowledge for the job. Parents find their involvement satisfying and may find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

For more information on what is involved, see:  School Council Information for Parents In calling for nominations for the vacancies, please note that the appropriate nomination form is available, on request, from the school office or on our school website.  Parents can self-nominate using School Council Parent Self-Nomination Form or you can nominate a parent using School Council Parent Nomination Form. If we receive more nominations than vacancies in either category, a ballot will be conducted over a two-week period. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT NOMINATION FORMS MUST BE LODGED BY 4:00PM FRIDAY 10TH MARCH.

 CAN YOU HELP?

If you think you could help out with assembly set up every 2nd Friday, or go on a roster, please email the school at south.melbourne.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au with the subject ‘Assembly crew’

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

This year our Annual Implementation Plan focuses on the following key improvement strategies:

• Building an inclusive, safe and secure learning environment
• Developing and embedding a consistent and positive whole school approach to student behaviour
• Effectively mobilising available resources to support students' wellbeing and mental health, especially the most vulnerable
• Supporting both those who need extra support and those who have thrived to continue to extend their learning, especially in numeracy
• Developing consistent school wide approaches for the instruction of literacy and numeracy
• Building teacher capacity to utilise data & a range of assessment strategies to design curriculum targeting a student's point of learning need
• Building the capacity of leaders to embed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) culture throughout the school

We are using the High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS), ‘Explicit Teaching’ and ‘Differentiation’ as a lens through which to focus our professional learning in 2023. The full AIP can be accessed on the Website.

Nicole Arnold

Principal