Principal's Message

Last Day of School Timings

School will begin early on the last day of the year. It will also finish early.

Here are the timings so you can prepare:

• 8:30am - School Begins
• 1:00pm - School Finishes

We will have a recess from 10:30am-11:00am to give the kids a break. They can bring a snack, but lunch is not required as they will go home at 1:00pm. This early finish allows staff to pack up, tidy up, move rooms and leave the spaces ready for the summer clean by the cleaners. We thanks School Council for their support with these changed times as it allows staff to not have to stay until late at night packing up. Thanks to families as well for making this effort.

Note that Out of Hours School Care can be booked by parents from 1:00pm onwards if this early pick up is not possible. Staff will cease supervise from 1:15pm when they have other commitments (last staff meeting) so please do not be late.

Manners Matter

I want to make special mention of the parents who I meet walking past the school each day dropping their child off at the front gate. You are all very kind and I can see where your children's manners come from. There is almost always a happy hello, a smile and a good morning greeting.

Manners matter for your children's futures so it is great to see adults role modelling for the young ones. When they see what we are doing, they love to replicate the behaviour....so thank you to you all.

This week, I have noticed that more students are approaching me with their chins up and walking with towards me confidence. Body language plays a huge part of how the world sees you so it is an important skill to practise. For those parents who are training their children, let's work on shoulders straight, eyes forward, confident speech and eye contact for the next two weeks.

Maths Invaders Walk Arounds

Gee, your children are clever. I spent Thursday and Friday this week walking into every class that does Maths Invaders as they practised their automatic recall skills. I can't believe how advanced many students are with their number skills. It stood out to me that the ones who had practised the most were the most proficient - logical, right? The concept behind Maths Invaders is based in the cognitive theory of 'spaced practise'. Spaced Practise is when a students comes back to a skill repeatedly, but leaves some time space in between so they almost forget. The act of effortfully recalling number facts moves the information from short to long term memory and it lodges in the brain forever. If the brain has to work overtime in short term memory, students can't solve higher order problems and start to fail at secondary school. 

We practise Maths Invaders in every grade 1-6 for ten minutes, four times per week. The results are obvious as I move around the school and watch the game being played. We have some students in the senior years engaging with pronumerals and algebraic expression....and that is quite rare in a Primary School. Credit to the teachers and parents who encourage that practise. 

Student Performance Data

We are in assessment mode at the moment in preparation for end-of-year reporting. I get to see all results in the global school database and work with our leaders and teachers to track progress over time. Our goal is always to have high outcomes and high progress. Some students have some low outcomes, but are making good progress - that is worth a big celebration. Students who have low outcomes with low progress are at risk of falling behind. Once they fall behind in Primary School, Secondary School becomes a real drag and school dropout comes into the picture. We want to make sure we work together to ensure this does not happen. Now is the time to catch them before they fall.

Find below some data facts derived from our assessment at the end of this year.

• 80% of Grade 1 - 6 students reading above their year level in a standardised comprehension assessment (PAT Reading).
• As mentioned, remarkable maths skills and effort has been evidenced in Maths Invaders with so many students achieving above expectations
• We have more students qualified for the Victorian High-Ability Program. These students were identified by the Department based on their academic results. We are proud of them and their consistent hard work.
• In 2021 we are expanding our intervention program for those students who thrived in remote learning, but also those who were negatively impacted by it. We are currently working through data sets to identify which students will require support through our intervention team of Multicultural Education Aides and new Tutors.

Arrangements for Remainder of 2020

Despite the Department of Education announcing some changes to the new COVID processes, we will continue to greet students at the front gates/doors and ask that parents do not enter the school grounds or buildings unless invited specifically by a staff member. With only three weeks of school to go, it did not seem sensible to make changes at the last minute.

Installation of Waterlines Sculpture

Kirrip Park, the lovely green space diagonal to our school, has had a new sculpture installed. It is located on the bluestone pavers between Buckhurst Street and the retaining wall/seating at the front of the park. The title of the fixture is 'Waterlines'.

Waterlines is a site-specific artwork created by notable Australian artist Ian Strange. The work was commissioned by Wonderment Walk Victoria, a philanthropic organisation, in collaboration with City of Port Phillip, Orphic, UAP, Ian Strange Studio, Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society and South Melbourne Primary School. The sculpture was donated to the City of Port Phillip.

Waterlines is a sculptural fragment of a local Montague house and represents the residential, industrial and environmental past and present of this area.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please email publicart@portphillip.vic.gov.au. 

Staff in 2021

This is a flag to say that the Week 11 iNewsletter will contain the names of the staff at SMPS in 2021. There are a number of changes due to childbirth, immigration and other factors.  We are excited to announce these important appointments and incredibly confident that our staffing processes yield the state's best teaching group.