Principal's Report
WELCOME
I would like to start, my newsletter by welcoming Hannah Stagoll to DPS. Following the departure of Lachlan Poulton to Bulleen Heights Special School we followed the departments merit based selection process and are very fortunate to have secured the services of a very experienced and highly skilled educator in Hannah! Hannah will lead the Grade 2 unit and she is already making a positive impression in her first week at DPS.
ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING
Teachers work in teams to plan, assess, teach and review the data and work planned to ensure the students are taught at the right level. Our timetable has been purposely designed so that the teachers within a year level are released once a week for two hours at the same time to work collaboratively, consider students’ current levels of attainment, their skillsets and how to best engage and promote learning.
Across the school, teams also plan for those students working below or beyond the expected standard via a differentiated curriculum. There is a wide range of ability levels in each class; sometimes 4 to 5 years difference as students learn at different rate.
At this time of year, teachers are busy assessing the students, using a range of resources to determine what progress each student has made. For example, teachers use formal assessments such as Essential Assessment, benchmark assessment tools such as Fountas and Pinnell, moderation of work, students’ work samples, anecdotal notes taken while teaching amongst others. This process is thorough and lengthy.
Teachers work to determine where their students are at when assessing against the Victorian Curriculum and are writing reports. On average, it takes 2-3 hours to write each report and most of this is done after hours. Detailed reports will be available for families on Friday 16th of June and Student Led Conferences will be held on Tuesday June 20th where you will get a chance to discuss your child’s progress. Interpreters can be booked for families needing that service. I would like to thank our staff for working collaboratively to analyse the data so as to plan at the students’ point of need.
Leadership at DPS 2023
Principal: Jim Hill
Assistant Principal: Carly Epskamp
Acting Assistant Principal: Niky Corfios
Junior Sub School Leader: Brent Granger
Middle Sub School Leader: Kelly Soccio
Senior Sub School Leader: Niky Corfios
Literacy Learning Specialist: Julia Bay
Numeracy Learning leaders: Niky Corfios, Brent Granger, Kelly Soccio
Wellbeing Team Leader: Andrew Johnson
Junior School Council Leader: Courtney Larsen
Physical Education and Sport Specialist: Martin Spinks
English as an Additional Language & French Specialist: Alex Xenitopoulos
Library/Cultural Studies Specialist: Lisa Foster
Mandarin LOTE Specialist: Annie Fan
Science Specialist: Adam O’Callaghan
Art Specialist: Christine Boskovska
Extension Program Leader: Niky Corfios
CLASSROOM VISITS
As I walk through classrooms, I see firsthand the caring and engaging work of passionate staff, who carefully create learning opportunities for the benefit of the students. This gives me a great deal of confidence and pride in the staff of our great school. Together, we have developed an instructional model that is implemented across the school. We have developed a consistent and coherent approach across the school which brings sustainable growth in students’ learning.
During our Curriculum Day earlier this week we worked on data, Reading Moderation, Multiplication, English as an Additional Language and School Wide Positive Behaviours.
Working together ensures we have collective efficacy so that students know what they are learning about, teachers share how they develop learning intentions and success criteria with the students which is an evidence-based approach where knowing the Learning Intentions and the Success Criteria helps the students’ in their learning. When I ask the students what they were learning during that session, they are able to articulate the learning intentions and tell me how they would know that they had been successful. It is important to recognise and to thank our teachers for their dedication and hard work.
It is no secret to anyone that there is a teacher shortage. This has happened in previous years throughout my career but I have never really felt the urgency until now. All schools are under pressure at this time because there are simply not enough relief teachers available to cover classes. Relief Teaching agencies are sending daily emails letting us know not to call as they don’t have “any” teachers available. The only choice we have it to split classes. This is not ideal, but we must have teachers in front of children. We continue to minimise disruption and are doing everything within our power to maintain routines and programs.
EVENTS and ACTIVITIES
As the end of Term 2 approaches it is good to reflect on the term we have had. I often say school is a busy place, which is true. I recently had a conversation with a friend who asked what I liked about my job. So often people ask, "how can I do such a difficult job and how do I deal with all those kids and their parents?" My response is always the same. I loved being a teacher and I continue to love my "job". The main reason is that I love the energy of our school. Schools are full of fun events and activities, excitement and lots of movement.
It is a privilege to have influence and input into how children learn. People often seem surprised by my response, because they can't imagine themselves in this job. For me it is an admirable and very important "lifestyle". Teaching is not a job but a lifestyle we buy into because we never stop thinking about what we are planning or organising.
As far as "how do I deal with all those kids and their parents" goes, my position is that I genuinely want what is best for our students, and I work with them and their families because together we are better.
Throughout this term some of what we have done includes but is not restricted to the following;
Anzac Day assembly, Responsible Pet Ownership incursions, Canberra Camp, Mother's Day stall, Education Week, School tours, Open classrooms, House Cross Country, Grandparents and Special Persons morning tea, Cyber safety incursion, Downball clinic, Indigenous assembly/performance, District Cross Country, Bushwazee, Winter Interschool Sports, Choir performance at Doncaster Shopping town and Kinder, Second hand uniform sale, Police visit, Movie nights, NAIDOC Week activities and a number of lunchtime clubs. All of these activities take a lot of organisation by our wonderful staff who do this beyond the classroom. As well as regular meetings they spend time completing risk assessments, permission forms negotiating costings etc. so it is a big job for which they deserve many thanks. DPS is a great school, one I am so proud to be the Principal of, but it is thanks to many factors that we have such a terrific school. Thankyou staff, parents and most of all our students who are always willing to have a go and do their best.
Jim Hill
Principal