Welcome back!

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2022, and of course, to a new school year! After what was such a challenging year for many people, I hope that you all managed to have some time to rest, relax and recharge over the holiday break. I’d like to especially welcome our Prep families and those new to Launching Place this year. The Prep students made a wonderful start, and were showing everyone how quickly they can settle into school life.

I want to say a huge thankyou to the Launching Place PS community for being so welcoming and making my transition to this lovely school so easy! It has been a busy start to the year with things in full swing from day one, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my first few days as Acting Principal. The students here are a credit to their families, and the teachers and support staff are so hard working and dedicated. I am really excited for what the future holds for Launching Place Primary School, and I am very grateful to be part of it!

I know that Mrs Messerle gave you a little briefing on me last year, but as the new kid on the block, I thought it would be nice to share a little about myself. I have worked in education for 20 years now (gosh, that makes me feel old!) and have loved every minute of it! I have worked in several schools, the last two as Assistant Principal, and in various other roles. The last few years I have been working in the field of Positive Education Psychology, something that I am excited to share with the staff and students of Launch. The most important thing to me (aside from school) is my family, and I have two wonderful children, Will, who is 16 and Georgia, who is 13. They both play a lot of cricket, so that dominates our weekends (but also gives me an opportunity to sit in the shade and read my book while pretending to watch the game!) My favourite things to do are read, write and listen to and play music, luckily, things I get to do at school, too! As many of the students have already noticed, I love shoes and spend a lot of time each morning working out which pair I'm going to wear!

There are quite a few things I need to include here, so it probably seems like a lot of information for the first newsletter. (I promise it won't usually be this long!)

Covid information

I am conscious of it appearing like every communication from the school feeling like it is covid related, but I want to assure you that all information that needs to be passed on to you will be done so in a timely manner. Communications will come through Compass as this is the easiest way to get information to people quickly. I know that Launching Place PS has been fortunate to have not had any positive cases last year, and that the notification of positive cases may have caused some families to feel nervous or anxious. We have no way of knowing what the next few weeks or months will look like, but we are following covid-safe protocols as closely as we can, and focusing on setting up good classroom practices that allow the teacher to deliver quality teaching and learning opportunities for all students.

If there are positive cases that have been onsite, you will receive a notification through Compass about this. I will endeavor to send this as soon as I am notified. This is no cause for panic, and you do not need to come and collect your child if they are in a class impacted by a positive case. If students are well, not showing any symptoms and are undertaking the Rapid Antigen tests provided, they are safe to be at school. If a student displays symptoms at school, you will be contacted to come and collect them. It is vital that if your child is unwell that they not come to school. I understand the pressures that this can place on families, but to maintain the health and wellbeing of everyone, it is important that students and staff are not attending school if they are unwell.

I would ask that parents limit their time onsite as much as possible, and if you need to speak with your child's teacher, please be sure to make a time with them to do this. We also ask that if you are coming onto the school grounds at drop-off or pick-up times, you try and social distance as much as possible, and follow community mask guidelines. Visitors onsite who are entering classrooms will need to sign in at the office and provide proof of vaccination. If you have any questions, speak to a member of the office staff and they can point you in the right direction.

Rapid Antigen Tests

We are still awaiting deliveries of Rapid Antigen Tests. I have been assured that they are on their way, but I know that there are many schools that are in the same position. I thank the parents who have come and collected a pack of RATs, and have been understanding that the delivery of these are beyond our control. I will update you once we have secured more tests.

Assembly

This year, Launching Place Primary will move to a fortnightly whole school assembly on a Friday morning. On the alternate week, we have exciting plans for students to engage in a wellbeing focused activity that can be reinforced in whole school assemblies. Hopefully, once we are able to welcome visitors onsite more freely, parents can become involved in these activities as well.

Due to the covid restrictions, we will start the year with online assemblies. Although these are not the same as a face-to-face gathering, it is the safest way to celebrate whole school achievements in the current climate. I will have a link set up for our first official assembly next week where families will be able to watch at home in real time. Keep a look out for information of how you can watch this through a school YouTube channel (not accessible to the public, and only able to be viewed via a link shared on Compass).

Getting to know you interviews

We are planning to hold our 'Getting to Know You' interviews with families on Wednesday February 16th, but I am waiting for further clarification as to if these meetings need to be conducted remotely, or can be face-to-face. Once I have an answer for you, I will let you know the arrangements, including how to book sessions with teachers.

Annual reminders for families

Privacy Policy

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website https://www.launchps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/5._lpps_privacy_policy.docx.pdf

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents.

Accident Insurance

The Department of Education and Training (DET) does not provide personal accident insurance for students. Parents are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs. The Department of Education states that reasonable low cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector. Similarly, DET (which includes the school) does not offer replacement of personal items which are brought to school and are lost, broken or stolen. Sentimental or expensive belongings and toys, including sports equipment and electronic devices, are normally best left at home.

Hats

A reminder that all students are required to wear a school hat every day during Term 1

Phew! That was a lot, wasn't it? Well done if you made it all the way through!

Have a week everyone!

Jess Mann

Acting Principal

Birthdays

A child’s birthday is a very special occasion and every fortnight we will share this celebration. Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrated their special day for January and February: