Dear MPS Families

It has been an absolute pleasure to return to school after being away on long service leave to be greeted by so many students and families asking about my overseas holidays.

I couldn’t be more blessed to work with such a caring school community. With students singing and performing it’s clear to see that production preparation is in full swing.

PRODUCTION – ‘Shrek Junior’ Friday 8 September.

Within a couple of hours of opening ticket sales for the production, we had sold 500 tickets. We’re now up to 800 sales. To ensure ALL families have the opportunity to purchase tickets, sales are limited to only two tickets per family for the first two weeks of sales opening. From Monday 7 August, families will be able to purchase further tickets. If you haven’t already done so, jump online and buy your tickets now.

FEEDBACK FROM THE PARENT WORKSHOP

As you know, we have been working through the feedback gained from the Parent Workshop held in May. We have already made changes stemming from those suggestions. For example, requests were made to have more time with the teacher to discuss the students’ progress and to find out more specifically what students can do and what they need to work on next.

As a result, we organised parent-teacher interviews instead of the student led conferences we normally have in term 3. You will also have noticed that the ‘Compass Continuum’ gave a terrific insight into the specific skills your child has consolidated and further skills to be taught or developed.

COMMUNICATION

Feedback also highlighted the need to review how we communicate information to families to avoid double up messaging and where to locate previous messages at a later time.

A summary of the communication platforms and their purposes will be posted on compass and also on our school website.

The Department of Education Parents and Carers Opinion Survey

The Parents & Carers Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement.

We encourage ALL families to participate in this survey (which will take around 20 minutes). Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. The Opinion Survey will be conducted from Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September.

A newsfeed will be posted on Monday to provide families with a one time use PIN and the website to access the survey.

THE FATHER'S DAY STALL IS BACK

This year, the Father's Day stall is back! Students can enjoy shopping for a gift at the school’s Father's Day Stall to be held on Wednesday 30 August.

Further to the Father's Day stall, the Social and Fundraising School Council committee have organised a get together for the dads. Please find information about these events further in this newsletter.

FYI about feedback – We used to run an Annual Father's Day Stall until three years ago when parent feedback suggested we replace it with a Father's Day get together. Interestingly, feedback has once again changed, so the stall is back.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

Thank you to the school council members who attended last night’s School Council Governance Training run by Synergistiq.

Synergistiq is contracted by the Education Department to run training sessions for new council members to outline the roles and responsibilities of School Council.

While the key role of school council is to oversee the school’s compliance to the Department of Education regulations and laws, it is also important for School Council members to be aware of and to represent the views of the school community. In this way, policies can be adjusted to reflect school specific needs.

MINOR CAPITAL WORKS GRANT – TOILET UPGRADE

I’d like to give a huge shout out to Cass Williams and Nadine Florenini; two parents who assisted me to write an application for the Minor Capital Works Grant with the purpose of upgrading the toilet facilities in the hall.

Our application has been submitted along with support letters from school council president Sandra Maxfield and our local MP for Oakleigh District, Mr Steve Dimopoulos.

We will now await the funding outcome. Fingers crossed.

Chellee Plumb

Safe to School