Newsletter - 9 June 2022

Issue 17


Principal's Report

In today’s Principal Report:

Appreciations and acknowledgements

  • Staff leadership announcement
  • Cross country event
  • FWPS rising sports stars are looking forward to representative action

    News
  • Road safety concern
  • Emergency management drill held today
  • Additional security measures
  • Last chance to register for the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund
  • Covid update for this week

    Coming up
  • Interschool sports this week and next
  • Student report to be sent via Compass
  • Parent-Teacher interviews / Student led conferences on the last Wednesday of term (22nd June)
  • Queen’s Birthday public holiday this Monday - no assembly or Pupil of the Week awards

Appreciations and acknowledgements 
Congratulations to Carolyn Lockie, who has been recently appointed to a substantive Assistant Principal position at FWPS.  This appointment confirms the executive leadership model that has been operating this year.  Our official principal team now consists of Brendan as Principal and Liz and Carolyn as Assistant Principals.  I am sure former students of Carolyn (and their parents), as well as all who have worked with Carolyn this year, will attest to her qualities. I am delighted with the outstanding Assistant Principal team we now have in place at FWPS!

Well done to the 18 students in the middle and senior school, accompanied by Stratos who participated in the District Cross Country event at Brimbank Park yesterday.  An appreciation to the parents who attended and even provided a portable shelter.  A report have been prepared by two representatives and can be found on page 3.



We are pleased to celebrate the news that Oscar Cameron and Finley Rowe, both from 5TH, who play in the under 12.1 boys Westgate Imperials, have been selected to play in the National Junior Classic this Queen's Birthday weekend. Their team is currently in the Victorian State Division and have qualified for the National Championships. Australia’s best 128 junior teams have earned their places in the 2022 Kumon National Junior Classic and they will take on the rest of the nation in Australia’s peak elite junior invitational tournament. Good Luck Boys!

Link to article: https://www.basketballvictoria.com.au/news/kumon-national-junior-classic-teams-announced

We are also pleased to announce that Sage Toussaint from 6MC was selected in the Victorian U12 SSV Girls’ hockey team. Sage is understandably very excited.  The team will travel to Canberra in late August to compete in the National tournament. We wish Sage and her team-mates the very best of fortune!

We love sharing stories of our students' successes, new adventures and special moments.  Please email us with good news stories at footscray.west.ps@education.vic.gov.au

News …
For Safety Sakes! 

Should your child walk or ride to school, there is trust that they will do so safely.  However, there are times that we receive a report that concerns us deeply.  Such a concern was brought to our attention yesterday, when a parent reported that after dropping his child at school he drove back towards his home (and work day) down Essex St.  As he passed Argyle St, he was able to travel at the signposted speed of 40 km. Unfortunately, a senior student stepped between two stationary cars facing east that were in the line of traffic waiting to turn right into Argyle St. She had not seen the motorist, nor had he seen her, until a crash was almost inevitable.  Due to his diligence an accident was avoided by the smallest of margins.  I feel I should add that this parent was very shaken by the experience but wasn’t at all angry, he just hoped that this very near miss could hopefully be communicated to the child and perhaps provide a wider lesson on safety.  I shared this message with each of the grade 5 and 6 classes and appreciated when a student, recognising the scenario, spoke to their teacher. Consequently, we were able to have a conversation about the importance of relying on using the nearby signposted and staffed Essex St crossing and not crossing at a place on the road which just might be convenient and ‘appear’ safe.  I hope this event may serve as a catalyst for family discussions.  Our experience is that motorists in the neighbourhood are not always as capable, or as responsible as the parent who contacted me on Wednesday.  Too often we witness unsafe and illegal parking and driving manoueveres.  Please follow the advice to use our staffed crossings and please model safety conscious behaviour to your children.                                                            

Emergency Management Drill
We have been searching for a suitable date for us to provide students and staff with the opportunity to experience necessary safety training amongst the busy and challenging term we have been experiencing.  Today, everyone at FWPS was required to file out onto the oval for an emergency evacuation practice that was held after recess today. Teachers discussed the reasons why we need to practice emergency procedures and were provided an indication beforehand, so that everyone would be prepared.  For our younger students in particular, two years of pandemic has reduced their opportunities to fully participate in all the aspects of school life that our older students were accustomed to.  Not surprisingly we were all a little rusty too.  We plan to run a series of drills over the next two terms to more fully support students and staff in managing the unexpected.

 

Additional security measure 
Pictured, our maintenance guru, Taleb attaching the lock to our new fence near the office.  We decided to install this fence to encourage all visitors to access school via the office once the main gates are closed each morning.

 

 

Camps, sports and excursion fund - CSEF can be applied for by parents/carers who have a health care card and meet the eligibility requirements-see attached for further details. If you have not yet applied, you only have until the end of term to do so.

Applications must be given to the school before 24th June. If you haven't done so, or have any queries on your eligibility, please contact the office for an application form.


Covid update 
We are pleased that Covid positive student numbers have approximately halved this week from last week. However everything is relative.  This is still the second most number of students testing positive this term.

The latest distribution of RATs were sent out on Tuesday.  If this pack has not been handed to you, please check with your child.


New Covid cases this week …

Positive 

Household close contact

12 students 

0 staff members

7 students 

2 staff members


Coming Up …

Interschool sports 
This Friday is the final day of our home and away season, with an away match against St Bernadette’s primary school planned to be held between 11.30 am - 12.30 pm (approximately) at the school located at 2 Willey St. North Sunshine.  The soccer and tee ball teams will play at the Italian Social Club, also in North Sunshine.

For all teams that qualify for the finals, those games will be played on Friday of next week, with all teams playing at FWPS and at our usual sporting venues, Shorten and Johnson Reserves.

Student reports
All student semester 1 reports will be sent via Compass.  Reports will be posted at 4 pm on Friday (of next week), 17th June.

Student learning conferences 
A reminder that during the entire day and into the evening on the following Wednesday 22nd June, during the final week of term 2, a student free day will be held to enable Student Learning Conferences (student-led conferences in grades 5 and 6) to be conducted.  From a health perspective, all interviews will be conducted as WebEx video conferences.  A Compass post was sent out earlier today.  This will enable all parents and carers to make bookings with class and specialist teachers on a ‘first in, first served’ basis.  

Queen’s Birthday Public Weekend
This weekend will be a long weekend with a public holiday on Monday due to the  recognition of the Queen’s Birthday.  Consequently, no assembly will be held or Pupil of the Week awards presented next week.  

Our next assembly will be a video assembly to be presented on Monday week, 20th June, the final Monday of term 2.  With decent weather, we will hold an outdoor assembly on 24th June, the last Friday of term, prior to school being dismissed at 2.30 pm.

Cheers,
Brendan



Coming Events

DATE

COMING EVENTS

Fri 10 June2nd Hand uniform shop 8:45-9:30am
Fri 10 JuneGrade 6 Interschool Sport. Away St Bernadette's PS. Soccer and T-Ball at Italian Social Club. 
Mon 13 JuneQueen's Birthday Public Holiday 
Fri 17 JuneGrade 6 Interschool Sport - Grand Final (Held at Footscray West PS, Johnson Reserve and Shorten Reserve)
Thur 16 June2nd Hand uniform shop TheirCare families 4:30pm - 6:00pm - Cash only
Mon 20 June & Tue 21 JuneThen & Now Incursion Grade 1
Wed 22 JuneCurriculum Day - Reporting to Parents 
Fri 24 JuneLAST DAY OF TERM - 2:30 FINISH
Mon 11 JulyFIRST DAY of TERM 3
Wed 10 August5/6 Camp Final Payment Due
Fri 19 August3/4 Camp Final Payment Due


Science Incursion

On Monday 6th of June the Grade 4s did a Crazy Chemicals science incursion! This links to our Inquiry unit from Term 2 where we have conducted many science experiments in class. The Grade 4 classes split into 3 three groups and over the the day we all had a turn of going to the incursion in the Dingo Gallery Space. We had fun with scientific things including turning algae into string slime noodles. We also had sand that wouldn’t absorb water. This is scientifically known as hydrophobic!

   

We had an amazing time playing with Crazy Chemicals. Big thanks to Adam and Supreme Incursions for a fun time !


By Eva, Audrey and Gretel (4DW)



🏃 Cross Country Report 🏃‍♀️

On the 8th of June a group of FWPS students travelled by bus to Brimbank Park for the division cross country.

Some schools were involved from the Maribyrnong region including FWPS. Others were from the Moonee Ponds region and the Keilor region.

9 - 10 Aged students ran 2 kms (approximately 2 laps of Brimbank Park)

10 - 11 Aged students ran 3 kms (2 laps of Brimbank Park and an extra running distance through the trees) The rest of the age groups did the same distance as the 10 - 11 age group.

The top 12 runners in each race would qualify for the next round of the competition. It was a cold and wintry day so everyone was keen to run and keep warm! All runners gave their personal best and made the school proud.



Students had numbers safety-pinned to their jerseys. This was so the participants knew who they were running against because several races were happening at the same time. The bibs we were wearing also had a timer on the back of them. Though it is a long distance race (not sprinting) it’s always good to know the students' time. It was tough, but about half of the FWPS students made it through!

We congratulate our many qualifiers and applaud anyone else who participated. The next cross country will take place on Thursday 16 of June (Next week). Contestants will run the same distance at the same place, Brimbank Park.

More information about the next weeks cross country will be provided via Compass.


By Olivia Hall and Harriette Mackie from 4DW.

 



Parents Association

Second hand uniform shop - General shop

The next general Uniform Shop opening is Tomorrow morning Friday, 10th of June, from 8:45am to 9:15am. Cash is preferred, however EFTPOS is available through the office.

If you're able to assist Sarah G with the stall tomorrow morning (8.30-9.45am), please 'sign-up' using THIS LINK. Any assistance for this super valuable community service would be greatly appreciated.

We're also still seeking donations! If you have any uniforms in good condition, no rips or stains, that are no longer being worn, please consider dropping these off to the office at any time. All donations are greatly appreciated.

Second hand uniform shop - Theircare Afterhours shop

The 2nd Hand Uniform Shop will be opening once more ‘after hours’ on Thursday 16th of June, from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. A big thanks to Luke and the Theircare team for enabling (& running) this opening for Theircare parents. Because this is run out of hours, this is a cash sale only.

PA Committee Meetings

If you're interested in learning more about the Parents Association, sharing your ideas and suggestions, or meeting (or re-meeting) some friendly faces, then you should definitely come along to a PA Committee Meeting- and surprise, surprise there is one tonight! We will be meeting at Harley and Rose to discuss and plan whist enjoying a lovely meal.

We are meeting at 7:00pm, so if you can make it please sign up here YES! I'm coming to the PA Committee Meeting  

If you can't make tonight’s meeting, please take a note of the proposed meeting dates for later in the year: Thursday 14th July, Thursday 25th August, and Thursday 6th of October.

FWPS Beanies

We hope our FWPS beanies are keeping some little ears warm on these bitterly cold days. Beanies are now permanently available to purchase from the 2nd hand uniform shop or the office for $20. Thank you to everyone who supported this initiative.  

Until our next update, stay warm, from the PA Exec (Sharee, Kate & Tinny) & Committee.