Newsletter - 6 October 2022

Issue 30


Principal's Report

In this week’s newsletter:

* Appreciations

* News … this week 

  • Odd Socks Day tomorrow

* News … coming up

  • School Disco
  • Pupil free days 
  • Covid update
  • Class placements 2023
  • Changes in staff conditions
  • School gate opening times 

Appreciations
We hope all in our community who had the opportunity enjoyed an excellent holiday, the first in three years when term 3 holidays could be taken just about anywhere. We hope your family had some special moments and opportunities.

Happy news
We were pleased to receive the news that grade 3 teacher Jane Sherlock and partner Chris are new parents to a baby boy, Leeroy who was born in the holidays. They are both doing well.


Welcome back…to Zowi who resumed as our school nurse on Monday after five terms on family leave. In transitioning back to school Zowi will be working from 10 am to 3 pm daily. Next year we expect Zowi will return to a 4 pm finish each day.

Sad news 
We would like to acknowledge that former leading teacher and acting assistant principal, Lyn Wilkinson‘s mum passed away over the holidays. A representation of her former colleagues were pleased to be able to attend the funeral on Wednesday morning. Lyn spoke magnificently and certainly appreciated the support of her colleagues both current and retired. On a personal note we also appreciated catching up with our recently retired leaders, Caren and Anne. 

During the holidays … there was some significant work achieved. The exterior roof of the Koala building, closest to the car park, that currently houses 2BD and 2JI, was replaced and new heating and cooling installed. No more leaks! We were also delighted to have had new lines for down-ball courts painted in the area of our recently constructed green shade structure. A big thanks to Taleb and Rick for your work. 

We were excited to learn that our wonderful long-term cleaner, Cheryl had been nominated by her employer, ISS for the shortlist for employee of the year.  We will be preparing a short video to support her nomination at the ISS Pacific Conference at Uluru. 

Thanks to our regular gardener, Craig for doing a wonderful cleanup on the weekend prior to the start of term 4.

News … this week …

Odd Sock Day
Tomorrow we encourage all our community to wear odd socks to school.  We often ask for a gold coin donation, but not tomorrow.  This event is all about raising awareness, rather than money.  We’d love to see some loud and colour challenging ‘unpairs’ (students, staff and parents) in the yard before school!

In the words of class captains, Cara and Maya.

Have you ever had a bad or off day?

Well yeah..sometimes it can be overwhelming! But it’s okay we all have bad days. This upcoming Friday, FWPS would like to hold an Odd Socks Day. This day is all about raising awareness for people living with mental health issues. 

Odd socks day intends to reduce stigma around mental health and is an important opportunity to show people who are having an odd day that they are not alone.

In Australia 1 in 5 people have dealt with mental health issues, but didn’t or haven’t found the confidence to talk about them. 

By wearing a pair of odd socks you are on your way to starting the conversation about mental wellbeing, and how everyone can have an odd day.


 

Maribyrnong Division Athletics Carnival Corrections

In the last Newsletter it was incorrectly reported that the 11yr Boys Relay came first in their event, they actually came third and unfortunately did not qualify for the Western Region Finals.  It was reported the 10yr Boys Relay came second in their event, they actually came first and did qualify for the Western Region Finals.  Apologies for the error.  Stratos

News … coming up

School Disco
The last time we held a school disco was in August 2019. So we are delighted to bring back a school tradition this term. The disco will be held on Thursday, 27 October. As it is so close to Halloween, the theme was very easy to determine, so get those ghoulish outfits ready.  There will be a Junior disco (Preps to grade 2 from 5 to 6.30 pm) followed by the Senior disco (grades 3 to 6 from 7.00 to 8.30 pm).  There will be a need for volunteers as we will access the canteen for some party foods. Please look out for further information via the newsletter, Compass posts and assemblies.

Covid update
We anticipate that we will provide one more RAT pack for families within the next few weeks.  That will be the final one provided.  We expect that we will have some supplies available until the end of the year on a need to basis.  While Federal Cabinet has recommended further changes to the isolation requirements they do not come into effect for at least another week.  Changes are only then put into place in schools after our Operations guide is adjusted.  Therefore for any Covid positive student or staff member, a mandatory 5 day isolation period is currently required.

New Covid cases this week …

Positive 

Household close contact

1 student

0 staff members

5 students 

0 staff members


Class Placement for 2023
During Term 4, the teaching teams will spend many hours preparing grades for next year. Throughout this process, the needs of all students are considered from a social, academic and behavioural perspective. 

In limited situations, we may consider requests from families regarding their child's 2023 grade placement.

If you believe that the following listed considerations are relevant to your child's needs, we advise that this form must be completed by the due date. This is the formal communication for this process, so we will not be accepting phone calls or emails on these matters.

All matters will be dealt with sensitively; however, we must stress that requests for specific teachers, classes or friends will not be accommodated. Throughout this process, teachers look for compatible learning partners and encourage the development of new friendships. Requests related to learning, behavioural or social requirements will be considered on merit and in consultation with key staff members.

If after consideration of the above stipulations, you believe your child’s class placement requires special consideration enter your request at:  Grade Placement 2023

If you have made such a request in the past, please note that any previous accommodation or agreement will have been made for that year only.  If the concern is still relevant, a request will again need to be made.

Please note that all communication on this matter will need to be received via this form, no later than Friday, 28th October.

You will receive an automatically generated email acknowledgement after submission. We may seek further discussions or clarification with families.

Considerations for grade placements …

Class placement requires the collective efforts of all staff throughout a considerable process. Initially, the teachers meet to consider the relative academic and social abilities of the children and then begin to place them in grades, considering their current friendship groups. Please note that this is based on teachers’ knowledge of the children. The most important consideration however, will always relate to placement with compatible learners.

A range of factors are considered based on some simple principles:-

* classes need to have a gender balance

* classes need an academically compatible balance

* classes need a “social behaviour” balance

* children need to be placed with familiar faces, while at the same time acknowledging that some children work better with certain students than others irrespective of friendships

As a Tribes school we strongly believe it is essential for children to be challenged to make new friends as these opportunities often lead to wonderful new friendships and relationships never before imagined. Additionally, it is unrealistic to expect that we will travel through life with only one set of friends.

Students need opportunities to work through social challenges with care, support and understanding from the adults in their life. Please do not expect that a student with whom a child had an issue with one year will never be in the same grouping with them again. We need to help children learn to adapt and skill themselves up to deal with all kinds of people and most importantly, give relationships a second opportunity to flourish.

Changes in staff conditions
Last week of Term 3 I mentioned how the ratification of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA) would have a practical impact on how we are able to manage elements of school operations.

In order to meet the adjusted requirements, school management have further limitations on the times that teachers are required for duty. For a full time teacher, 30 hours each week are required for the teaching and preparation of lessons, planning and assessment and 8 hours are required for meetings and other duties, such as yard duty.  While the notion of the 30 + 8 model was in place with the previous agreement, there are elements that have been adjusted or further restricted.  At parent request, teachers regularly meet with parents and allied health professionals outside hours.  There will be limitations placed on the times and availability of teachers to meet these requests.  In a regular week, teachers will continue to meet for an hour beyond the school day (3.45 - 4.45 pm) twice weekly for specific school related purposes. At FWPS this is on a Monday and Wednesday.  There is one hour available for additional requirements.  This could include meeting with parents and or meeting with or preparing reports for allied health practitioners.  The default day for this to occur will be on Tuesdays.  We however are aware that this will not always be possible and in such cases teachers may adjust this schedule to accommodate parents on another day in negotiation with leadership.

We are well aware that teachers generally spend many more hours on preparation and assessment.  This will no doubt continue to occur. 

School gate opening times 
Teachers are now required on duty 10 minutes before the learning day begins.  Formerly this was 15 minutes. 
As a consequence, from the beginning of term 4 we will open the school gates at 8.50 am, rather than 8.45 am (as is the current practice).   After school supervision will continue to be provided until 3.45 pm daily.   The Their Care program will continue to operate from the usual time of 7.00 each morning through until 8.50 am (when yard duty now will commence) and from 3.30 until 6.15 pm every afternoon.

Cheers,
Brendan

 



Coming Events

DATECOMING EVENTS
Mon 10 Oct2nd Hand Uniform Shop @ 3:15 - 3:45pm
Fri 14 OctG6 Summer Sports v Corpus Christi @ Home
Mon 17 Oct -
Fri 21 Oct
Scholastic Book Fair
Tue 18 OctGrade 2 Sea Life Aquarium Excursion
Wed 19 OctGrade 3 Majeda Beatty Murri Island Girl Incursion
Mon 24 OctGrade 5/6 Space Excursion (5TH and 6MC)
Thur 27 OctGrade 5/6 Space Excursion (5CG & 6MP)
Thur 27 Oct Whole School Disco 
Mon 31 OctTime in Lieu Day (Pupil Free Day) 
Tue 1 NovMelbourne Cup - Public Holiday
Thur 3 NovGrade 5/6 Space Excursion (5SM & 6LC)
Fri 4 NovPrep Wildlife Xposure Incursion
Fri 11 NovCurriculum Day - Report Writing Day
Wed 16 Nov2nd Hand Uniform Shop @ 8:50am
Thur 17 NovParent Asociation AGM
Thur 18 NovTheir Care 2nd Hand Uniform Shop 
Thur 24 NovTheir Care 2nd Hand Uniform Shop 
Mon 19 DecLast day of Term 4 - EARLY FINISH 1:30pm
Tue 20 DecCurriculum Day


Pupil of the Week

NAME

GRADE

APPRECIATION FOR:

Reggie

PAC

Settling into FWPS with such positive energy and enthusiasm.  Brilliant! 

Archie

PAK

Settling into our class and school routines. 

Emilia Larkins

PHS

The fantastic commitment you show towards your learning!

Chloe

PKB

The effort you apply to all that you do and the positive attitude you bring each day. You are a star!

Alfie

PKT

The care and kindness he shows his classmates. Thank you for being a good friend to all!

Kim

1CD

Having a wonderful start to Term 4 by always giving her personal best in all areas of learning. 

Taylor

1CW

Your amazing building skills when building toys and your offer to help others. Thank you.

Adem

1LB

Returning to school with a positive attitude. Adem independently wrote a wonderful recount about his holidays and used his absolute personal best effort. Fantastic work Adem!

Goldie

1HP

The creativity and imagination you have bought to your narrative writing. A fabulous effort.



Athieng

1LL

For making continued improvements in your reading and writing. Well done!

Scout

2BD

Your wonderful and confident presentation on your musical instrument. Fabulous effort Scout! 

Penelope

2JI

Applying a growth mindset and doing her personal best effort when presenting information on her musical instrument in front of the class in term 3. Superb effort Poppy!

Imy

2LE

The way she accurately found the mass of items using grams.

Hunter

2TN

Applying a growth mindset; showing determination and eagerness to complete tasks to the best of her ability. Terrific effort, Hunter. 

TJ

3JS

Always being so kind, caring and friendly to all your classmates.  What an amazing role model you are!

Sophie M

3MK

Showing a growth mindset and applying your personal best effort during our Maths sessions. Keep it up.

Ewan

3MP

Displaying a growth mindset and infectious positive attitude during his time on 3 / 4 camp. Well done Ewan!

Julian

3TM

Being a respectful and caring classmate. You are a great role model to your peers!

Jack Harris

4AF

Coming back to Term 4 with a fantastic attitude towards learning. Well done Jack!

Archie

4BC

Participating in Lord Somers Camp with enthusiasm, respect and positivity. Well done, Archie. Keep it up!

Olivia

4DW

Your fantastic enthusiasm for learning and for always sharing your ideas during class discussion - great attitude, Olivia!

Dylan

4MS

Demonstrating enthusiasm during all learning tasks and showing mutual respect to his peers and teachers.

Harry

5CG

Always striving for his personal best in all aspects of learning and being an incredibly thoughtful and caring part of our classroom community! Keep it up Harry.

Cat

5SM

Being an attentive listener who is always ready to learn.

Noah

5TH

A kind and friendly classmate.

Arian

6LC

The effort you put into applying feedback to your explanation text. Good job, Arian!

George

6MP

Working so productively in class. Great work George!

Mehmet

6MC

Returning to 6MC with a positive attitude and growth mindset toward learning. Your sense of humour was missed greatly in term 3! Keep up the great work.

Baxter Stokes

TheirCare

Being a kind friend and looking after all the children at TheirCare! He asks lots of wonderful questions and is always willing to lend a hand! 



Term 4 in the Grade 5 Department

Welcome to Term Four! We have a jam packed and exciting term ahead of us, filled with excursions to the Victorian Space Science Education Centre as well as  our traditional senior Park to Park end of year celebrations. We will also have school wide Transition days in preparation for 2023. We will be able to provide you with more information about these events closer to the dates.

Literacy
Our literacy focus continues to be the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing and the development and strengthening of various reading comprehension strategies through fiction and non-fiction texts. 

During term 4, students will:

  • Explore the Voice and Ideas trait through Author Studies and Poetry
  • Engage in reading activities that link to the term’s Space inquiry unit
  • Continue to set individual SMART goals during reading and writing conferences

Numeracy
The areas that will be covered this term are:

  • Fractions and Decimals - Compare, order and represent fractions and decimals
  • Location and Transformation - Identifying symmetry, reflections and rotations
  • Angles - Measuring and constructing angles
  • Volume, Capacity and Mass - Exploration of Volume and Capacity concepts in the real world
  • Pattern and Algebra - Applying problem solving strategies to interpret number patterns and balance equations

Inquiry
Our Inquiry unit will focus on the topic  ‘Our Place in Space’. Students will develop an understanding of the following concepts:

  • Earth as part of a system of planets orbiting around a star (the Sun)
  • Identifying  the planets of the Solar System
  • Understand the difference between rotation and orbit
  • Model the relative size of and distance between the Earth, other planets in the solar system and the Sun
  • Compare how long the planets take to orbit the Sun

Homework
Homework will commence in Week Two. We will continue to encourage student voice in their weekly choice of reading activity. Students are expected to:

  • Read for a daily minimum of 30-40 minutes, 5 times a week 
  • Complete a reading task of their choice from the grid provided
  • Complete three Mathletics tasks per week 

Wellbeing
In our Respectful Relationships lessons, students will be looking at:

  • Gender and Identity  
  • Positive Gender Relationship 
  • Consent & Body Safety

If you would like further information about Respectful Relationships, please see the Department of Education Website

Intra-school Sport 
Weekly intra-school sports will continue for our grade 5 students and they will have the opportunity to participate in bat tennis, newcombe, cricket and basketball.

If you have any questions you can contact your child’s teacher using the email address below.

Grade 5 Team,
Shannon, Helena, Towela, Caity


Shannon Mason (5SM): shannonellen@fwps.vic.edu.au
Helena Lizos (5TH): helena@fwps.vic.edu.au
Towela Sinkonde (5TH): towela@fwps.vic.edu.au
Caity Gray (5CG): caitlyn@fwps.vic.edu.au



Scholastic Book Fair – It’s Back



I am pleased to announce following a break the Scholastic Book Fair is back and will be held in the library during Week 3 of Term 4.

It is a great opportunity to buy some children’s books and help raise funds for the school at the same time.

Further information will be available next term.

Jodi
Library

 



Volunteer Induction Course

Volunteer Induction Course

Hello FWPS families,

Thank you to the many people who have enquired about volunteering at our school. We are pleased that following the release of the new Child Safety Standards in July, we have completed our revised Volunteer Induction course.

To become a registered volunteer, you will be required to complete the Volunteer Induction Course below, sign the 2022 agreement (available from the office) and submit a Working With Children Check prior to volunteering.

*Please note that due to the introduction of new Child Safety Standards in July 2022, all volunteers who have trained previously at FWPS are required to retrain under the new induction program.

This Volunteer Induction Course has been designed as online, to enable volunteers to undertake the training at a time most suitable for them. 

The following videos/modules are mandatory for any aspect of volunteering at FWPS.

  1. Volunteer Induction Course - Introduction (4 mins)
  2. Our school values - Tribes and Respectful Relationships (2 mins)
  3. Child Safety Standards Volunteer Training (27 mins)
  4. Privacy (2 mins)
  5. OHS Induction for Volunteers (2 mins)

Following this, there are additional modules for specific volunteering roles. Please ensure you complete the relevant module for the activity you are volunteering with.

  1. Assisting in the Classroom (8 mins)
  2. Assisting with Excursions (3 mins)
  3. Assisting with Swimming (2 mins)
  4. Assisting with the Orchard to Plate program (3 mins)

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE VOLUNTEER INDUCTION COURSE

Please note that volunteers for camps will complete an online induction following the information evenings.

All relevant policies for the Induction Course can be found on our school's website at: https://www.fwps.vic.edu.au/page/222/Policies-and-Child-Safe-Standards 

Once you are a registered volunteer for our school, your child’s teacher will be in contact with any upcoming volunteering opportunities. Please note that all volunteering is ‘as required’ and the number or frequency of volunteers in classrooms is at the discretion of teaching staff.

If you have any questions about the volunteering program at FWPS, please contact a member of the Principal team on 9687 1535.

Warm regards,
The FWPS team

Volunteering at Footscray West PS 2022 (Volunteer Agreement)

 

 

 

 



Thunderstorm Asthma - be prepare this pollen season

Grass pollen season, which runs from October to December each year, brings an increase in asthma and hay fever symptoms. It also increases the risk of thunderstorm asthma. For people with asthma or hay fever, especially those who experience wheezing or coughing with their hay fever, thunderstorm asthma can be sudden, serious and even life threatening.

Footscray West Primary School will implement a range of measures to keep our school community safe when the risk of thunderstorm asthma increases.

Many of our staff are trained in asthma first aid, and we will monitor the VicEmergency app to receive thunderstorm warnings, and, where appropriate, keep students indoors when weather forecasts identify greater level of risk. 

How you can prepare

During pollen season, there are some things you can do to prepare and protect yourself and your family:

  • If your child has ever had asthma: talk to your doctor about what you can do to help protect your child from the risk of thunderstorm asthma, including updating your asthma action plan. Taking an asthma preventer properly and regularly is key to preventing asthma, including thunderstorm asthma.
  • If your child has hay fever: see your pharmacist or doctor for a hay fever treatment plan and check if you should have an asthma reliever puffer. These are available from a pharmacy without a prescription.
  • If your child has hay fever and experiences wheezing and coughing: it is important to make sure they don’t also have asthma. Speak to your doctor about an asthma action plan.
  • Where possible, avoid being outside during thunderstorms from October to December, especially during the wind gusts that come before the storm. Go inside and close your doors and windows. If you have your air conditioning on, turn it to ‘recirculate’.

Protect yourself this pollen season – managing asthma and allergies matters.

Remain vigilant for COVID-19

It is important for students to manage any hay fever or asthma symptoms, as these conditions can produce symptoms such as fever, chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, and loss or change to sense of smell or taste, which are similar to COVID-19 symptoms.

If your child experiences these symptoms in different or worse ways to their usual hay fever or asthma symptoms, medical advice should be sought.

Find out more

For more information, visit your general practitioner (GP) or visit the Better Health Channel.



Parents Association

Hello- welcome to Term 4!

With 11 weeks left in this term and daylight kicking in- we can almost see summer around the corner. While we count down to those summer nights, there is much to look forward to and plenty of ways to be involved in this wonderful school.

Uniform Shop
We have several dates confirmed for this term, and the first is next week!

Monday 10 October - 3.15 to 3.45pm

Wednesday 16 November - 8.50 to 9.15am

If you would like to help at either of these sessions please email us

Once again, Sarah would like to express her thanks to the TheirCare team for running two TheirCare Uniform shop openings on the evenings of Thursday 18 October and Thursday 24th of November.

We always accept uniform donations during uniform shop openings. However, if these times don’t work, you are always able to drop donations off at the office, and they will be accepted on our behalf. Donations are always greatly appreciated.

State Election- we need you!
Who is ready to flex their fundraising muscle? The PA is running the election sausage sizzle this November- and we know that we can sell more than just sausages! Think baked goods, a raffle and choc tops. If you have an awesome idea to appeal to the crowds and make money, and are willing to coordinate on the day- we need to hear from you!

Working closely with the PA, and with the generous support of the school community, we know that all this event needs is the right person/s to lead the way.

Please email FWPSParentsAssociation@outlook.com we would love to hear from you!

Cheers,
Sharee, Kate and Tinny (your PA Exec) & PA Committee



TheirCare

Hi parents, guardians, staff, and friends! 

Welcome back! We are excited to welcome back all children and families to TheirCare this term! 

This week is back to school! So the children have been busy making crafts for the term ahead!  

The holiday program was a blast! We had heaps of fun making footy themed crafts, doing science experiments, creating rocket ships and spending the day in PJs! We had a record number of children booked in these holidays with a whopping 110 children attending our trip to the Werribee Zoo! We also took 90 children to the movies on the last day of the holidays and saw Super Pets, what an incredible movie!  

Thank you so much to our dedicated staff and supportive community for all their help in making the holiday program such a success!  

We would also like to say a huge welcome back to Suzanna who has been away for the last two years. We are so excited to have her back.  

This week’s Star of the Week for TheirCare will be Baxter Stokes for being a kind friend and looking after all the children at TheirCare! He asks lots of wonderful questions and is always willing to lend a hand! 

For all families if you have any questions about TheirCare and would like to come and have a chat please come visit us in Emu Corner in the morning or afternoon, alternatively you can contact us on the details provided and we will help you as best we can. 

TheirCare Team: 
Louise, Daniel & Connie 

Contact Details:
Service Phone: 0487004072 
Service Email: footscraywest@theircare.com.au                                           Head Office: 1300 072 410 



The Lunchbox - Sushi



Sushi is back!  If you would like to order Sushi, please follow this link which explians how to! 

Sushi Order Instructions

Daughters and Dads Cricket Program



Community Notices

I’m being brave and doing the big shave for breast cancer funding!

School Council member and parent Katie Berman is participating in this year's Big Shave.   Please follow this link if you wish to donate: 
https://www.mycause.com.au/page/295325/im-being-brave-and-doing-the-big-shave-for-breast-cancer-funding



Community BBQ - Shorten Reserve - Monday 10th October 5:30pm -  hosted by Katie Hall MP. 

Come join us for a Community BBQ, hosted by State MP and local community sport supporter, Katie Hall MP.

The Druids and their clubmates the West Footscray Football Club been advocating hard for better facilities and ground upgrades at Shorten Reserve, and this BBQ provides our clubs and community the opportunity to come together and catch up on these endeavours!

Join us at Shorten Reserve, from 5:30pm on Monday 10th October, to hear from Katie, club representatives from both the Roosters and Druids and, of course, enjoy a snag or two!