Newsletter - 2 March 2023

Issue 5


Principal's Report

Syrian and Turkiye Earthquake Appeal fundraiser - May I remind our community that on Friday (tomorrow) we invite all students to wear casual clothes and encourage a donation of a gold coin (or other suitable donation).  Our senior school captains will visit every classroom to collect the donation bag at approximately 9.10 am.  All money raised will go to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal.  Let’s together make a difference.

*Students attending our Cross Country event will be invited to bring a change of clothes.

Please ensure your child has their sunsmart hat with them every day while our Sunsmart ‘season’ is in place (end of April).  After checking the weather forecast we anticipate holding an outdoor assembly.  We last held an outdoor assembly on the the 2nd Friday of term.  It was concerning to see how many students did not have their hats with them.  Please do what you can to help.

In this week’s newsletter:

  • Appreciations 
  • News … 
    • School Council met on Monday
    • Casual dress day to support Turkish/Syrian Earthquake Appeal
    • Assembly tomorrow
    • JSC and ET election/presentation update
  • Coming up Tomorrow
    • Cross Country Divisionals 
    • Casual clothes day to support Earthquake relief
    • Assembly,  including presentation of badges for our JSC representatives
    • Divisional swim event next Thursday
    • Environment Team members will be presented with their badges at assembly next Friday
    • Grade 3 and 4 camp expression of interest due next Friday
    • NAPLAN years 3 and 5 (March 15th to 27th).

APPRECIATIONS
To my principal class colleagues, Liz and Carolyn.  They are highly knowledgeable, exhibit outstanding values, are committed, caring and have an unbelievable work ethic. We should all be appreciative of the support they provide for students, staff and families to ensure we can maintain our success during challenging times.

A big thanks to Brooke and Lee who are coordinating the Junior School Council this year.  Brooke is reprising the role she took on and we welcome Lee, new to our school, who will be joining her in this shared role.  The JSC met during the week and are looking forward to receiving their badges tomorrow.

Orchard to Plate - we loved the program that Dianne Macdonald introduced to our school.  With Dianne no longer working with us, we are keen to maintain an OTP program.  At assembly last week representatives from 6MC entertained us with a live presentation.  We enjoyed their performance inspiring us to make a video version.  You can view their video version at: https://vimeo.com/803697198

NEWS …
School Council met on Monday 
We acknowledged the terrific legacy of retiring Council members; parent representative, Amanda Dunn and staff representative, Libby Buck.  We will welcome our new parents reps, Alison Thistlewaite, Casey Wright and Sonia Vuddamalay when we next meet late in March.

We discussed the demands on (senior staff) in managing the minutiae associated with compliance requirements as we move into the period of School Review.  The first step is for the VQRA (Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority) to sign off on compliance and Child Safety Standards. We are looking forward to completing this part of the process next Tuesday.

The next step will be the more creative and interesting aspects of our school review when we evaluate and acknowledge our data over the last 4 years, meet with students, staff and parent/carers and investigate what our future goals will be.  The principal team and School Council President will meet with the review panel during the last week of term.  External members of our panel will consist of an experienced reviewer and former primary school principal, David Mann, the network Senior Education Improvement Leader, Natalie Bakai, and two challenge partners.  We have invited two successful leaders as challenge partners, my colleague at Footscray PS, Jen Briggs and Principal of Newport Lakes PS, David Moss.   The process will roll out throughout term 2 and will ultimately conclude with the development of a new Strategic Plan.  We will keep our community informed as we move through this process.

School Council
Before each Council meeting I prepare a Principal’s Report.  This summarises the main points and context that are then discussed in general business.   

Though disappointing to some, we have made the decision that we will not provide a sibling photo opportunity in future years.  This is due to the significant number of staff required to supervise in order to meet duty of care obligations.

Liz provided a detailed breakdown of the Parent/Carer Opinion Survey report from last year.  This was a generally positive data set and compares reasonably, or even favourably with our network neighbourhood of schools.  Snapshots of our student, staff and parent/carer reports will be shared when our Annual Report to the School Community is prepared and shared with School Council and then our community later this term.

School Camps in 2023 - We are pleased that we will run a camp experience for students in grades 3 to 6 this year.  At Council the very significant cost of the grade 3 and 4 overnight camp to the Zoo was discussed.  Unfortunately, prices of events, just like prices for everyday items have increased.  Entry, accommodation, food, and transport costs have increased very significantly.  We have not included the necessary TIL (time in lieu) costs for the Zoo Snooze experience as we will endeavour to cover this through internal adjustments and through the attendance of members of the principal team who are not eligible for TIL.  We budget for camps and excursions to cover costs.  For instance grade 3 and 4 camp to Lord Somers last year was run at a small loss as CRT coverage is an unavoidable camp cost.  We have not yet costed the grade 5 and 6 camps to Kangaroobie. As these 3 day, 2 night camps will include substantial travel and multiple nights, we can anticipate a very substantial increase in the costs of running these two adjacent camping experiences in October.

Buddy Bus Stop 
As our Captains’ Crew filmed our flag raising ceremony yesterday, we came across former parent, Bec Dowell, applying her creativity and skills transforming our Buddy Bus Stop.  I quickly took a video which I have shared here:
https://vimeo.com/803663898

  

COMING UP … 

Assembly Tomorrow
Welcome
All parents and carers (especially those with a personal stake) are invited to attend at 2.40pm on the basketball court (or in the gallery space if there is extreme weather).  

Preps
Tomorrow’s assembly will be the first to be attended by the Prep students.  At their first assembly they observe how it operates.

Pupils of the Week
Of course just like today’s newsletter, the POTW award winners are published beforehand to provide an opportunity for parents and carers to attend if their commitments allow.  The following week, 5 lucky preps will participate for the first time.

Junior School Student Representatives will receive their badges at assembly tomorrow.  

I have pleasure in including the list of our 2023 JSC representatives (below).  

2023 JSC MEMBERS

Grade

Rep

Grade

Rep

1LL

Miski Usman

5MC

Aisha Todd

1JS

Luella Rosier

5MC

Monty de Lacy Leacey

1TN

Olive Szafraniec

5SM

Amelia Scott-Caroll

1JI

Lily Huysmans

5SM

Zain Azzopardi

1LE

Vi Caputo

Term 2:
Theo McAlister

5TH

Alice De Maid

2HR

Angus Lacy

5TH

Nancy Halpin

2TF

Amelie Arvanitidis 

5LW

George Garcia

2DW

Asha Pearce

5LW

Mollie Madden

2CW

Theodore Stavrakis

6MP

Sienna Lobo

3TM

Lydia Coglin

6MP

Michael Bayarsaikhan

3MK

Penelope Ung

6LC

Oscar Shrestha

3MP

Willa Majewski-Wang

6LC

Ka Hii Choong

3CG

Scout Dalziel 

6MC

Billie Shortis

4AF

Flynn Bishop

6MC

Nicholas Rybka

4JD

Dhrubo Roy

Prep students are not included in our leadership groups.  A year of observation and immersion in the life of our school is a great way to prepare our new grade 1s for active participation.

4TC

Madi Munro

4MS

Hikma Abdul Wahab


District Cross Country 
The event will be held at Hansen Reserve, West Footscray tomorrow.  There will be 36 participants from our school.  Departure will be from 9.20 am with the first event for 9 and 10 year girls.  They will continue through age and gender culminating with the 12 year old boys concluding the event.  Anticipated return to school will be approximately 12.30 pm.  

Divisional Swimming Carnival  
Congratulations and best wishes to the 10 students who qualified to represent our school next Thursday at
Oak Park Leisure Centre. They will be accompanied by Stratos and be transported by bus, sharing with our neighbourhood schools.  

We wish the following students the best of fortune: 

From grade 4
Owen Brownsetin, Owen Elliott, Sam Howe and Anneliese Wirth

From grade 5
Nancy Halpin, and Harriette Mackie

From grade 6
Harvey Howe, Eli Lieberman, katherine Tregear and Liye Xu

Parents and carers are welcome to attend both events.

Zoo Snooze 
Please note that the expression of interest for the grade 3 and 4 (individual class) Zoo Snooze overnight camps closes next Friday.  Please contact the Admin team if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Brendan

Repeated (and updated) messages …

CSEF Eligibility - The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities such as, school camps, swimming, school-organised sports programs, outdoor education programs, excursions and incursions. You may be eligible if you hold a current Centrelink Health Care Card, Veterans Affairs Gold Card or Pensioner Concession card.  

If you registered your child in 2022 there is no need to re-register, however you DO need to register new Prep Students or if your circumstances have changed and you are now receiving benefits.

Forms can be found in the link below or at the main office, a copy of your Health Care Card is required, this can be copied at the office. 

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/programs/health/CSEF-Application-Form-2020.pdf

Should you require further information, please contact the Admin Team on 9687 1535.

Parent/Carer Volunteer Induction 
This information has been ‘pinned’ on Compass so it remains easily accessible.  You will currently find it as the third pinned item on your News Feed .  For all new families or parents and carers who didn’t complete the online process last year, if you wish to assist in classrooms, excursions or camps, or volunteer for really any other purpose at FWPS, we need you to complete the modules online.  For parents/carers who did this last year, all you need to do is sign the relevant form at the office.

Little Learners Love Literacy resources
Last year when we introduced our new approach to reading in grades prep and 1 we made significant resource purchases.  We are still seeking the return of some take home books that may have been mislaid. If any families with students in grades 1 and 2 can locate any missing resources we would very much appreciate their swift return. 

Change of email  
We are no longer using the school gmail addresses for communication to staff.  Parents will be asked to communicate directly with staff using the email facility within Compass, or email the school email address at: (footscray.west.ps@education.vic.gov.au) attention the staff member the message is intended for.  Emails sent from the Compass app will be sent directly to the relevant staff members’ education email account.  Please understand that staff are busy and will respond in a timely manner.  If a matter is urgent, you are advised to call the school during office hours, or leave a message outside those hours.

Car park 
A reminder that the car park is open prior to 8 am and after 4 pm daily for parent access for the Their Care OSHC program.  At other times, please appreciate that the car park is for staff use.  Should you need to walk through to the Their Care location at Emu Corner, for safety’s sake we ask that you use the pedestrian gate next to the boom gate and make your way between Koala and the Wallaby buildings past Gecko via the basketball court through to Emu Corner.

Please check out the brief explanatory video at: https://vimeo.com/777907951

Photo Permission
When parents and carers first sign the enrolment form for school entry, they may be understandably reluctant to sign the photo permission section.  We frequently use pictures and videos to share learning highlights and to maintain and foster school/home links.  As we frequently include photos and videos of the students learning and playing we are regularly confronted by wonderful picture opportunities we cannot share in our newsletter and videos.  

We would love you to review your decision so your child can be fully involved in the life of our school.  Feel free to contact your child’s teacher or the office so they can make those adjustments on your behalf.

COVID information
As you will all understand, COVID continues to be transmitted within the community and remains a highly infectious illness.  Consequently, it continues to be vital for families to remain careful when exposed to COVID or when demonstrating symptoms.  While schools will no longer be providing Rapid Antigen Tests - We do have dozens of leftover packs that have at least 6 months left before their use by date.  Drop in to the office, or send  us a message and we will send some home with your child.  

Many of you will have heard that this year RATs, while continuing to be supplied by the state government, will be distributed by local councils from venues such as our library locations.

Rapid Antigen Tests are also available for all Victorians from Council sites.  People can get 2 free packs (10 tests) for themselves and 2 free packs (10 tests) for each of their household members.

People with disability and their carers can get up to 4 free packs (20 tests) in line with existing RAT distribution for people with disability.

Further information can be obtained at Council Rapid Antigen Test Program.

Rapid antigen testing

It is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) are used by students and staff:

        If you have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
        If you are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
        If you are a social contact of someone who has COVID-19.

The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians should report their positive RAT result to the Department of Health online, or by calling 1800 675 398.

Students (or their parents) should also report a positive result to their school, either through the COVID Test portal or by phone or written notification.









Coming Events

DATECOMING EVENTS
Fri 3 MarFootscray District Cross Country - Grade 4, 5 & 6 for Qualifiers
Tue 7 Mar2nd Hand Uniform Shop TheirCare 4:30-6pm
Wednesdays in March - 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29thPrep Open Afternoons
Thu 9 MarMaribyrnong Division Swimming Carnival for Qualifiers
Mon 13 MarLabour Day - Public Holiday
Tue 14 MarStudent Free Curriculum Day
Wed 15 - Fri 24 MarGrade 1/2 Swimming Program
Mon 20 Mar2nd Hand Uniform Shop - 3:00pm to 3:40pm
Wed 15 - Fri 31 MarNAPLAN Years 3 & 5
Mon 27 MarSchool Council Meeting (In person) - 7:00pm
Thur 6 AprilLast Day of Term 1 - 2:20pm finish
Mon 24 AprilTerm 2 begins - 8:50am
Tue 25 AprilAnzac Day Public Holiday
1st - 16th MayGrade 3/4 Camp Zoo Snooze - various dates
Tue 2 May
9:30am -10:45am
Tue 16 May
9:30am - 10:45am
Tue 16 May
6:00pm - 7:00pm
Tue 30 May
9:30am - 10:45am
2024 Prep Enrolment Information Sessions and School Tours
To attend one of the listed sessions, please register via the following link: https://compasstix.com/e/yzkmg5dfrq
Wed 31 MayMaribyrnong Division Cross Country Brimbank Park for Qualifiers


Pupil of the Week

NAME

GRADE

APPRECIATION FOR:

Inara

1JI

Her enthusiasm to participate during class discussions and engaging in small group learning with her peers. Superb effort, Inara!

Emilia

1JS

Displaying her personal best in all aspects of her tasks and not giving up! 

Ada

1LE

Putting a great effort into reading and writing tasks. Keep up the great effort. 

John

1TN

You remained focused in our writing session to complete a full sentence with correct punctuation. Great effort John. 

Harper

1LL

Listening attentively and putting effort into all of your learning.

Theodore

2CW

The great presentation of his Junior School Council speech and being elected by your peers as our class representative. You are a star!

Sefina

2DW

Her amazing attitude to learning. It's great how you see mistakes as opportunities to make progress. Fantastic job, Sefina!

Zach

2HR

His instinct and willingness to lend a helping hand in any situation. Great job!

Kedu

2TF

Her fantastic participation in all class activities and demonstrating her personal best through her work. Well done Kedu!

Matthew

3CG

Always giving his personal best effort and being a kind/ helpful classmate! Keep it up Matthew.

Jayden

3MK

Being an inclusive member of 3MK. Well done!

Everett

3MP

Sharing his knowledge and thinking during whole class learning. Awesome work!

Hugo

3TM

Always listening attentively and showing mutual respect to your peers and teachers. Well done Hugo!

Isabelle

4AF

Showing care to other students in times where compassion is needed. Izzy, your kindness is inspiring to others!

Ella

4JD

The amazing effort you apply to all learning areas. Thank you for being a great role model!

Ellfa

4MS

Her persistence during math, particularly in place value. Keep up the wonderful efforts Ellfa.

Owen

4TC

His attention to detail and vivid descriptions in his writing. Well done, Owen!

Amelie

5LW

Displaying growth mindset when presenting her leadership speech to the class. You should be proud of yourself Amelie.

Harvey

5MC

Always looking out for others and consistently applying your personal best effort to all tasks!  Keep it up!

Isaac

5SM

Using a growth mindset and positive self-talk to present your leadership speech to the grade. Everyone in 5SM is proud of you.

Skye

5TH

Your perseverance and excellent effort during the beep test. Well done!

Eden

6LC

Your consistent kindness and respect towards others. The positive vibes you spread around 6LC are very much appreciated- thank you!

Rayn

6MC

His entertaining and expressive delivery of the assembly item about our ‘Orchard to Plate’ program. Your knowledge of persuasive devices was on full display for the whole school to see. Well done!

Braxton

6MP

The effort you have applied to write an engaging and convincing introduction for your persuasive text.

Hunter Foster

TheirCare

Being a great help in the afternoon and being kind to all the staff and children at TheirCare.  

 

 



Grade 2 Update - Welcome

Welcome to Term One in Grade Two. We are excited to be all together and to be learning all about our new members of our class. For the past few weeks we have had a productive and busy start to the year focusing on getting to know one another, learning classroom routines and positive ways of working together. We have begun the year implementing class building activities, incorporating our Agreements along with focusing on exploring growth mindset and understanding what our personal best effort looks, sounds and feels like. We have started all of our specialist classes and have begun to take home library books and our decodable readers.

Numeracy

  • Investigating number sequences, increasing and decreasing by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and tens from any starting point.
  • Recognising and reading numbers to one thousand.
  • Breaking numbers into hundreds, tens and ones to model the different parts of a number.
  • learning to sequence two-digit and three-digit numbers.
  • naming and ordering the months of the year and their corresponding seasons.
  • Practising our problem-solving skills and learning strategies to help us solve problems.

Literacy

This year we will be continuing our Little Learners Love Literacy Program. This program focuses on students developing their phonemic (sound) and graphemic (letter) knowledge. This term we will be learning to read and record words with the sounds,

  • aw, le, oo, ow, ou, oi and oy.
Writing
  • We will be using the LLLL graphemes to guide our writing practise.
  • Exploring nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions.
  • Differentiating between a fragment and a sentence.
  • Writing recounts using the important elements of who, what, when, where and how.

Respectful Relationships 

  • using our body language to identify others emotions
  • practising help seeking behaviours
  • exploring what it means to be a good friend.
  • practising our attentive listening skills.

We are looking forward to a great year with our Grade Two students. If you have any questions you can contact your child’s teacher using the email button through Compass. 


Grade Two Team,
Caitlin, Dan, Troy and Hayley



Grade 3 and 5 NAPLAN 2023

Dear Parents and Carers of our Year 3 and 5 students,

The NAPLAN assessments will be taking place from 15th- 27th March of this year. As a part of the National Protocols for Test Administration (Online), it is a requirement that students have an opportunity to become familiar with the format and question types contained in the NAPLAN Online tests.
In the lead up to NAPLAN, Years 3 and 5 students will participate in practice tests which will help them to become familiar with the test format, language, response types and technology experienced in each component of the assessment.

Please note that the Year 3 writing assessment is conducted in a pencil and paper format.

For further information, please refer to this important information page for parents and carers.

https://nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-information-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf

Please see our intended NAPLAN schedule below. 

Intended NAPLAN schedule

*Subject to change

Wednesday 15th March

Thursday 16th March

Friday 17th March

Monday 13th March

(Public Holiday)

Tuesday 14th March

(FWPS Curriculum Day)

9:10
Year 3 Writing 

(All grade 3’s)

9:10
Year 5 Writing

(All grade 5’s)

9:10

Year 5 Reading

(All grade 5’s)

9:10

Year 3 Reading

(All grade 3’s)

Monday 20th March

Tuesday 21st March

Wednesday 22nd March

Thursday 23rd March

Friday 24th March

9:10 Year 5 Conventions of Language

(All grade 5’s)

9:10 Year 3 Conventions of Language

(All grade 3’s)

9:10 Year 5 Numeracy

(All grade 5’s)

9:10 Year 3 Numeracy

(All grade 3’s)

 

Limited catch up sessions will be run up until 27th March depending on staffing availability. 

At Footscray West Primary School, we encourage all students to participate.

Please contact Assistant Principal, Carolyn Lockie, should you have any further questions about your child’s participation.



FWPS Council News

Recent Policy Updates

Each year, there are a number of policies which the ComPol subcommittee of School Council are required to update. Many of these are templated policies from the DET, and others require minor additions of information relevant to our local school procedures. Later in the year, we will review some policies where we will seek wider community consultation and feedback, such as our Community Code of Conduct and Homework policies.

To start the year off, the following policies have been updated and can be viewed on our school website at: https://www.fwps.vic.edu.au/page/222/Policies-and-Child-Safe-Standards

We kindly request that families read and are familiar with these policies and the actions/procedures within them.

If you have any questions about any of the FWPS policies, please contact the school's Principal team or a member of School Council.

Recently updated policies:

  • Anaphylaxis
  • Asthma
  • Attendance
  • Bullying Prevention
  • Camps and Excursions
  • Child Safe Standards – Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
  • Child Safe Standards – Child Safety Code of Conduct
  • Child Safe Standards – Responding and Reporting Obligations Policy and Procedures
  • Child Safe Standards – Child Safety Risk Register
  • Complaints
  • Digital Learning (Internet, Social Media and Digital Devices)
  • Duty of Care
  • First Aid
  • Fundraising
  • Health Care Needs
  • Medication
  • Mobile Phones
  • Student Wellbeing and Engagement
  • Visitors
  • Volunteers
  • Yard Duty and Supervision


School Photos – 2023

Our annual school photos have been taken and are now ready to order.

Arthur Reed Photos uses an online ordering system where you can view your photos prior to ordering.

On photo day all students received a flyer which includes a code unique to them.

You will require this 2023 code to register online and view your photos.

If you have already registered, you will receive an email or SMS from Arthur Reed Photos with a link to view your photos.

If you have not yet registered, please go to order.arphotos.com.au and enter your code to complete your order.

If you have misplaced your registration code, please contact the Arthur Reed Photos customer service team directly on 5243 4390 (option 1) or customerservice@arphotos.com.au

Please note that you will need to register online with your 2023 photo code to gain access to this year’s images.

All photo packages will be sent directly to your nominated address, so please ensure that you enter the correct details and nominated shipping address upon checkout.

If you require any assistance ordering your photos, please contact Arthur Reed Photos directly on 5243 4390 (option 1) or email customerservice@arphotos.com.au



SoundGarage

SOUNDGARAGE AT FWPS

We have made a wonderful start to Soundgarage this year!
All the lessons are off and running with a fantastic number of students participating. Thanks to all our amazing Soundgarage families.

Enrolments are closed now as we have reached our capacity! Thank you again to the whole FWPS community for your ongoing support of Soundgarage.

For general enquiries please feel free to contact Maddie at maddie@soundgarage.com.au or 0401 844 522.

Cheers
Maddie Owen 
Manager of Soundgarage Music School



TheirCare

Hi parents, guardians, staff, and friends! 

We are thrilled to welcome back all children and families to TheirCare! We have welcomed new children and families and we are so excited to continue meeting all the wonderful people in our community! 

This week’s theme is Around the world! The children have spent lots of time creating bracelets and learning about different cultures. We also designed our journal covers and spent loads of time in the gym playing basketball and soccer.    

This week’s Star of the Week for TheirCare will be Hunter Foster for being a great help in the afternoon and being kind to all the staff and children at TheirCare.  

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, Ashleigh & Connie 

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

 



Community Notices