2013 Newsletter 18 - Doncaster Primary School

“We all need someone whoinspires us to do betterthan we know how.”AnonymousThe Education Reform Act of 2006clearly sets out the School Councilobjectives which our School Counciltakes seriously. We believe weefficiently govern our school and thedecisions we make always take intoaccount the best interests of thestudents.Our Council regularly discusses theeducational opportunities for thestudents. The school’s vision andbroad directions are establis hed byour School Council and are reflected inour strategic planning and annualimplementation plans. We alsoregularly review and update schoolpolicies as required. We have aneffective and efficient School Councilthat leads the school community inconversation and decisions on keyissues relating to facilitating qualityeducation at our school.Our School Council works well as ateam of parents, teachers and cooptedmembers. In fact we have hadthe opportunity to co-opt memberswith qualifications that are able tomeet the particular needs of ourschool community.The proposed school governance inVictorian government schools is asuper board, as in Ontario, Canada. Ihave included an excerpt from myCanadian Study Tour report, whichspecifically relates to schoolgovernance. My full report waspublished in Bulletin No 14, on 29thMay 2013.We found that within the threeprovinces of Ontario, Alberta andBritish Colombia, there werediscernible differences, yet points ofsimilarity. Each province had SchoolBoards which were like localgovernment councils with communityelected members. There were noindividual school elected schoolcouncils; instead there was a SchoolBoard which incorporated anythingbetween 20 and 70 schools. ThisBoard had control over all staffing,finances and facilities. After lengthyquestioning the group concluded thisstructure would not work within theVictorian education context. A numberof articles have been written aboutthese Boards which highlights they arepolitical in nature, largely made up ofnon-educators, and create anotherlayer of bureaucracy. They seem towork against the notion of autonomy.Read more: The Pros & Cons of ElectedSchool Board Members | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/info_7918929_pros-elected-school-boardmembers.html#ixzz2SbbGFUxoIn summary, it would seem that districtschool boards would be potentiallythreatening to the autonomy and localfunctioning of Victorian governmentschool and create another layer ofunnecessary bureaucracy.REPORTING STUDENTPROGRESSThank you to everyone for yourparticipation in our Student / Parent /Teacher Conferences this week. Thepositive feedback from all involved hasbeen most rewarding.Although staff have a professionalresponsibility to report studentprogress to parents; I believe that staffat Doncaster Primary School go beyondthe minimum that is required bylegislation. The staff at DoncasterPrimary School have dedicated hoursof work individually and collectively, toensure that assessments are accurateand consistent across each of theAusVELS levels. Common assessmenttasks developed by staff andapplication of standardised testsensure that all student progress anddevelopment is accurately monitoredand reported. Our ‘Student WorkAssessment Portfolios’ provideevidence of achievement and assist insupporting teacher judgements.Thank you to parents for yourenthusiastic support of our ‘StudentProgress Conferences’.END of TERM 2 DISMISSALJust a reminder Term 2 ends nextFriday, 28thJune. The children will bedismissed at 2.30pm. Childcare isavailable, but you must book a placewith Out of School Hours Care on 0423794 665.END of TERM ASSEMBLY -SPECIAL TIMEPlease also note that our final WholeSchool Assembly for Term 2 will beheld at 9am on Friday 28thJune.Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles,etc, are all welcome!MONSTER COMMUNITY RAFFLE- URGENT REMINDER!Thank you to the many families whohave sold their tickets and returnedmoney to the Office.Ticket butts, monies and allunsold tickets must be returnedimmediately.If you prefer not to participate inraffles, please consider a donationtoward our Building Fund.Please do not dispose of unsoldtickets – return them to school.Page 2The family who sells the most ticketswill receive a special prize!Each class, where every child sellstheir allocated book of tickets, will beawarded a Movie / Sport afternoon,including popcorn and / or icy pole.The lucky winners will be announcedearly in Term 3.A huge thank you to HeatherMcCarthy, our wonderful SchoolCouncil President, for coordinating thisraffle.ENROLMENTS for 2014If your child, or those of your relativesand friends, turn 5 years old by 30thApril 2014, then they are eligible to beenrolled at school.We would encourage you to enrol thisterm, as this will assist us in planningour ‘Transition Program’ in Term 4.‘BRIGHT BEGINNINGS’ -BELONGING, BEING,BECOMINGOur Bright Beginnings playgroup isnow underway! Information regardingdates and times for Term 2 isavailable from the Office.If you would like additionalinformation, Larissa can be contactedon 0413 993 796.IN THIS WEEK’S BULLETIN• Camp Australia News (page 3)• Chinese Translation Service (page 4)• Pre-loved Books Required (page 4)• WiseOnes (page 4)• 150 Years ‘Dinner Dance’ reply slip(pages 5 and 6)• 150 Years Dinner Dance Childcarereply slip (page 7)