Footscray West Primary School in West Footscray, Victoria | Primary School

Footscray West Primary School

Locality: West Footscray, Victoria

Phone: +61 3 9687 1535

Address: 17 Argyle street 3012 West Footscray, VIC, Australia

Website: http://fwps.vic.edu.au

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25.01.2022 Good morning Your video Assembly Week 5 Term 2 is now ready to watch on Vimeo. Enjoy! ... Assembly Week 5 Term 2 https://vimeo.com/416774984

24.01.2022 We return to school tomorrow, but we will need to say good-bye at the gate. We look forward to welcoming our returning students in grades prep, one and two back to the classrooms, however COVID-19 safety restricts parents and carers on the school grounds. As a consequence (as outlined in the newsletter) we have divided returning students into family groups and will enable access at 3 gate locations separated by a few minutes. Classroom teachers will be in their classrooms re...ady to welcome the children back into class, all other available staff members will be rostered to attend the 3 entrance locations. Students have been allocated into family groups based on the family name. This is to enable parents or carers needing to accompany their children, to only have to attend a school entrance once of a morning and afternoon. If your family uses more one surname, please choose one gate for daily access. Arrangements are as follows: Please take particular note at what time you are required to drop and collect your child/children and from which particular location. Kiss and Go Locations A-G9.00 amMAIN GATE (Argyle St) - Pick up 3.20pm O-Z 9-00am BLANDFORD St access path, (Blandford St) - Pick up 3.25pm H-N 9.10am SCHOOL CROSSING GATE (Argyle St) - Pick up 3.30 pm *Before school students attending TheirCare will be collected in the yard and directed to class *Teachers will accompany students attending the TheirCare after school program Towards the end of the day teachers will accompany the students in family groups back to the same gate they entered to be collected by their parents or carers. Please note the times as listed above. Please remember to send your child with a drink bottle, as they will not be able to access the communal bubble taps. A reminder that the canteen is not open, so please ensure that your child comes to school with a fruit/vegetables, a snack and lunch. If your child (grades prep to 2) was loaned a school iPad, please ensure that it is returned tomorrow, together with the charger. We are pleased that hand sanitiser is available in every classroom and specialist area and all bathrooms have soap for handing washing. Strict hand hygiene procedures will be continually practised daily in all classes. All staff and students will undertake regular hand hygiene on arrival to school, before and after eating, blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing or using the toilet. If you child is ill or is feeling unwell, they must not attend school. They must remain home and seek medical advice. Thank you for your support. Brendan Millar Principal Announcement to FWPS parents and carers Week 7 Term 2 https://vimeo.com/421404185

24.01.2022 Hi FWPS folk, COVID-19 Remote schooling at FWPS I do hope this message finds all in our community well and coping during these extraordinary times.... This interim message relates to the announcement recently made by the Premier, Daniel Andrews, that Victorian government schools will shift to remote learning from the commencement of term 2. This in effect means, If you can learn from home, you must learn from home. When further details are communicated via the Department of Education, they will be forwarded as soon as is practicable. Like many other work places, school staff have been directed to work from home. A core group of volunteers will supervise learning for a small group of children: For children of parents in essential services who cannot work from home For vulnerable students without access to a safe or suitable learning environment at home The learning program provided at school will be identical to the learning program provided for all students working from home. Students at school will be supervised in small groups and in most cases be supervised by teachers who will be administering to their own grades needs at the same time. The children will not be supervised by their own classroom teachers. In follow-up communication, parents who believe they meet these criteria will be provided a link to a questionnaire. Once bona fides have been established, there will be additional booking information supplied. Students who do attend school will be required to adhere to: strict physical distancing (no more than 1:10 student/staff ratio) use of hand sanitiser and temperature checks strict hygiene protocol not playing on playground equipment As was stated late last term, next Tuesday 14th April will be a Curriculum Day in preparation for remote schooling. Their Care, our Out of School Care provider, will offer care on that day, subject to availability. Their Care will continue to provide a daily before and after school program for students who attend school (subject to meeting the parameters noted listed below). Additional information, including remote learning instructions and expectations, will be posted on Flexibuzz and via your childs Google Classroom account when available. Yours faithfully, Brendan Millar Principal

24.01.2022 Good morning all, Please enjoy Footscray West Assembly for Week 6 Term 2. This week the Specialist Classrooms come alive with a variety of fabulous student learning examples.... Thank you. Have a lovely day. https://vimeo.com/419545839

23.01.2022 Our first ever video assembly featuring School Captains, Stephen and Johanna, and Principal Mr Millar has been prepared to share with students learning at home. Todays assembly features a brief ANZAC Day tribute. Watch Assembly Week 3 Term 2 featuring a brief ANZAC Day acknowledgement. on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/411394010

23.01.2022 To all our lovely mothers, grandmothers and significant carers Happy Mothers Day! While we may not be able to celebrate as usual, may your day still be filled with fun, laughter and love (and some time to yourself!).

23.01.2022 Access to school changes for parents and carers Fri. 27th November Dear parents and carers,... As a follow up to my mention in yesterday’s Newsletter, you will be pleased to learn parents and carers will now be able to have limited access to the school grounds from this coming Monday, 30th November. However we won’t be changing too much about our start and finish to the school day over the final three weeks of term. From next Monday, parents and carers will be able to access the school grounds and where appropriate, school buildings. This will enable parents to accompany children to their classrooms. As teachers will be working with children from 8.50 am this will not be an appropriate time to have a conversation with your child’s teacher, but will provide an ideal chance to ‘kiss and go’ at the entrance. Many of our younger children have demonstrated a very high degree of independence; consequently, there is no requirement, or expectation for parents and carers to accompany their children to the class door. For parents and carers requesting a meeting, even informal, we ask that you continue to do so via the school office, via the Updat-ed app, or directly using the teacher’s Gmail account. Staff will be now able to meet with parents and carers onsite at an appropriate time. May I stress that this is also not a time for parents to meet for conversation in the schoolyard. Morning entry Students will still be required to enter through the same gates that we have used since we have returned from remote learning. All 6 gates in the 3 entry zones will continue to be open from 8.50 to 9.10 am daily. Students will continue to enter directly into classrooms and begin the morning program. All students entering school after 9.10 am will need to enter through office reception. No child will be marked late until 9.30 am. On Monday, we will continue to have senior staff and class support staff supervising gate entry. From Tuesday morning, that will no longer occur. Afternoon exit We will continue with our current practice of supervising all students in their cohort groups to the 6 gates in the 3 entry zones starting from 3.15 pm with all students exiting by 3.30 pm. This means there is no change to our current afternoon arrangements. Please note: Masks will need to be worn whenever there is any concern about maintaining safe distancing in the yard or at the gates Masks will need to be worn whenever inside the school buildings Meeting indoors at school can occur with prior arrangement No dogs in the yard, or at school gates at pick up time Regards, Brendan Millar Principal

22.01.2022 Happy Principals' Day Mr Millar and the leadership team Caren, Lyn and Anne. We thank you for all the work you do and for the things you all do that go above and beyond your job descriptions all with the focus of making our school the best that it can be and to create an environment for our students to feel safe and thrive. From all the staff and students of FWPS!

22.01.2022 Good morning everyone, Today, all the staff at FWPS are super excited to see our prep, 1 and 2 students return back to school. Weve missed you! We cant wait to learn with you. Its going to be a great day! Footscray West Primary School Assembly video for Week 7 Term 2 is now ready to watch on Vimeo. Please enjoy!... https://vimeo.com/422392344 See more

21.01.2022 Merry Christmas to our wonderful students, staff, families and community. We look forward to seeing you all in 2021. Take care and stay safe, Footscray West Primary School

21.01.2022 Happy Easter FWPS community! Even though we are social distancing, together is our favourite place so remember- stay in touch, reach out, share some smiles and be grateful. Stay safe beautiful people.

21.01.2022 Wellbeing Today we have added a resource we feel will assist you and your childs wellbeing. We hope you will find these ideas useful over the next few weeks. ... The State Government has provided a digital care package to support students mental health. You can access this via Smilingmind link below. We hope that you have all managed to have some time in whatever sunshine has been about this week. Caren Taylor Assistant Principal https://www.smilingmind.com.au/

20.01.2022 Footscray West Primary School reopens tomorrow for onsite access Dear parents and carers, Thank you for your understanding over a challenging few days.... I am pleased to inform you that following the work of FWPS and Their Care staff, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Footscray West Primary School will reopen tomorrow for staff and access for students who require onsite supervision. All FWPS and Their Care staff and students who were deemed to have close COVID-19 source contact are required to remain in isolation until late in the week. This requirement remains in place even in cases where a negative test result has been received. This DHHS advice was relayed in messages and phone contact by Their Care staff last week. Tomorrow will be the start of our second week of remote and flexible learning at home. This learning has proceeded without interruption through the period that our school has been physically closed. I would like to acknowledge the understanding of the parents and carers most affected, the wonderful staff at Their Care and at FWPS. Regards, Brendan Millar Principal

17.01.2022 Wishing our FWPS community a happy and safe Easter, and a relaxing holiday break. We'll see you again, ready to go, in Term 2.

17.01.2022 Our Final School Assembly for 2020! Yesterday our school community gathered to farewell our extraordinary Grade 6 Students who have navigated their way through their final year of primary school during a Global Pandemic. It was wonderful to have our whole school community together again at this important event.... Well done to our student leaders who did an amazing job at leading the assembly. Congratulations also to those students who won an award. A massive Congratulations to all of our Year 6 Students- We know it was a tough year and we are incredibly proud and excited for each and everyone one of you! We wish them all the very best on their transition into secondary school.

17.01.2022 Appreciations Tomorrow we celebrate our TEACHERS for World Teacher’s Day! I know many of you will share my deep appreciation of our teaching staff who worked in partnership with parents and carers over many weeks during our two periods of remote learning in terms 2 and 3. If you feel as I do, what a great time to send an appreciative note, email or card.

16.01.2022 New Communication App Updated We’re very pleased to inform you that we are changing our communications phone app. The new app is called Updat-ed and will make connecting with you so much more convenient.... To download the app just visit the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids. Search for Updat-ed by sponsor-ed and from the menu select our school. We’ll receive your registration request and will need to approve you before your app is up and running. We will prioritise this process regularly. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/updat-ed/id1026772432 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details So what will the app do? The app’s great for regular two way vital communications to and from the school, with one of its best features being the ability to save events directly into your phone’s calendar. Like our previous app, you can report an absence directly from your phone. We will still use the current apps, ‘Flexischools' & 'Flexibuzz' until the end of November, 2020. We hope you enjoy being Updat-ed. Regards Brendan Millar, Principal Yvonne Healy, Office Manager

16.01.2022 May 16 is International Education Support Personnel Day. Thank you to all our fantastic Education Support Staff for making FWPS the wonderful place it is. We couldnt do it all without you! THANK YOU on your day of recognition.

16.01.2022 Date: 28 April 2020 at 11:56:31 am AEST Subject: Use of Google Meet during Learning at Home Dear parents and carers,... We know that the children have really enjoyed the opportunity to meet their teachers and class mates in real time via the Google Meet video application. To ensure your childs online safety we refer you to our Cyber safety policy that can be found on the school website: http://fwps.vic.edu.au//2020/04/Cybersafety-Policy-2019.pdf This forum is an important mode of communication for your childs learning. We advise that you take responsibility for the supervision of your child whilst they are online and during video conferences. - We recommend that the conference takes place in an open space in the home with an adult present. - Students should only log on at the scheduled time of the meeting. - Once the conference has concluded your child is required to leave Google Meet and continue with their daily activities. Regards, Brendan Millar Principal

15.01.2022 ANZAC Day 25th of April Lest We Forget It will be very strange to commemorate Anzac Day in this remote manner for the first time since the day was first acknowledged in 1919. For over a century the sacrifice of Australians at war and in peace keeping forces, has been commemorated in so many ways. ... This year ANZAC services cannot happen in schools, but they can happen in your homes. Our School Captains are planning to work with Mr Millar on creating a short video so that we do not let the day go unacknowledged at Footscray West. Coming soon. This year ANZAC day spirit is now more important than ever. Make it come alive in some way, in your house, your lounge room or the driveway! We look forward to seeing how you commemorate in your homes. Some ideas on how you can commemorate have been listed below. Make something to commemorate ANZAC Day. Decorate your driveway Make a poppy garden Make a wreath together Make some lanterns using old milk cartons Or bake ANZAC biscuits

15.01.2022 Student access to school ipads during remote and flexible learning at home 2.0 Dear parents and carers, As our community is well aware, from next Monday, 20th July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are again entering a period of remote and flexible learning.... Consistent with the message of the importance of physical distancing in order to reduce the spread of the virus: All children who can learn from home, must learn from home. Like many workplaces, Department of Education teaching and educational support staff will work for a proportion of the school week from home. Families who do not have access to an internet enabled computer, laptop or table will be able to loan a school iPad for the duration that the learning from home model continues. We are currently preparing these as a high priority for families who already have made a request. We have communicated this message to all families who previously loaned a device and over 50 have already been collected this week. Parents will be contacted when they have been prepared and provided with a window of time to safely collect them from the office. If you have not yet made a request and this is a need for your child, please email the school at [email protected], or contact the office on 9687 1535 between 9.00 am and 3.00 pm. Yours faithfully, Anne Reciszen Leading Teacher

15.01.2022 A return to remote and flexible learning at home Dear parents and carers I have prepared a brief video that will provide an introduction to the return to remote and flexible learning at home model due on Monday.... https://vimeo.com/439176163 Regards, Brendan

15.01.2022 Welcome back sunshine! Pictured today, our Orchard to Plate share table at the front of the school. Members of our school and wider community are welcome to select some of the food items and a potted pansy, or petunia for Mother's Day.... A big thank you to Kirsten, Randall and their son, Sebastian (from 3/4DW) for generously sharing the hundreds of pansies and petunias they had potted in preparation for our school Mother's Day stall, that unfortunately had to be cancelled this year. Thanks also to Dianne for replenishing the share table. Kirsten and Sebastian are pictured on Monday morning after they brought in the first consignment of plants.

15.01.2022 Welcome to episode 3 of the Orchard to Plate Program. Virtual Tour of the school's orchard with nature instructors Nelly and Luke from TheirCare holiday program and the clan. Please enjoy! Wishing you all very safe and healthy times with your children.

15.01.2022 ORCHARD TO PLATE NEWS The share table has been a great success over the past week, with all the fruit and veggies going quickly. I am topping up the tables on Monday afternoons and Thursday morning, so please make sure if you missed out to try again at these times. We have olives, limes, mint and Mothers Day flowers to share. With Mother's day fast approaching, we have had a lovely donation from Kirsten MacKenzie and Randall Wee, parents of Sebastian 3/4DW. The family have b...een growing pansies and petunias within their greenhouse at home, and have over 500 to 600 small plants to give to families for Mother's Day. These will be placed on the share table from Monday this week for families to collect when out exercising. As the share table is available to the community, (for those in the know) we will place a number of these plants just outside the front office door. This will allow for families of the school to collect theirs if there are none left on the share table. Thanks so much to Randall, Kirsten and Sebastian, a pop of colour is what everyone needs at the moment. On a final note, The Orchard to Plate Program is now part of the specialist Google Drive and weekly videos for students to watch and do at home will be posted here. I am very much enjoying all the photos and videos of you all cooking. It puts the biggest smile on my face, it really does make my job so rewarding. Keep up the great work! Dianne Please watch and enjoy the attached videos below. Easiest Playdough Ever https://youtu.be/jWqnrFuZc48 French Toast https://youtu.be/n7YkwGAWqlU

14.01.2022 Good morning everyone, Today we welcome back all students from grades 3 to 6 who return for the first time in over 2 months. We are delighted to have our students and staff community back at school for the final 3 weeks of what is surely the most 'interesting' term ever. Thank you for all your efforts and continued support during the remote learning period.... FWPS Assembly video for Week 9 term 2 is now ready to watch on Vimeo. Please enjoy! Have a lovely week. https://vimeo.com/426925382

13.01.2022 Wellbeing Today we have added a resource we feel will assist you and your child’s wellbeing. We hope you will find these ideas useful over the next few weeks. ... The State Government has provided a digital care package to support students’ mental health. You can access this via Smilingmind link below. We hope that you have all managed to have some time in whatever sunshine has been about this week. Caren Taylor Assistant Principal https://www.smilingmind.com.au/

13.01.2022 Dear Footscray West Community, The Premier has just announced a five-day lockdown due to the recent outbreak of COVID19. This will commence from 11.59 pm tonight ending at 11.59 pm on Wednesday. We now return to Stage 4 restrictions. This means Footscray West PS will close, except for students of essential workers or vulnerable students.... Let’s hope this short-term pain gets things under control quickly. Given the nature of the lockdown period we are asking parents to make supervision arrangements for their children wherever possible. If this is not possible for you due to being an essential worker, you will need to make contact, with Brendan via the following link prior to 11.30 am on Sunday, so that your child’s attendance can be considered and the school can arrange appropriate supervision. Requests for Supervision at Footscray West Primary School - 15th/16th/17th February (click the link attached below). As yet there has been no advice from the DET as to whether schools will need to provided remote instructions for the period of closure. We will keep you informed on this matter. Please keep an eye out for further notifications via our app - ‘Updat-ed’ over the next few days. Further information * Meet the Teacher appointments will still be held on Monday and Wednesday, however now all meetings will be held remotely via WebEx. * If you have made a face to face Meet the Teacher appointment, your booked time remains the same but you will need to use the WEBEX link that was issued with your confirmation email. A member of our admin team will be available to problem solve on Monday and Wednesday during office hours. * Prep Wednesday Assessments for this coming Wednesday 17th will be postponed. * Prep Open days will be postponed until further notice. * Their Care (Out of School Hours) will operate a before and after school program for students who the school has deemed as eligible to attend for onsite supervision. TC will communicate with the school. Sincerely yours, Brendan Millar Principal https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx

12.01.2022 Appreciations It has been terrific to glance out my window this week to see parents, students and community members rummaging through the collections of produce from the orchard and selecting a pansy or petunia plant for Mothers Day. Kristen MacKenzie and her son, Sebastian (3/4 DW) setting up the plants they propagated (along with her partner and Sebs dad, Randall). The supplies have been replenished regularly to ensure there is no need to congregate in order to collect ...your plant. We are blown away by the act of kindness and generosity from the Brown family, Chase 3ES and Scout 1CW! These gorgeous succulents have been donated for Mothers' Day and are on our share table at the front of school. We are part of a wonderful community. What a great way to acknowledge Mothers Day despite the many restrictions that have affected our lives. It is amazing how a positive action such as this can have such a buoyant effect on others.

11.01.2022 Curriculum Day - Tuesday 4th August Due to Stage 4 lockdown announced on Sunday, school will be CLOSED on Tuesday 4th August. TheirCare will run a program for families who were booked to attend school on that day. Please contact TheirCare on 1300 072 410 if you wish to reserve a place. Our Flexibuzz application is transitioning to Flexischools.... Many families will be aware of the change from Flexibuzz to Flexischools. Unfortunately during the current circumstances we have not been provided sufficient time to support this change seamlessly. So let's work together to ensure we maintain our communication streams at this challenging time. Families will need to follow the link in the email that may have been sent to you, or follow the directions (below). Users of Flexibuzz will not receive any further notifications (alerts), even though any posted information will still be accessible to view. To receive notifications (alerts) you will need to use the Flexischools app. We intend to continue our app as a two way communication tool, including for the posting of student absences. You will not need to subscribe to the canteen or provide financial details. Getting started with Flexischools 1. Download the Flexischools App Download the app from the App Store or from Google Play. Note: for iPhone and iPad please select Allow notification 2. Register Open the Flexischools App and click 'Like to register?', enter your email address and click 'Register'. You will be sent a registration email. Follow the instructions in the registration email to finish setting up your account. Once your account is set up, login to the Flexischools App, select the Profile icon on the grey navigation bar, select Student and 'Add a student', search for their school name, select their year level and class and enter their details.

11.01.2022 Good morning everyone! Winter is here and so is Winter weather! Drop off and pick up may require a little more patience in this weather. Please ensure your child or children have a coat with a hood and an umbrella if you have one. ... FWPS Assembly Week 8 Term 2 We had a great week with students in grades prep, 1 and 2 back at school. One more week until all our students return for face to face learning. Please enjoy the assembly video. Have a great week! https://vimeo.com/424454330

11.01.2022 Remembrance Day is not about glorifying war. It’s about paying homage to all the brave men and women who have dedicated their lives to service of our country. Some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s about remembering and honouring them. And the families they left behind. ... And it’s about gratitude. For without them, the world we live in would be very different today. We may not personally know them all, but we certainly owe them all. Lest we ever forget that. #WeWillRememberThem #LestWeForget

11.01.2022 Some Words from the Wellbeing Team We are all looking forward to your children returning to school on Monday. We would like to reassure you that all teachers will be providing a program that will support their students’ needs, socially, emotionally and academically. Research tells us that students must be calm and able to focus to learn. Teachers will be using Tribes, Smiling Mind www.smilingmind.com.au and a range of other activities to ensure students feel safe, calm, con...nected and hopeful for the future. There is no doubt that your children will have managed their time at home in various ways and returning to school will either be met with excitement to be seeing their teachers and their friends again or some concerns about leaving you and the safety of home. Teachers understand that it may take a little while for their student’s to settle back into the schools routines, to be able to get along with others, manage their emotions and produce work of an academic standard. Our wellbeing team are always available for students who may need extra support to settle back into this period of ‘recovery’ from Covid-19. Talk to your child’s teacher, Caren Taylor (Assistant Principal) or Kaye Cameron (Social Worker) if you have any questions or concerns. Caren and Kaye

11.01.2022 Stage 2 - Return to School Here is a video explaining stage 2 and all you need to know about drop off and dismissal from Tuesday 9th June. We are so excited to welcome back our year 3 to 6 students to Onsite Learning. ... Parents please adhere to social distancing guidelines whilst dropping off and picking up your children. Its a tricky time right now but we will get through it together! Be patient and kind as we work to ensure the safety of all children. https://vimeo.com/426117184

10.01.2022 Junior School Council News JSCs second online meeting was a very different experience as compared to our meetings at school. In this meeting, we discussed the responses that students gave us about their experiences in COVID-19. Medha and Joanna made word clouds for each of the year levels. These were made from your responses and are going to put into a podcast about our COVID-19 experiences. See them pictured below. After viewing the responses we could see that there were a... few words that came up regularly like LEARN, SCHOOL, FRIENDS and more. These gave us a good idea of what the podcast would mainly be about. We are going to be meeting again this week to write scripts for the podcast. Thank you to our wonderful FWPS community for your help and participation Gemma and Huseyin 6SM

09.01.2022 Return to School - Stage 1 Monday (25th May) No school at all next Monday due to a curriculum day. Tuesday (26th May) All students in grades prep, 1 and 2 are due to return to face to face teaching in their classrooms. ... Tuesday (9th June) Students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be due to return to the classroom program. We return to school next week but we will need to say good-bye at the gate. We look forward to welcoming our returning students in grades prep, one and two back to the classrooms, however COVID-19 safety restricts parents and carers on the school grounds. As a consequence we have divided returning students into family groups and will enable access at 3 gate locations separated by a few minutes. Classroom teachers will be in their classrooms ready to welcome the children back into class, all other available staff members will be rostered to attend the 3 entrance locations. Paint dots are being prepared to allow families to access the entrance in an orderly manner. When it is your turn we will have signage asking parents to Kiss and Go. Teachers and classroom based education staff will then accompany students to their classrooms. Students have been allocated into family groups based on the family name. This is to enable parents or carers needing to accompany their children, to only have to attend a school entrance once of a morning and afternoon. Arrangements are as follows: Please take particular note at what time you are required to drop and collect your child and from which particular location. Towards the end of the day teachers will accompany the students in family groups back to the same gate they entered to be collected by their parents or carers. Please note the times as listed in the table (above). *At all times we require parents and carers to remain outside the gates or designated area. **Please understand that these arrangements do not and cannot take into account each familys residential proximity to entrance/exit gates. Parents and carers, for more information please refer to FlexiBuzz. Coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for parents, carers and guardians https://www.education.vic.gov.au//coronavirus-advice-paren

08.01.2022 The FWPS 'Learning at Home' program begins tomorrow The information (below) has been sent to each grade level, along with accompanying relevant curriculum information as an attachment. This final document has been sent to 'General News' along with the Specialists' curriculum information. May I wish all of our community all the very best as we collectively 'dip our toes' into this new education and societal challenge....Continue reading

08.01.2022 Dear parents and carers, It has indeed been a very unusual Term 2 holiday. We are all daily dealing with the effects that the continued spread of COVID-19 is having on our families and community. ... Yesterday the Premier, Mr Andrews announced that due to the latest health advice, in order to reduce the additional spread of the corona virus and in alignment with a metropolitan 'lockdown', school holidays would be extended for an additional week. As a consequence school will not return as expected next Monday, 13th July. All parents and carers who are able to work from home, or who are at home, are required to care for their children next week . For parents and carers where both partners are unable to care for their children at home, or due to the vulnerability of the child, there will be a need for support at school. Information regarding eligibility for access to school on a limited basis will be provided in further communication that will be supplied this week. The following information provided to schools overnight may provide some clarity: The new arrangements for schools in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are as follows: 1. There will be five pupil-free days from Monday 13 to Friday 17 July for all students except for the following: Students enrolled in Years 11 and 12 Students in Year 10 enrolled in a VCE study, for VCE lessons Students enrolled in specialist schools These students will all attend on-site from Monday 13 July. 2. Teachers and staff not involved in on-site teaching from Monday 13 to Friday 17 July will attend on site to: prepare for a possible move to remote and flexible learning from Monday 20 July; provide a program of care and supervision for those students whose parents/carers cannot work from home and for vulnerable students. The new arrangements are designed to give our health experts additional time to assess the situation in these communities. As has been our consistent practice, we will continue to communicate additional information via our Flexibuzz app. Yours faithfully, Brendan Millar Principal

06.01.2022 Thank you to those parents who notified us of the discrepancy in the newsletter regarding gate signage for returning to school next Tuesday. The signage posted was a draft version and has now been amended in the school's newsletter for this week. Please check the time and entry/exit points for your child. We apologise if our error has caused you any confusion. Regards,... Brendan Millar

05.01.2022 FWPS Term 3 Update Return to remote and flexible learning at home Dear parents and carers, As anticipated, the Premier Mr Dan Andrews confirmed yesterday that due to increase in community transmission of the COVID-19 virus, all government schools in metropolitan Melbourne will return to remote and flexible learning at home arrangements when term 3 starts next Monday, 20th July.... While this news was expected, we imagine that confirmation will have increased the level of anxiety and disappointment for many children, parents and staff members. Due to this decision, once again all parents and carers who are able to work from home, or who are at home, are from next week required to supervise their children's learning. To reduce the movement and interaction of members of school communities, all students will need to stay at home with the following exceptions: for children of parents who are working for an essential service, on days when they are not able to be supervised at home and no other arrangements can be made for vulnerable students and students with disabilities If you believe you are eligible for your child to attend for full or part time supervision at school from next week, please click the link (below) and complete all sections of the accompanying online form. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx Please complete this request by 4.00 pm this Wednesday, 15th July. You may be contacted by a member of the leadership team to discuss your request. NO CHILD SHALL ATTEND SCHOOL WITHOUT COMMUNICATION AND CONFIRMATION FROM THE SCHOOL. TheirCare will operate a before and after school care for students who have been deemed eligible to attend the onsite program on days they are attending school. Bookings for TheirCare will be through their normal channels. Additional information will be provided when relevant. Yours faithfully, Brendan Millar Principal

05.01.2022 Additional information - Delay to the start of Term 3 Dear parents and carers, I did promise to follow up my Flexibuzz/Facebook notice yesterday with additional information.... On the advice of the Chief Health Officer the Victorian State Government has extended the school holiday by one week for students, from next Monday 13th July until Friday 17th July. As a consequence school will not return as normal next Monday, 13th July. All parents and carers who are able to work from home, or who are at home, are required to care for their children next week. All students will need to be cared for at home except: for children of parents who are working for an essential service, on days when they are not able to be supervised at home and no other arrangements can be made for vulnerable students Next week a school based holiday program will be provided by teachers and classroom based educational support staff. If you believe you are eligible for your child to attend for full or part time supervision at school next week, please click link (below) and respond by midday (tomorrow) Friday, 10th July. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx You will be contacted by a member of the leadership team to discuss your needs and provide you with a booking link. NO CHILD SHALL ATTEND SCHOOL WITHOUT COMMUNICATION AND CONFIRMATION FROM THE SCHOOL. TheirCare will operate a before and after school care for students who have been deemed eligible to attend the onsite program on days they are attending school. Bookings for TheirCare will be through their normal channels. Details of the Term 3 learning program will be provided next week. Yours faithfully, Brendan Millar

05.01.2022 To all the fathers, gran fathers, step fathers & anyone who has played a role as a father... Happy Fathers Day! May you remember this day in a way that brings happiness and joy. Have a super awesome day with those around you.... Happy Father's Day 2020!

04.01.2022 Goodbye 2020! Hello, 2021! Happy New Year!

03.01.2022 Good morning everyone, We were delighted to welcome all grades back last week for onsite learning. We are looking forward to consolidating positive learning experiences during this final fortnight of Term 2. Here is FWPS Assembly video for Week 10 term 2. Please enjoy! ... Have a fantastic week. https://vimeo.com/428728609

03.01.2022 Dear parents and carers, I did promise to follow up last evenings note to our community with some additional information. The main purpose of this note is to provide a survey link for parents who believe their children are eligible for limited onsite learning during term 2....Continue reading

03.01.2022 Principal Brendan and Assistant Principal Caren discuss plans for all students to return to onsite learning at FWPS on Monday 12th October. We are delighted to bring our whole community back to school. https://vimeo.com/466435005 regards... Brendan

02.01.2022 Footscray West Assembly Week 4 Term 2 This week we bring you a student/staff music collaboration and some student learning examples from PKS and 1/2AB. Habits and Hobbies will be a new segment launched this week as well. https://vimeo.com/414419171

02.01.2022 Hi everyone, Welcome to the final Facebook Orchard to Plate cooking episode with Dianne and her kids, Lyla, Jim and Tilly, baking delicious and nutritious kid friendly banana and carrot muffins. This recipe can be found in the Orchard to Plate cookbook. Please enjoy. Happy holidays all! ... https://youtu.be/i3UnfQLhnZI

01.01.2022 Announcement of Staged Return to School Dear Parents and Carers, Thank you for all your support during these past few weeks of remote and flexible learning.... Following advice from the Chief Health Officer, we are pleased that the Victorian Government has advised that schools can begin planning for a phased return to on-site schooling. In the first stage, students in Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 will return to school in a fortnight from Tuesday 26th May. To support all school staff to prepare for this transition, Monday 25th May will be a pupil-free day. In the second stage of our return to on-site schooling, students in Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 will return to school from Tuesday 9th June (the day following the Queens Birthday public holiday). For those students who cannot be supervised at home and vulnerable children, the existing model of on-site schooling will remain in place during the two-week period from Tuesday 26th May to Tuesday 9th June. The current process that we are using to enable parents and carers to indicate the days or part-days for which on-site schooling is required will continue for this two-week period. Please understand that our grades 3 6 teachers will still be required to prepare and manage remote learning for the students in their grades. This initial period is not the time for large numbers of students in grades 3 to 6 to return to school, as **students in these grades will continue learning from home until Tuesday 9th June.** Once a year level has returned, all students will be expected to attend school as normal. This means if you choose to keep your child/children home after their year level has returned to on-site schooling, we can no longer support their learning from home. This does not apply to children who need to be absent for health or medical reasons. For those families, please contact us so we can provide an alternative plan. The same approach is being taken by all government schools in Victoria. To support the health and well being of all our students and staff, our school will continue an enhanced cleaning routine and will encourage frequent hand washing. Only students and staff will be able to be onsite. If your child is ill or is feeling unwell, they must not attend school. They must remain home and seek medical advice. We understand that some families may feel anxious about this move back to classroom teaching and learning. This is very understandable as we have all found our resolve of resilience tested at times. We are comforted that the steps taken by the state government have been careful and based on the best health advice available. Thank you for your continued support and patience during this time. We look forward to welcoming our students back to the classroom. Yours faithfully, Brendan Millar

01.01.2022 Good morning everyone, We welcome our school community to the last week of term 2. Look out for the grade 6 captains 'vox pops' with a variety of students at lunchtime and the last Specialist Classroom samples from learning at home. Here is FWPS Assembly video for Week 11 term 2. Please enjoy! ... https://vimeo.com/430968264 Have a great week.