Acting Principal's Report

Welcome to Term 3

It's amazing to think how quickly time goes as it is nearly halfway through Term 3 and I only have 3 more weeks to go as the Acting Principal at Wollert Primary School. I have really enjoyed learning about all of our unique students and caring staff who have all been showing me what the 'Wollert Way' looks like each day. It is very impressive to see all the learning routines in our learning communities. These established routines have many benefits at school but are also beneficial at home. Below are some suggestions I’d like to share with you regarding how routines may help your children:

• Routines can help create predictable and organised home environments. This supports children to feel safe and strengthens family bonds and connectedness. 
• Routines can be built around having fun and spending time together, making your child feel special e.g.  Reading a story together at bedtime, sharing family meals together, and spending time outside playing with your child.
• Giving your child chores or jobs to do as part of routines helps children develop a sense of responsibility, develop time management skills, and make them feel they are valued. Some examples include unpacking lunch boxes at the end of the school day, setting the table, collecting dishes, or feeding pets. 
• Routines can support children’s health by establishing healthy habits including brushing their teeth, showering, washing hands after using the toilet, and exercising regularly.

New Facilities are COMING SOON: 

Early last week the school was informed that we are going to be receiving some new facilities. We are very pleased to let you know that we will have 4 new structures, which include two student toilet blocks, one staff toilet block, and a special needs ‘mod5’ which will have 2 new classroom spaces. The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) has been out to the school and completed some initial planning regarding the locations of these. The toilets will allow for closer access for our Year 1/2 students in the Blossom Learning Community who currently must go to the toilets in other learning communities. 

The VSBA aims to start the works very soon which is excellent to hear, as this will allow the school to have these buildings ready to access very soon. Whilst the works are taking place there will be some areas of the yard that will be out of bounds and sectioned off with temporary fencing. Whilst this is taking place, we will ensure that student and community safety is always prioritised. As these buildings are delivered in modular forms, we anticipate the actual construction time will be quick and therefore the disruption caused by their placement will be minimal. 

2023 Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey: 

Please tell us what you think! 

Wollert Primary School is conducting a survey to find out what parents, caregivers and guardians think of our school. This opinion survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies as we continue to grow within the Wollert community.  All families are invited to participate in the survey. The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from today Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September 2023.

The survey is conducted online and only takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. It is very user-friendly and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese

We highly recommend that you take the time to complete this survey to provide the school with extremely valuable feedback. Please feel free to call the school if you would like more information about how to complete this survey. 

National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

This term we received delivery of our school NAPLAN reports which have been sent home to our Year 3 and Year 5 families. This year there have been some changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority.

The student results will now be presented in proficiency levels. The 4 levels are: 

• Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing. 
• Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing. 
• Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
• Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes that are expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

It is important to remember that NAPLAN is a snapshot of how a child is going in Literacy and Numeracy at that point in time, and whilst NAPLAN results are a significant milestone it’s also important that families understand that one result does not define them. At the whole school and Learning Community level, NAPLAN is one of several important data sets used by the teachers at Wollert Primary School. 

We are extremely proud of all our students who participated in these tests. We will continue to 'unpack' the data to ensure that we continue to focus on the learning growth. 

Improving Attendance 

The research on school attendance tells us that ‘Every day counts and there is no ‘safe’ threshold for absences. We understand that sometimes students have to attend appointments such as seeing dentists, health care professionals, or important family matters, which is seen as an ‘approved’ absence, however, we do ask that when your child is able to attend school they do. Having a ‘day off’ from school is not recommended for any school-aged child as this can lead to poor attendance in later years which will adversely impact their overall learning and well-being outcomes. 

At Wollert Primary School we track our attendance data which is required to be submitted to the Department of Education. At the time of writing this newsletter, I have very pleased to report that all our key data indicators across Prep to Year 6 show that our student attendance data has increased significantly.  

Well done to the Wollert Primary School Community – a BRILLIANT outcome.

Let’s keep this up for the remainder of 2023. 

Update on the Victorian Curriculum

Wollert Primary School’s teaching and learning program is underpinned by the Victorian Curriculum & Assessment Authority (VCAA). This curriculum is being redeveloped into a ‘Version 2.0’. Revisions to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 are based on feedback from various educational experts and key stakeholders. Importantly, the VCAA has determined that there will be no significant change to the current overarching structure. All curriculum areas will be published in late 2023, for familiarisation in 2024. Wollert Primary School will be responsible for implementing the revised curriculum in 2025, along with all government schools.

(click on the link below for more information on the Victorian Curriculum)