Principal  Message

Term 3 Reflection

It has been an incredibly busy term at WPS and for the first time in a few years, we feel like we might be ahead of the pandemic.  Whilst we have had many student and staff absences this term, we have managed to run a full program.  Nevertheless, the absences have been a challenge and I know Kirsty is having to put extra out-of-hours rehearsals in place to accommodate the Grade 5/6 absences.  Greg has reflected that this year he has only had his entire class all here twice.  Up until a month ago, it’s been a pretty similar picture in each grade. However,  I thought I’d do a reflection on the things that have mattered most to us as a school this term.

Camp

The 3/4 students returned today from their first-ever camp experience.  I visited the YMCA Mount Evelyn Recreation Centre yesterday and was so proud to see the students participating in the great outdoor activities in their teams and generally just enjoying the moment with each other as they climbed, rode, jumped, swung, and ran.  The flying fox was a favourite and the students have all asked if we can build a Gaga Pit at school (Google it, because I had no idea what it was too).  The pit does look like a lot of fun and the students couldn’t seem to get enough of this game.  I would like to thank Rick, Claire, and Sharon for attending as DET employees and assisting with the supervision and activities. It’s a big ask to spend time away from their own families and they do it without hesitation as they want our students to have the experience.  Thank you also to our parents that stayed for the duration, Kate Khazour, Huon Stephens and David Pelosi. There were some moments of anxiety and homesickness for some of our students, which is completely normal, and for the most part, they were able to work through these feelings with staff and parent helpers.  I did hear that some boys were up and ready to start their day at 4:30 am, which was a bit of a shock to the system for the adults, getting their much-needed rest!  There were no Covid cases for the entire camp which was a stroke of good luck. I hope that remains the case over the next couple of days after their return. 

Disco

Thanks to a mammoth effort from Jaime Young and FOWPS volunteers the students were able to dance the night away last week at the Junior and Senior Discos. This is a great event that is now highly anticipated by our students after its successful debut as a WPS event last year. Jaime went to a great deal of effort to try to authenticate a disco and the students enjoyed the lights and music as they danced and participated in games and activities. The paper bag candles lighting the path to the Bampi were such a nice touch and added to the atmosphere of the night.  There has been some conversation around the two emergency lights in the Bampi being on.  So there is a clearer understanding around this, the two lights can’t override the emergency lighting as we are required to have them for our cleaners who work at night.   In addition, even if the lights were turned off, I would be requesting there be some light as it would be an Occupational Health and Safety issue for 60 + students and staff to dance in a darkened space.  While the students enjoy the dancing, we always do have incidences where some students become too excited and begin running around.  The spirit of the disco is what matters and there is plenty of that on display when the music starts playing. 

100 Days of Prep 

Today Steph has put together a special day of celebrations for our 2022 Preps to mark the first 100 days of school.  The students have reached this milestone and achieved so much in the short time they have been here. School is a huge transition for children but for this particular cohort there has been two years of very little preschool and this has impacted them as they learn to adjust and socialise in a vastly different environment to their home.  Today’s celebrations have included balloons, cake, making jewellery (with 100 beads), and receiving their 100 days of school certificate.  All day I have been able to hear the laughter and fun they have been having done the hall and it is a really nice kind of noise to hear as I work.  

Victorian State Schools  Spectacular

This has been a much-anticipated event for our Grade 6’s and thanks to the passion and dedication of our wonderful Performing Arts teacher, Kirsty Wolters, last week’s state event was a huge success.  You can read Kirsty’s reflection on the Performing Arts page of this newsletter, but I wanted to take the time to thank Kirsty for her commitment to our students. For a small school, we offer an amazing Performing Arts program, which would not be possible without the commitment Kirsty puts into her program.  I would also like to thank our Grade 6 students who did us proud on the day and during the dress rehearsals.  The Dance Director took the time to come and see our students after the afternoon show to tell our students just how much they stood out during the performance.  Their energy, team spirit, and dance skills were commended and recognised.  We are very proud of our Grade 6 students and the way we see them interact with each other and those around them.  They represent our school so wonderfully and as they approach their final term of primary school, they have remained engaged, respectful, and energetic.  They are a tribute to their families and the school.

Book Week

Book Week is a favourite of the staff and students and even our parents anticipate the week, sewing and sourcing costumes for the ‘parade’.  I have to say that Katie’s costume was my all-time favourite as the Hippopotamus on the roof eating cake.  Another favouite was Archie in 4/5N, who gave a very convincing performance of Golem in Lord of the Rings.  Special mention to Charlie L from 4/5R, who couldn’t have chosen a better character for himself to dress up as than Willy Wonka. The preps experienced their first parade and felt like rock stars as they marched past the school and were cheered on.  It’s a very special and important part of a school, building pride and community spirit. 

The week was also marked with a Book Swap, which was run by Katie and the grade 6 leaders.  This all went off without a hitch and the students enjoyed selecting books for their tickets we hope this reinforces their reading at home, which is an essential part of their literacy learning.  We are passionate about books here and Book Week is one of our favourite weeks. 

Athletics Day

You may have noticed the great photo on the front page of the Warrandyte Diary this month as having one of our students, Marlo,  having the time of her life on Athletics Day.  The photo was taken by one of our talented parents, Kim Charbonneau  and I think the image depicts the experience we want all our students to have when at WPS.  Athletics Day is a favourite for most of our students participate eagerly.  Those who are less eager are encouraged to join in as students learn how to build resilience and the value of cheering their peers on. Sally did a fantastic job organising the day and this is no small thing as the are many things to consider when planning and executing a whole school event away from the school grounds.  The equipment, rosters, buses, scoring, and supervision are all essential elements of a successful day.  Sally had students from Warrandyte High School attend the day to assist with the events, with a couple of them being past students of WPS.  It was great to join forces with our local high school and the students at WHS represented their school proudly.  The junior school always has so much fun in the activities planned in the centre of the athletics track and we were very lucky to experience great weather on the day. 

NAPLAN

Our NAPLAN results have come in and there were some amazing results that as a school we should be very proud of. As you know, our teachers have been working hard implementing a new Literacy program via the introduction of a new Instructional Model, new Literacy intervention, phonics, and the application of using high-quality mentor texts when teaching Reading and Writing.  Teachers have also participated in a wide range of professional learning sessions to change the way we teach our students Writing and Reading.  Writing has been of particular importance as this became the focus of the Strategic Plan that was written in early 2020 after a school review found that this area of the curriculum was trending down.  I am so pleased to be able to say that this trend has well and truly been reversed.  For our Grade 3 students a huge 90% of students scored in the Top Two Bands on NAPLAN. This means that the majority of our students are working above the expected benchmark level.  The puts us up there with the most high performing schools in the state and is no small achievement.  

 Our Grade 5’s data was also impressive with 56% of students scoring in the Top Two Bands.  This is a huge leap from 16% last year.  Our Reading, Spelling, and Grammar/Conventions were all steady and above State. We have already begun to apply what we have learned in our Writing teaching practice to our Reading we will continue to build upon our success.  Our Reading Data has always been strong and well above State averages, but we aim to continue to grow this.

 Along with the whole State, we see there is an area of need in Numeracy and the staff will be working in 2023 towards advancing our Numeracy program when writing our Annual Implementation Plan for 2023 Numeracy will be a big focus point. As a staff, we now know that when we work together to improve our teaching and learning and implement strong evidence-based practices we can make significant improvements, and this will translate into the work we do around Numeracy. 

Of course, we remember that NAPLAN is only one area of our school’s success but the institution of DET uses this data to track as it is the one piece of whole state data they can use. Our school is so much more than a number on a page but it is encouraging to see that the work going on behind the scenes is translating into better outcomes for our students and increased engagement.

Our students should be proud of the things they have achieved this term and we have worked very hard as a community.  Through all of that, we have also navigated our way through a very difficult event that will forever change the life of one of our much-loved teacher, Nikki McInerney. We have stood united with her as a community, the support offered has been gratefully received by Nikki, who has been so strong as she adjusts and moves through the grieving process.  Her planned return in Term 4 is going to be hard for her but I know that being around her students and families will help her. We cannot take away her sorrow, but we can be patient and supportive through the challenges she faces. I know I am not alone in welcoming her back to school.  I would like to thank Andrew Russell and Claire Lambert who have filled in this term. Without Andrew’s commitment to helping our community the term could have been a lot less stable for Nikki’s grade. The shortage of relief teachers has impacted the state during the pandemic, making it difficult to find teachers who can commit for long periods of time.  We were fortunate to have Andrew come out of his sabbatical from classroom teaching to help us out 4 days a week in Nikki’s grade.  He has expressed to me many times that he has done this as he has enjoyed working with those students and loves the kind and caring culture of our school. Claire, as always, steps in where she is most needed. She has also provided continuity and a strong well-being focus in that class this term. 

Next term we will need to hit the ground running as we approach our School Production of Aladdin early in the term.  So, rest up over the holidays as we will need all our energy.  Have a safe and relaxing school holiday and we look forward to seeing you all back here for the final term of 2022. 

Take care

Nieta