A Message from Vassie 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung and Boonwurrung Peoples of the Kulin Nation and pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. Aboriginal people have a deep and continuous connection to the place now called Victoria. Aboriginal people have lived in the Maribyrnong River valley for over 40,000 years.

RECONCILIATION WEEK

In honour of Reconciliation Week, 27 May-3 June, we had the privilege of experiencing a Traditional Smoking Ceremony with Ngarra Kulin, of Boonwurrung Country. 

It's important that we meaningfully acknowledge and engage with the Traditional Owners and First Nations People, on the land in which we learn, grown and play. We thank the students, staff members and parents who shared this experience with us. 

The ceremony was incredibly moving and generated important conversations within our classrooms. Reconciliation Week is an important time whilst also being a very difficult time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. At Wembley Primary School we will continue to learn and engage with Aboriginal culture and work together towards Reconciliation for all Australians. 

We would like to acknowledge Tom Penberthy, Wembley PS Marrung Champion, for coordinating our school efforts regarding acknowledgement of Aboriginal Perspectives. 

We also thank Joanne Mannariti, Jesse's mother, from Joanne Mannariti Photography, for kindly photographing the ceremony for us. Some of the many photos captured are shared below.

You can also see a remarkable presentation created by Evie Maddy-Hunt in 3A acknowledging Reconciliation Week.  

SORRY DAY

In honour of National Sorry Day, students read and learnt about Australian History acknowledging the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation. While this date carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is also commemorated by Australians right around the country. See Ms Manning's wonderful Year Two's pictured below, who wrote messages on footprints in recognition of Sorry Day. They placed them in front pf the Aboriginal flag to rerpresent the children of the stolen generation finding their way home. 

CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to the students that participated in the Divisional Cross Country today Wednesday 31 May, representing Wembley PS. We thank Jonathan, and the parents that attended in support of the students! We are very proud of the effort, team work and persistence demonstrated by the students today. I unfortunately couldn't attend as I had an OHS Assurance Process but heard great feedback about the day! 

OHS ASSURANCE PROCESS

Today, Wednesday 31 May, an OHS Assurance Assessment was conducted by an Ernst and Young assessor. This process is conducted every 4 years across all Victorian Government Schools. We had the support of the Department of Education representatives from Marsh consulting services. We scored exceptionally well with a score of 83, which is incredibly rare. 

I thank Kristen Kosowski, Kathy Broadway, Joel Magnabosco, Grant Hobson and Mandy Pilkington for their support in overseeing the OHS processes, policies and protocols at Wembley Primary School to ensure that all students, staff members and parents are safe. 

ROAD AND FOOTPATH SAFETY

In the interest of safety, we remind all community members of the importance of travelling to and from school safely, and being mindful of pedestrians. We have had reports of some students/parents riding their bikes on the footpaths at quite high speeds and knocking students/parents over. We ask and remind all community members that are riding to school to walk their bikes/motorised scooters around the perimeter of the school, and be mindful of pedestrians.

2024 PREP ENROLMENTS

We are currently conducting tours for 2024 prep families. This is a reminder to current families to enrol children of school start age at your earliest convenience. Enrolment forms can be found on the school website and/or collected from the office. Letters of enrolment offers will be sent to families in July. 

NEWSLETTER FORMAT CONSOLIDATION

Please note that we have merged certain newsletter tabs to consolidate and synthesise the information being shared with you. 

For e.g. all community notices will now be in one newsletter tab (including sport, secondary school, holiday programs). Uniform information can be found in office news. 

WEMBLEY PS ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

We invite all community members to join in on the celebration of learning as we share key events, achievements and acknowledgements on our Wembley PS social media pages. 

If you haven't already, we invite you to follow along. 

A reminder that our school website, Sentral notifications and emails will continue to be our formal avenues of communication, whilst our newsletter will serve as a link between all platforms.

We ask that you take some time to familiarise yourselves with the Wembley Communications Policy, and the Code of Conduct-staff/students and parents, regarding the safe and respectable use of our chosen social media platforms. 

Communications Policy

Code of Conduct-staff/students and parents

Each school year we ask for permission to use our students’ images on various platforms, ie: newsletter and media release. This permission form addresses social media. If you don't wish for your child/ren to be included in social and hadn't indicated this on the consent from please contact the school office on 93147054 or wembley.ps.@education.vic.gov.au to update your preferences. 

We look forward to continuing to engage with our community through these platforms, which will offer regular opportunities for connection and celebration. 

Please find us on Instagram at: @wembleyps4788

And via our official Facebook Page: Wembley Primary School (link here)

ATTITUDES TO SCHOOL SURVEY - Year 4, 5 and 6

All Victorian Government Schools ask students to participate in the Attitudes to School Survey. This week students in years 4, 5 and 6 have participated in the Attitudes to School Survey which asks the students questions about their learning and social experiences at school. 

We thank the classroom teachers, and Lindsey Delooze for conducting this survey with students. 

We will receive the results later in the year, and will then analyse the data as a leadership team, and within teaching team, and then respond according to the information shared, in the interest of continuously improving students experiences at school. 

CAPITAL WORKS BUILDING PROJECT UPDATE  

We are making progress in our Capital Works Building Project. 

The in-ground works have started this week with excavators digging abuts the main building to implement stormwater, fire services, water and sewer upgrades. 

As a result, in the interest of safety, the students in Years 1A and 1C have moved into other classrooms for the next two weeks. We thank the students, and teachers, Jasmine and Claire, as well as the parents for your understanding and flexibility. 

I bought some hot chips for 1A and 1C when they moved into the classroom spaces, to thank them on behalf of all community members, for their sacrifice and resilience in taking this on as a special adventure.

Due to some delays the projected completion date for stage 1 handover is now mid March 2024. The delays were caused by a range of factors which can present during construction projects, beyond latent conditions. The core delay causes have been sub-floor asbestos being discovered earlier this year and subsequently having to be removed safely on consecutive weekends, authority delays in decommissioning gas for the gas relocation, unexpected rock presenting, and lime conditioning of existing soil to enable it to be re-used for the purpose of construction.  

In the next month, we will see the slab being laid and structural steel being brought onsite, and the building team are hoping to make up some lost time. Full steam ahead!