Principal's Report

By Frank Catalano

Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,

I trust all is well with you and your family and welcome to another newsletter where so much is shared about our fabulous school.

As per usual, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 9802 9938 or via email at frank.catalano@education.vic.gov.au

Novel Coronavirus Update

It is very pleasing to note that the number of confirmed cases throughout our school has continued to remain quite low with reported cases spread across the year levels. Naturally this is a result of everyone being vigilant by ensuring the children aged 8 and over wear face masks, remain at home if they are feeling unwell and also utilising the Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT’s). Once again, thank you everyone for the manner in which the entire GWPS community have supported one another.

Year 4 Camp

Recently our school held the annual Year 4 camp at Cave Hill Creek which is located in Beaufort approximately 45 minutes from Ballarat. Overall it was a very successful camp that was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone as the children were provided with the opportunity to experience a magnitude of activities such as canoeing, boulder wall climbing, low rope course, bush cooking (making yummy damper), bush craft (art and craft using items from the bush) and most importantly the opportunity to connect with one another and the staff.

Naturally the camp would not be able to proceed if it were not for the dedication and commitment to the staff who attended, a sincere thank you to all of the staff for their willingness to do so and for the fantastic manner in which they continue to engage the children.

In this fortnight’s Kids Corner section, we have taken the liberty of sharing some of the children’s reflections.

Congratulations to Joshua

Joshua (Year 5) continues to work extremely hard on his swimming abilities and recently he sent me the following email:

Dear Mr Catalano

On the 23rd and 24th of July, I went to the Victorian Metropolitan Short Course Championship.

The first day I was nervous I was shaking because I want to go to the Victoria Open Short Course Championship in August.

What is the Victoria Open Short Course Championship?

The biggest Swimming Championship in Victoria and I need to swim the qualifying time (The State Time) to make it.

For Under 11s they only have the following events:

50m Freestyle

100m Freestyle

100m Backstroke

100m Butterfly and 100m Breaststroke.

There is no other 50m except 50m Freestyle.

Before the day I had another competition and I got one state time. It was the 100 Freestyle.

I aimed for those qualifying times at this event.

These are the events I completed:

First Day:

100m Freestyle 1:16:91 PB(Qualified)

50m Butterfly 40:44 PB

50m Backstroke 42:55

100m Individual Medley 1:29:06 PB(Qualified)

Second Day:

50m Freestyle 34:29 PB(Qualified)

After the Competition I was very proud of myself. I have now 3 qualifying times. Later there is more to meet.

I will try my best to get qualified for another 100m swim.

Thank you for reading.

From Joshua

Principal Awards

Congratulations to the following students for receiving a Principal Awards recently:

Prep A

Jathy for writing a very detailed recount about her very first excursion to the museum which is featured in the Kids Corner section of this newsletter

Soha, Tyler, Samiksha, Ishana, Saaral, Kivein, Fabiana and Jenul for making excellent progress with their writing

Prep D

Josh, Hathan, Shivane, Ethan, Alex, Eric and Eva for writing fabulous recounts about their excursion to the Melbourne Museum

Minza – for recognising character, plot and setting within a story
Zaiden – for fantastic knowledge of the importance of characters within a great story
Siddharth – for his creative and well-crafted spooky story

Krishna for continuing to work really hard on his drawing skills as featured in the Kids Corner section of this newsletter.
Reyansh for being a very responsible and caring friend

Shruthi and Nuvee for being really responsible members of our school community
Anya for creating a very elaborate poster about space
Pooja for being a very supportive friend

Ivan for drawing an amazing picture of a bowl of fruit in the art room

Aadyah for drawing an outstanding representation of a bowl of fruit in art class

Helitha for working very hard on his notetaking skills. He researched and wrote about the Tasmanian Devil
Kalana for being a great friend

Akira and Naksh for working very hard to improve their writing skills

Swara for making her own at home classroom with Learning Intentions and Success Criteria that she independently created. She enjoys playing 'Teachers' at home with her parents and according to her "I was inspired and like to be pretending to be Miss I with the magnets and organised whiteboard".

Kyra for the manner in which she continues to make outstanding effort with her home learning each week

Patrick for writing a very detailed report about trains as featured in the Kids Corner section of this newsletter

Aarthy, Hirun and Mehrad for making outstanding progress with their writing by crafting very clever poems

Take care and wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight.

Frank Catalano

Principal