Principal's Report

Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,

I trust all is well with you and your family and welcome to the final newsletter for Term Two. As I reflect on the year so far, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time goes as we have now reached the midpoint of the year! 

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.

Babies, babies, babies!

I am thrilled to report that since our last newsletter three of our school staff have welcomed children into the world:

• Ms. Trish Singh – baby Rajesh
• Ms. Tracey Tsang – baby Sebastian and 
• Ms. Sarah Donald – baby Daisy.

All are doing well and we can’t wait to meet them. Welcome to the GWPS family Rajesh, Sebastian and Daisy!  

What’s planned for the school holidays?

The school holidays are an opportune time for various tasks to be completed and these holidays we are hoping to:

• Top up the tanbark in the adventure playgrounds  
• Install additional plants throughout the school and
• Install new storage units for the high jump mats.

I look forward to sharing some photos in our next newsletter. 

Indigenous Garden Update

I am thrilled to report that our school’s indigenous garden is nearing completion. Last week we had some of the signs and the children’s artwork installed, however this was not completed because of the weather. Hopefully it will be completed very soon. 

Chess Team Update 

Our school chess teams continue to do an amazing job representing our school, their family and naturally themselves. Last week our Open Team (Boys and Girls) participated in a tournament and below is a report from the children: 

Last Monday, we all played the Northern Star Chess Open Qualifier, where we all scored exceptionally well. Our school won first place with 24.5 points. 

Some of the individual’s efforts were:

7/7 - Vidushi

6.5/7 - Amaya 

6/7– Naveen

5/7 - Aadyah and Samuel

4.5/7 - Lesara

3/7 - Reyan and Ethan

4/7 - Jamie

3.5/7 - Shayana

1.5/7 - Sandaru

1/7 - Senon

2/7 - Reyashi

AWARDS

We received the Zonal School Champions trophy which is now proudly displayed in our school’s trophy cabinet. This tournament was undoubtedly difficult and it’s incredible how all our young players scored against those in other schools regardless of their age. 

In the Prep to 2 category, Naveen won gold, Samuel silver and Jamie bronze.

In the Year 3 to 4 category, Amaya placed first (gold) and Aadyah won bronze. 

Lesara was only a half point away from winning gold for the girls’ prize, but managed to get silver, which is amazing! 

Vidushi ended on a full score and thus was awarded the ‘Star of the Tournament’ trophy. 

The performances from every player were simply remarkable. It’s incredible that we have such a young, talented team, that’ll last for years and are constantly improving. 

After this tournament most of our players (especially the Year 2’s who missed the last qualifier as they had an excursion) are qualified for the Primary Open Semi Final, and the girls, for the Primary Girls’ Semi Final.

We can’t wait to represent our school at the next tournament! 

Well done, thank you and congratulations children – we are incredibly proud of you and can’t wait to hear how you go at the next tournament! 

Student Led Conferences and Reports 

Thank you to the families who have already attended their child’s Student Led Conference and I trust parents are as proud of the children as I am. A reminder that the semester one student reports will be distributed on Friday 23rd June. 

A message from our Environment Captains

Recently our school expanded on our recycling program as per the children’s message below:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As from this week, we have started a Battery and Ink Cartridges Recycling Program. 

We have placed recycling bins near the piano next to the Music Room and in Block B and the ELC. We encourage everyone to bring any used batteries and Ink cartridges and recycle them in the appropriate bins. 

If you are currently putting them in the normal waste bin, this could be a potential risk because it is not good for the environment.  We are hoping to see lots of batteries and cartridges. 

What will happen to the batteries and toner cartridges?

Once the bins are full, they will be collected and then the batteries and ink cartridges will be recycled. 

How are they recycled?

The batteries will have all the metal taken out of them and recycled. The ink cartridges, can be refilled 5-7 times before they can't be used again.

As you would know, e-waste is a huge threat to landfill and the environment. So let’s all do the right thing and recycle our batteries and toner cartridges! 

From the 2023 Environmental Captain: Harish, Yash, Aarthy and Yashmit. 

School Holiday Program 

A reminder that our school implements a school vacation care program every school holidays. A copy of the program is attached for your information and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact or see Meththa our school coordinator. 

Sports Day Update

Thank you to the members of our school community who were able to support our recent fundraising event where funds were raised to assist Arena (Year 6) to attend golf tournaments in Vietnam. In total we raised $532.60. Naturally this is absolutely fantastic and something that Arena and her family appreciate immensely! 

Thank you everyone and we look forward to hearing how Arena goes next term! 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED A PRINCIPAL’S AWARD RECENTLY: 

Prep B

• Sosha for being a really responsible member of our school community and for all about length 
• Sadev for being a wonderful friend 

1A 

• Eric for writing a fabulous narrative which is featured in the Kids Corner section of this newsletter 
• Jathy for receiving a certificate from her gymnastics coach 
  
   

2A

• Riddota and Elaina for writing very detailed procedural texts about how to make very yummy popcorn 
• Nivaishna, Eesa, Manuth and Aadhavan for creating the most amazing learning portfolios for their student led conferences
  
   

2C

• Krisha for drawing lots of pictures of exotic sports cars 

2E

• Riaan also for being a really responsible member of our school community 
• The whole class for making very delicious and perfectly cooked popcorn as part of learning procedural texts 

3A 

• Oliver for writing a fabulous persuasive text which is featured in the Kids Corner section of this newsletter
• Dehan and Sam for writing a very detailed report about the different opportunities our school offers such as the student leadership team and our school uniform 
• Sakthi and Vacha for drawing a detailed image of an eye 
• Mindy, Shanosh and Boyan for writing very creative persuasive pieces about the importance of looking after the environment, however from the perspective of a tree! 

4A

• Eliana and Sophie for creating a language movie that demonstrated the knowledge learnt throughout Term One and Two in their Languages class 
• Akeesha for writing a very detailed persuasive piece which is featured in the Kids Corner section of our newsletter 

5B

• Aishani, Siyona, Siana for writing very deep reflective pieces for their English Innovation learning portfolio 

5D

• Eman and Zarah also for writing very deep reflective pieces for their English Innovation learning portfolio 

6E

• Masuma, Rosy, Ruhara and Faria for completing a very comprehensive project about Chinese cuisines 

Wishing everyone a happy final week of Term Two and a safe school holiday break. I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday 10th July, if not earlier! 

Frank Catalano

Principal