A Warm Welcome to our Weeden Heights Community

Welcome back to the new school year!

This is our first official newsletter for 2021 and I warmly welcome you back to the new school year. I hope that everyone has had a safe holiday particularly in light of the ‘interesting’ year that we had in 2020. It has been a smooth start to the school year and especially with our new preps who only had the opportunity to visit their school twice at the end of the year. I do hope however, that everyone has had a wonderful start to the new year and spent some precious time over summer catching up with friends and family.

A special welcome to our new families and we are looking forward to getting to know you better over the coming weeks at the upcoming functions at school. Please make all of our new families feel welcome

I would like to thank all of our amazing families for their understanding and patience with the changing Covid restrictions particularly around the gathering of adults. All of your hard work from last year has paid off and restrictions are easing slowly. Unfortunately there are a few conditions that will impact us at school. We need to continue to sanitise on entry to classrooms and any building. While cleaning requirements have been reduced by the department, is still a priority and high touch surfaces are managed by a second cleaner on site. Adults must wear masks if they cannot socially distance. Public gatherings and space is still an issue with adults. We are covid tracking at all times and it does pertain to anyone entering the building and staying longer than 10 minutes. They must sign in via the visitors register and sanitise. We can do this and we are extremely happy to have you all on site again.

After visiting all classes last week, I would like to thank the teachers for all of their planning and organisation. This has created happy classrooms where students are feeling settled. A very smooth start to the new school year!

Welcome to our new staff

I would like to welcome some new staff members to Weeden Heights. Miss Samantha Walls is our new year 3 teacher and Mrs Beth Alter will fill the role as our tutor in 2021. Beth is also currently working in Miss Davis’ role as she is on long service leave for term one. Both teachers are fabulous additions to our highly successful team.

It is always exciting to have new energy in our team and they have really enjoyed their start at Weeden Heights PS and meeting your children and our families. Please make sure that you introduce yourselves and say hello.

First Week

We have had a terrific start to the school year with the first curriculum day setting the tone for the year. The staff looked at the goals and targets set out in our new Annual Implementation Plan so that there is a shared and clear common understanding. While the bar remains high for our school, we have also accommodated for the disrupted year of remote learning and have also focused on moving all students forward academically, socially and emotionally. The staff also spent time focusing on the clear expectations for the year and worked in their new learning teams unpacking the directions, goals and targets for 2021.

Wednesday was very exciting as the students from Years 1 – 6 returned and they have had a very smooth start. The new Preps started at school on Monday and they look like they have been attending Weeden Heights Primary for a long time!

The Bright Beginnings Transition program for all WHPS students and the Prep classes is comprehensive and prepares them for their start to in their new class/new school.

New Uniform

It has been fabulous to watch the student enter through the gate in our new uniform items: blue shorts, blue track suit pants or a blue skort. It looks so smart and impressive! All of these blue uniform pieces are available at the uniform shop in Ringwood. The dress, bomber jacket, t-shirts and hats with logos are still the same.

Just a reminder, no one should be wearing maroon shorts or maroon tracksuit pants. School Council has advised the community for the past eight months about the change and we do expect that everyone has changed over with that amount of notice.

Also, please remember that students wear white or grey socks with their school shoes or plain runners.

The school photos coming up in March will look fabulous with our new blue uniform additions!

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund applications

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office on 9802 0663 and ask for an application form.

You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page.

Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.

Assembly

Our first main assembly is on Monday morning next week and the purpose is to welcome all of the new students and our prep year level. It will be fabulous to see the school together and also watch our new captains leading the way! Our assembly will be held in the hall and due to Covid restrictions parents will be unable to attend. Our hall has capacity limits and with all of the students and teachers, we can only allow for ourselves.

However, the following week’s assembly will most likely be outside, depending on the weather, as it will include the presentation of our senior leadership team with their captain badges. Parents will be able to attend assemblies when they are held outside as there are no number restrictions except that you do need to wear a mask if you cannot socially distance. Masks must be carried while within the school.

‘Getting to Know You’ Interviews – 2 Way Meetings

At Weeden Heights PS, we meet with parents at the start of each year so that we can establish a shared understanding of the learning needs of your child. The interviews will go for 10 minutes this year and they are being held via video link in the Google Classroom. Parents will already be familiar with this process as this is how we conducted the student led conferences in term 3. Information has been sent home for bookings and there is a short timeline so don’t miss out. Students will already have access to their new Google Classroom but logins will be sent home via your child’s classroom teacher.

The staff would love to meet you all face to face however, with Covid tracking and extensive adults entering into the school (and the high touch cleaning issue), we have felt that it is best to offer online interviews for February. Our staff will enjoy catching up with you at the Family Fun Night and New Family Social Night, which will be held outside in the fresh air (and with masks if we cannot socially distance!).

The ‘Getting to Know You’ interviews are an excellent opportunity for parents to share information with the teacher and develop learning goals and understandings. The meetings are being held on 8.2.21 and 9.2.21 so that all families can participate and we can continue the learning partnership.

School Council

Very soon I will be calling for School Council nominations. We also have school council elections every Term 1 and there will be more information in coming newsletters regarding nominations. Please look out for this information at the end of February. I only encourage parents (and staff) to come onto council and make a difference for the students at our school on a higher level.

A very important part of our school’s continued development is on our sub- committees and the work that they do for the school community. These committees give all parents the chance to assist in the education of their children without committing to the more formal task of School Council. We need parent representation as it assists with new thoughts and ideas.

Please look out for more information in our up-coming newsletters when the new sub-committees are formed. We would welcome your input.

2021 Class Representatives.... Calling for volunteers!

Our Class Representatives are an important part of our communication process at Weeden Heights PS and they form an important role in liaising between the class teacher and the parents in the room. Classroom teachers are now looking for volunteers. Mrs Lee will be the coordinator for all of our parent reps this year. Please look out for a note that will be sent home soon.

The role of the Class Representative includes the following:

Organising class/level social activities for parents (e.g. dinner, coffee mornings)
Encouraging parents to support social/fundraising and community events
Providing a communication link between the PFA and class parents
Liaising with the classroom teacher to organise volunteers, rosters etc. if required
Welcoming new and current parents to the school to develop and foster a friendly, supportive group
Preparing a Class Contact List (to assist with play dates and catch-up)
Participation in occasional Class Reps Meetings (when possible)

Bright Futures Program

Students across the school are currently involved in a “Bright Futures Program” which is implemented in the first two weeks of term 1. It has several important goals that classes will be working towards:

Establishing common understandings of the thinking curriculum through Inquiry Based Learning
Developing the learning environment with the establishment of classroom routines and procedures and the acknowledgement that students learn in different ways and at different rates. The focus of the program includes the need to respect each other as learners and treat each other in ways that we would like to be treated; the development of co-operative learning strategies that enable students to learn from one another and listen to others viewpoints and ideas
Our School Values of Respect, Personal Excellence, Curiosity and Creativity, Collaboration will be emphasised and the links that these values have with our educational aims and the ways in which we behave.

Swimming Trials/Wellbeing Day- Monday 1 February

On Monday Years 3 – 6 were involved in our annual swimming trials and fun day at the pool in Doveton. Students had met in their houses in the previous week to be inspired by their house captains to compete at the sports day. Our impressive students were fabulous at the pool and I hope that you saw some of the photos that were posted on our Facebook page.

We also captured the house chants. House chanting is a part of our Weeden Heights history and is an annual event. Well done to our new house captains! I must say our year 5 house captains did an outstanding job and for the very first time in history, they are actually year 5’s. Thanks to our year 6 sports captains for their support.

A huge thank you to our PE teacher Mr Saville for his organisation of the event and all of our parent helpers who came to cheer, support and take on jobs on the day. It all added to a fabulous day for our students.

Prep and New Family Social Night

Just a reminder that our social night for our new families is on Thursday 18 February so please mark it in your diaries. An invitation will be sent home soon, will be held face to face and we hope to see you all there!

Reminder:

Also don’t forget our Annual Family Fun Night on Thursday 25 February 2021. We are so happy that we will all be able to come together outside and we are planning our surprise theme right now. Invitations will also be out soon! It is always a great success, loads of fun and an opportunity for our community to mingle and especially meet our new families while welcoming them into our community. It would be great if you all could come, especially after our 2020 year.

We hope to see everyone there.

Until next time ……

Ms Kylie Campbell

Principal

Futures are Bright at Weeden Heights!

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