Term 1 Week 5
Principal's Report
Dear families,
Thank you to those who attended our parent year level information sessions. I trust that this was an opportunity to familiarise yourselves with our teaching teams and learning spaces, and gain insight as to what a day in the life of a student at WNPS looks like. I would like to thank our staff for their efforts in planning the evenings, and for staying back onsite longer to facilitate the sessions. I would also like to say a special thank you to Bakers Delight in Altona for generously donating all of the bread for our BBQs this week (as well as for your support on the grill). A reminder that there will be a Parent/Teacher Interview week towards the end of the term, as well as our regular Term 3 Parent/Teacher Interviews. Whilst it was great for our team to spend time with those who attended our information evenings, it would always be fantastic to see more families attending across all year levels, particularly as your children move throughout the school, where teaching routines may differ from the early years of school. Parents/carers are encouraged to reach out to your child’s teacher on a regular basis using Compass, and class teachers, leading teachers, assistant principals, and myself can be contacted should you like to raise any concerns, or seek any advice. We are here to help. If we don’t hear about concerns directly, it is difficult for us to find resolutions.
The Compass Calendar should now be live for parents to view important dates throughout the year. If you are having trouble accessing this, please contact Belinda or Kerri in the office, and they will gladly assist. We also ask for your patience as staff are learning this process too, and seek your support by notifying us if any event is scheduled but not uploaded to the calendar. This will enable us to rectify the situation in a timely manner, and also provide us with a learning curve for future forward planning.
On Tuesday 11th March, our Year 1/2s commence their annual swimming program, once again at Bayfit in Newport. All families are welcome to pop in to the pool to see their children swim and show your support. Thank you to those who have volunteered to assist our teachers and support staff during this time. I look forward to popping down to the pool myself to see our kids enjoying themselves and learning/consolidating their swimming skills.
Although early in the year, we have already had several staff come down with illness, myself included. We remind families that if your child is unwell, please keep them home. Absences due to illness are approved school absences as per DE guidelines. Please see our previous newsletter for reference. We also ask families to please be mindful and patient that school staff work directly with many children as well as adults, and this can at times leave us susceptible to illnesses. Staff may have absences for many reasons; illness, bereavement, expecting parenthood, carer's leave, and professional learning to name a few. We currently have internal staff coverage to minimise interruption to our daily programs and ensure students have a familiar face to reach out to should they need. We appreciate your understanding.
I would like to thank our families for your patience and being able to adjust to the new front door system we have at our main school entrance. Child safety is our number one priority, and even one student running out onto Melbourne Road is one child too many. Whilst not as convenient as it may have been in the past, we are committed to protecting every child from risk of injury, or worse. We have worked through much of our teething issues and have placed the following protocols in place: The front doors remain locked until 8:30am, ensuring the safety of office staff who may be working alone prior to the start of the official school day. At 8:30am the isolation door is deactivated, enabling easy access to the school and office for parents/carers, and remains unlocked until 9:15am. At 9:15am all school gates are locked and the isolation door is activated once again. Between 9:15am and 3:15pm, all visitors to the school must report to the general office. To enter the school past the foyer, please press the buzzer and one of our staff will release the door for you to come inside. The isolation door will be deactivated again at 3:15pm, enabling parents/carers to access the school and front office. Whilst we understand that this is a change in process and may take a little bit of getting used to, I’m sure we all agree that keeping all our students safe is of utmost importance.
I would like to remind families that we have parent and staff nominations for School Council closing at 4pm this afternoon, and thus far we still have several vacancies to fill. Being a member of School Council is a great way to build understanding of the ins and outs of school operations, represent our parent/carer community, and work as part of the team for the greater good of every student at the school. We also have a few classes needing Class Reps as well, and we are still taking expressions of interest from those wanting to be a part of the Parents and Friends group that we are hoping to establish in the coming weeks.
Can all parents/carers please reinforce with your children the importance of stranger danger. I have now had two reports of children being approached by people they do not know, or feeling uncomfortable, within the Williamstown area. Discussing with your children the importance of travelling directly to and from school, knowing the route your child is taking, and reinforcing for kids to speak up to an adult, either at home or at school, if something does not feel right. As parents/carers, should your child have an experience such as this, please notify us as well as the police. We will also liaise with the police, report the matter to the Department of Education, notify all of our surrounding schools, and circle back on the topic of stranger danger with our students.
Finally, I would like to thank Mr Peters for his hard work getting our JSC up and running, as well as thank all students who nominated. A big congratulations is in order for the following students who make up our Junior School Council (JSC) for 2025:
Helen V
Natalie G
Nico D
Tori V
Have a wonderful week.
Richard Buckingham
Principal