Principal's Message
Julie Crawford
It is hard to believe how action packed our first three weeks of Term 2 have been! This week Mrs Brice and I were lucky enough to stay overnight and join in the fun with the Grade 3s at their first school camp. Camps are such wonderful opportunities for students to develop independence and resilience, build friendships and have a go at some great activities that provide just the right amount of challenge including the giant swing, flying fox, archery, bush cooking, hikes and cooking the perfect marshmallow over the campfire! A big thankyou to the teachers and parent helpers who made this first camp experience so special!
Term 1 Big Idea - Community
Another special event for our Grade 3/4s was the final celebration of their work on the Term 1 Big Idea of Community. Thank you to the many family and friends who came along to enjoy the delicious meatballs and chocolate balls made by the students to celebrate how food brings us together. Their performance of the song “On Top Of Spaghetti’ was very entertaining and apt! The cookbook they have made, which is a collection of favourite family recipes is being printed as we speak! It is not too late to order a copy so that you can try some of the tried and tested recipes that families have contributed! Please order via this Trybooking link - https://www.trybooking.com/CQJOM Well done Grade 3/4s! A special thank you to Dimi and the Grade 3/4 teachers for their creativity to undertake the big food preparation job without access to the Kids Kitchen due to the building project!
Cross Country
Our Whole School Cross Country is always a highlight on our calendar and this year was no exception. With exceptional weather, smiling faces crossing the finishing line, preps happily running in their first cross country holding their buddies hand and a sausage in bread and cookie for lunch it was a day to remember! Thank you to Mr Holland, Mr Percy, our teachers & aides and all of our parent helpers for making the day such a success. A special thank you to Kate Porter-Wise and her band of parent helpers for doing such a great job organising the catering and feeding the masses!
Term 2 Big Idea – Country
Students are already well underway with their investigations around the Big Idea of Country. Wonderings have been collected so that the questions from our students can be included in the investigations. Our Grade 5/6s have already spent a day out at Clifford Park, our local scout park on the Yarra in Wonga Park, exploring the language of the Wurundjeri people, local indigenous plants, learning about seasons and the significance of fire and songlines. Two more days will be spent on Country before students choose the line of inquiry that they will investigate more deeply. This is a great example of not only using the great resources we have in our local area, but also of students having agency and choice in their learning. We look forward to seeing how all of our students develop their understanding of Country throughout the term and how they will celebrate and apply their learning when they get to their final challenge.
Term 1 Progress Reports and Interviews
The recent Term 1 Progress Reports and subsequent interviews provided parents with up-to-date information about how their child/children are progressing with their learning. The progress reports were introduced last year to ensure that parents had more regular updates, and the interview is an opportunity to build partnerships between home and school. The Wonga Weeklies, that are published each Monday, also contain information about how parents can support their child’s learning with useful prompts to support learning conversations. Although reports and interviews occur throughout the year, parents are very welcome to discuss their child’s progress at any time if they have any concerns. The Golden Ten (8:50am – 9:00am) is a good time to drop in to have a chat with the teacher or to make an appointment for a meeting at a mutually convenient time. Alternatively parents can phone or email the office and the classroom teacher will contact you.
ANZAC ceremony
Once again, our ANZAC assembly was incredibly moving and made extra special by having our very special friend, Arthur Ford, come out of ‘retirement’ to officiate. Arthur has been such an important part of our ANZAC ceremony for 21 years, so we were all thrilled that he was able to join us again this year. It is so important for our students and community to come together to acknowledge and remember the sacrifice of the men and women who have served in conflict and peace keeping missions. Tim made particular mention of the involvement and sacrifice of our First Nations people who fought side by side with white Australians – the first example possibly of reconciliation. One of the really lovely things about our assembly each year is the involvement that our students have, in particular through their art and music specialist sessions with Mrs Salisbury and Tim Phillips. Students loved performing ‘I Am Australian’ with an ANZAC day twist and making the three beautiful wreaths and over 400 poppies which we had hoped to feature on the grassy bank. Our school captains shared the significance of ANZAC day and Bella read the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’. The laying of the three wreaths was particularly touching with the beautiful flute accompaniment of Waltzing Matilda provided by our talented brother and sister duo, Caleb and Violet. The performances by our wonderful choir was a highlight with Lest we Forget and My Island Home to end our ceremony. A special thank you to Arthur Ford, Mrs Salisbury, Tim Phillips, and our students, teachers and families who were able to join us on the day.
Warrandyte Festival
Many thanks to Isaiah, Mischa, Olivia, Zara who represented Wonga Park Primary School in the Warrandyte Festival Parade carrying the Warrandyte Community Bank sign to acknowledge our gratitude for the grant of $45,000 for the Creative Play and Learning Space and $20,000 for the new junior playground. We are very appreciative of the wonderful support we have received over many years, making many of our major projects possible.
Congratulations to our choir who entertained a large audience with their fantastic performance at the festival. They did an amazing job! Thank you to Tim Phillips and the teachers and families for their enthusiastic support!
Colour Run
What a great community event! Thank you so much to everyone who joined in the fun and helped to raise an amazing $11,700. Your support of this major fundraiser for the year is greatly appreciated. Together with our Easter Raffle and Hot Cross Bun sales, we have raised a total of $14,000 towards our major creative play and learning space project!
Creative Play and Learning Space is well underway!
It has been very exciting to see our creative play and learning space emerging over the past three weeks! The transformation of the original asphalt area has been over a year in the planning and will be a delightful place with curved garden spaces, pathways and seating, all softened with planters, hopefully filled with indigenous trees! It will be such a beautiful and fun place for our students to play and learn and community to gather!! The amazing support of our fund-raising events and the generous grant from the Warrandyte Community Bank have made the building of the infrastructure possible. The last part of the project is the installation of the trees and seating! To help complete the project we would love any families or businesses to consider a donation towards the purchase of some beautiful trees or curved seating. Donations can be made via the Trybooking which will be distributed early next week. All of our sponsors will be listed on a special plaque to acknowledge your generosity! Thank you for helping us to finish this wonderful space.
2025 Prep Enrolments
Enrolments for 2025 Preps have now opened. We are currently offering tours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and we will be holding a 2025 Prep Information meeting for parents on Tuesday, 14th May at 7:15pm.
This year enrolments for schools in Northeast Region will be made online. Information about the process is on the school website. If you require any support with the process, please contact the office via email or phone and Kerry will be able to assist.
Mother’s Day Morning – Friday 10th May
Such a beautiful morning has been planned for our mums/special person and kids! It will be a special time to spend together making things, pampering mum and enjoying scones and a morning coffee! Families who have booked a ticket will be allocated the classroom where they do their activities. Coffees are now included and a voucher for your coffee is stapled to the flyer you will receive. Don’t forget to get a special family photo under the oak tree too! We look forward to seeing to seeing all our mums next Friday!
Until our next newsletter
Julie